r/Firefighting • u/c00kieduster • 4d ago

General Discussion Cannot sleep at the station anymore

15 years in, company officer at a suburb dept of 4 stations, 100ish people, 48/96. We average 4-5 in a 24 hr period, sometimes 1-2, sometimes 12-16.

It’s not all that uncommon for us to get to sleep through the night. However, in the last year or 2, I simply cannot sleep through the night. Even without calls, I’m getting up 2-3 times. Usually it’s a toss and turn, occasionally I’ll get up to go to bathroom but that’s not the reason.

When I’m at home, my head hits the pillow and unless something wakes me up, I sleep like a baby.

Anyone experience this? Got any tips?

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u/arachnid1110 4d ago

I can’t do melatonin at the station and be functional. 19 in at a big city. I used to make fun of my older brother that worked at a slow, suburban department for this. I was running 20 plus calls a day and he was running maybe 1-2.

Fast forward 15 years, no matter where I work, I sleep like shit, no hitters or busy days. It’s just not home, and nobody was designed to do this forever. We’re 24/48, I think the 48/96 would make this particular issue worse.

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u/c00kieduster 3d ago

So ironically enough, I was the front man for my depts push to 48/96 earlier this year. While 2 restless nights in a row is definitely a things…4 days at home is a game changer.