Does my schedule suck ?

nick Joseph

Forum Crew Member
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weds : 3-midnight
thurs : 3-midnight
fri : 10a-10p
sat : 7p-7a

whats your schedules? and would you like or dislike mine?
 

Mufasa556

Forum Captain
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I couldn't work your schedule. I need to have some kind of consistency in my schedule.

I currently work 6a-6p and absolutely hate it. I've come off 5 years of nights and can't acclimate. I hate getting up at 4am and sitting in traffic for hours and hours. I'm counting down the days to shift bid so I can go back to being a creature of the night.

My best schedule was 1400-0200. M/T/Th/every other Friday. No traffic. No waking up early. Had weekends off and felt like I was never at work.
 

Jim37F

Forum Deputy Chief
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So...2x 9s and 2x 12s with no break and switching between working days and nights seemingly at random? You get a grand total of 10hours off between Thursday night and Friday day? Hope you don't get held over by a late call on Thurday, and/or your commute isn't an hour long and that you do t have anything at home that prevents you from basically immediately going to sleep as soon as you get home (not just go to bed but actually fall asleep). Hope they're paying you well to mess with your internal body clock like that..

Edit: Forgot to add my schedule since you asked: 12 hour shifts 0730-1930. Kelley schedule so it's every other day for three days followed by 4 days off in a row (XoXoXooo). Every other shift at my department are either 12 or 24 hours, and every shift starts at 0730. (4x 24 hour ambulances with 2 additional 12 hour shifts during the day).
 
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Chewy20

Forum Deputy Chief
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Yeah that schedule sounds brutal. 4 days in a row is bad enough, nevermind the changing times with limited hours in between.

I work two 24's, Thursdays and Sundays.
 

OnceAnEMT

Forum Asst. Chief
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I don't necessarily need consistency in days, but at least times. 7a-7p is my shift, and the other tech and I work out who gets what to fit our lives in. I've worked 12s 6 days in a row, and a 6 followed by a 12 starting 7 hours after shift end, but that kind of stuff I'll do once every 3 or 4 weeks because of a need.

Your schedule... yick. Sorry.
 

Shishkabob

Forum Chief
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Yeah, your schedule kind of sucks. No real ''off-time'' on those days.

My current schedule is W/Th/F and every other Sat from noon-midnight. It gives me every other weekend off, and 4 day weekends every other week. Only downside is when I get off work I come home and probably spend an hour doing nothing before falling asleep, thus not giving much unwinding time.
 

Handsome Robb

Youngin'
Premium Member
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Yea that's pretty bad.

I work T/W/Th 0600-2200, 0800-0000 and 1000-0200. My commute is short and all I've got at home is my girlfriend and dog so I can generally get a solid 7-7.5 hours of sleep so long as I'm not held over for a call. We're required by law to have 8 hours off between shifts however when we're fully staffed they're pretty good about pushing my start time back to allow 9-10 hours between shifts.

I definitely don't agree with working 4 days in a row sucking though. I'd rather have my weekend as a single block than separated by on/off type scheduling. I get 4 days off every week, well 3.5 because I usually sleep until about noon on Friday. Plus if I pick up OT which I usually will try to do on a Monday I can flag 60 hours in a week and still have 3 full days off in a row. With that said I'm going back to 4 12s. 4 on 3 off starting somewhere between 0500 and 0630 M-Th or T-F. I'd personally prefer a swing-type shift starting anywhere from 1100-1400 but I like seeing my girl when I come home from work and it's nice being able to get off somewhere between 1700-1830 and still have time to run the dog while there's light out, sit down and eat dinner before I go to bed. On 12s I usually get 8 hours of sleep, 6 at the least if I have something I absolutely have to do or have a tough time sleeping.

I'd love to work a 4/3/3/4 schedule if I kept my annual salary but losing 12 hours every other week 8 of which is Time and a half pay is a big hit to take if you add it up over the course of a year.
 

WildlandEMT89

Forum Lieutenant
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That schedule looks brutal. Don't think I could do it.
My shift I work a 24 on a kelly schedule starting at 0600.
It's ok, the days in the middle of my shift are rough sometimes but I love my 4 days.
And it makes taking sick days much more effective.
 

akflightmedic

Forum Deputy Chief
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One of the best schedules I ever had was 1900-0700 Fri, Sat and Sunday.

I essentially had the entire week to get stuff done and enjoy life. On Fridays, I would stay awake all day cause there is no such thing as "pre-sleeping"....Saturday morning I had ZERO issue falling asleep and staying that way. Work Saturday night...repeat Sunday.

When I got off duty Monday morning, I would hit gym, do some errands but absolutely stay awake until 1300 or so...then I would take a nap but only for an hour or less. I would hit the bed by 2030-2100...after that the week was mine! Got so much done during this period.
 

johnrsemt

Forum Deputy Chief
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Best schedule I ever worked (before here) was 13 hour shifts Th, Fri, Sat off Sunday; Mon Tues Weds, then off for 7 days. Never had to use vacation, cause you got a week off every 2 weeks.

Here, 48 hrs straight; then off for 7 days. If you trade and work the first 2 days of 2 week period, then the last 2 days of the 2nd week; you get 10 days off without taking leave
 

CentralCalEMT

Forum Captain
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I work a 48 every Saturday/Sunday and then a 24 every other Tuesday. I like my schedule because of the built in OT (I work 120 hours per pay period.) as well as the fact that one week I have 3 days in a row off (Weds, Thurs, Fri) but the next week I have Monday to Friday off. I love the 5 day stretch that I have off every other week. I actually like working the weekends because they are busier and since I am a paramedic preceptor it gives my intern a better variety of calls. It is also a good schedule for the intern because they have long stretches of time off to work their paying job if they have one.


I could never work your schedule. So to answer your question, yes your schedule sucks in my humble opinion.
 

Crystal42

Forum Probie
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What would be a good schedule for a new EMT? I don't want to kill myself working 5 days in a row and I'll be working FT
 

chaz90

Community Leader
Community Leader
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What would be a good schedule for a new EMT? I don't want to kill myself working 5 days in a row and I'll be working FT
The best schedule as a new IFT EMT is the one they offer you. It's a stepping stone job, so you probably don't have a lot of room to bargain. Working five in a row kinda sucks, but at least they're only 8 hour shifts. It's the same schedule people work in an office, so you can make it work. Good luck!
 

RefriedEMT

Forum Lieutenant
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One way to beat the system is to be a part-timer and work full-time hours picking and choosing when and where you want to work. It all depends if your company will allow this though.
 

Summit

Critical Crazy
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Studies show that having less than 12 hours off between shifts increases error and accident rates.

It is also not good for your health.

One way to beat the system is to be a part-timer and work full-time hours picking and choosing when and where you want to work. It all depends if your company will allow this though.
Definitely how I started
 

CALEMT

The Other Guy/ Paramaybe?
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One way to beat the system is to be a part-timer and work full-time hours picking and choosing when and where you want to work. It all depends if your company will allow this though.

This is what I'm doing. I can be picky on what shift I want to work i.e. do I want to work nights, swings, or days. This week I somehow managed to pick up 6 days, next week I may only pick up 1 or 2. All depends on what I want to work and how much I want to work.

And to the OP yeah man that shift blows, I wouldn't work it. I don't understand why they would throw a random day shift in the middle of your nights. I would be hating life.
 

NPO

Forum Deputy Chief
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I wouldn't work that schedule. I work 24s.
Rotation 1: XoXoXoXoooo
Rotation 2: XoXoXoXoooooo
Repeat.
 

triemal04

Forum Deputy Chief
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I wouldn't work that schedule. I work 24s.
Rotation 1: XoXoXoXoooo
Rotation 2: XoXoXoXoooooo
Repeat.
<shudder> There was talk about switching to that years ago...all I can say is you better hope that you work a slow truck!
 
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