Who had the more physically demanding job?

[RedDog4]

Police or Fire?

Im not talkin about the entire shift, just when actually working...

Fire guys have the weight, and climbin stairs, carring people, ect...
Police having to chase after perps, takling, wrestling, ect...

What do you guys think???

Im leanin more towards police, due to the fact of the ammount of time that fire can rest and relax durring their shift...

[toby101]

I had to go with the police on this one. Granted both of them work there *** off, firemen actually get a hand shake after everything is said and done. A cop only thing he gets is some court papers saying he is getting his butt sued.

[Bodie]

Fire .... But they have more down time and can relax.
Police ..... You are on the whole shift

[formercop]

Having done both jobs, I have to swing with fire on this one. Both jobs have their own different types of activity levels, the police deal with a different type of danger level.

In fire, we don't relax as much as everyone seems to think we do.

[mark7777]

Fire .... But they have more down time and can relax.
Police ..... You are on the whole shift

that depends on how many runs you go on per shift. I have had many shifts where we never see quarters till after our shift is over.our district is super busy- you can have non active districts only get a few runs but think about how many resources one working fire or one major MVA can tie up. things can go from busy to calling in mutual aide companies very quick here at least.

[Tender Lumpling]

I see more LEO's in my physical therapy room for injury rehab than fireman. Both are very demanding jobs ~ but when you have to wrestle a 250 pound perp hopped up on drugs to the ground, your job gets a lot more challenging !!!

[acreature]

Having done both jobs, I have to swing with fire on this one. Both jobs have their own different types of activity levels, the police deal with a different type of danger level.

In fire, we don't relax as much as everyone seems to think we do.

I still do both. Yes, we (fire) do relax A LOT

[grw963]

I'd go with Fire. Just to wear their turnout gear when the temptures over 80
would do me in. i complain about my vest when it's over 70.

[ftlaudcop]

I"ve done both,

the fire dept is on again off again..and when yr actually doing it
very physical....

when i was a fireman, the only thing i seen the 300 pound cocoa beach cop's
do physically...was get out of their car, and change the main traffic signals
to flashing yellow, and back in their car's and go hide.

and now being in the business..22 yr's, we have the do nothings
all ages, shapes and sizes...

you can be as busy and active as ya wanna be,,,,

however, repspect to both sides.....

www.schackdaddy.com

[acreature]

With ^that said, the physical part is a gimme for FF when working. But, they also can work out when at work.... which is 80% free time when working the 24 on 48 off. And they CAN sleep on the job, so to speak

LE, most anyway, have to work out on days/time off. Some depts allow an hour or two a week paid to do so.

And, if you factor in City FDs which stay busy... the call volume for LE there is usually 3-4 times the volume.

And... BIG and here... Fires don't fight back. Sure, they can be called an animal. But they don't think... plan... soup up on narcotics.... or hide weapons. What you see is what you get with a fire. Heat.

[Bunnel]

No contest! Firemen around here spend most of their time sleeping, shopping, watching television and cooking. Even when they do go on a call, it's usually a false alarm or they're not needed. The fact that they get the same wage as a police officer is an outrage.

[medic_9]

Where I live. Police.

I don't know call volume for police but I do know it for fire. They get 33,000 calls a year. But only 2,000-3,000 actual fires (the rest are medical aid or false alarms, burning complaints, etc.)

What about Police, Fire and Paramedics? (Paramedics are always the forgotten bunch)

We get the best of both worlds. We get the lifting and the weight and the bad weather and the psycho's, crackheads, drunks... (We also don't have Opticom like fire does.)

And we don't know what we are walking in to. We can get a "Chest Pain" call and find out once in the house that it's chest pain from a knife..etc. And our portable radios are crap, so calling for help and not being heard is my biggest fear. Plus LE is super busy here so help could be delayed coming.

BUT I know that once LE arrives that they are there to save the day.

Luckily i've never had to make that call.

--Ooo..I forgot to add.. Firefighter off time activites: Washing and detailing personal vehicles, washing the fire trucks, working out (at least once per shift), grocery shopping, making breakfast, lunch and (4 course) dinner, badminton, watching tv, sleeping...plus some of them have a second job or run their own business.

[mark7777]

No contest! Firemen around here spend most of their time sleeping, shopping, watching television and cooking. Even when they do go on a call, it's usually a false alarm or they're not needed. The fact that they get the same wage as a police officer is an outrage.

lol speak for yourself in my county the fire service depending on the depts pays more than the police dept.

canadians dont count lol.

we get payed well because we deserve to. you have little knowledge of what the fire dept does.

[mark7777]

Where I live. Police.

I don't know call volume for police but I do know it for fire. They get 33,000 calls a year. But only 2,000-3,000 actual fires (the rest are medical aid or false alarms, burning complaints, etc.)

What about Police, Fire and Paramedics? (Paramedics are always the forgotten bunch)

We get the best of both worlds. We get the lifting and the weight and the bad weather and the psycho's, crackheads, drunks... (We also don't have Opticom like fire does.)

And we don't know what we are walking in to. We can get a "Chest Pain" call and find out once in the house that it's chest pain from a knife..etc. And our portable radios are crap, so calling for help and not being heard is my biggest fear. Plus LE is super busy here so help could be delayed coming.

BUT I know that once LE arrives that they are there to save the day.

Luckily i've never had to make that call.

--Ooo..I forgot to add.. Firefighter off time activites: Washing and detailing personal vehicles, washing the fire trucks, working out (at least once per shift), grocery shopping, making breakfast, lunch and (4 course) dinner, badminton, watching tv, sleeping...plus some of them have a second job or run their own business.

oh boy come spend a day with our dept I have yet to have had time to grocery shop or wash my car during the shift. never get to watch games either. maybe you have a less active dept but do not label all fire depts that way

[Ken K]

I was in LE, but went into fire/arson investigation. I've seen both like several of you posting here.

When a building is on fire and I go on the roof, or search and rescue, or on the hose, they don't pay me enough.

When I go to a bar fight, domestic, or a drug entry, they don't pay me enough.

Love the down time...the pay is really good.