General Priorities

• A minimum number of people must work on any given shift to maximize operational performance and personnel safety. Fire departments may require a certain number of personnel types, such as paramedics, on each shift and may limit the number of fill-in positions in each rank at any time. Policies may require that administrative staff be aware of fill-in positions, whether short term or long term, and changes to rotations.
  
  

Paramedic and Engineer Fill-In

• Staff wishing to fill in for paramedic and engineer positions may be required to have certain education and experience, and perhaps a completed probationary period in their chosen role.
  
  

Fire Captain and Deputy Chief Fill-In

• Employees wishing to fill in for the role of fire captain may be required to have experience as a firefighter, fire engineer, fire paramedic or a combination of the three roles and get approval from the district chief (battalion chief) and deputy chief (division chief). Personnel wishing to fill in for the deputy chief role (division chief) may be required to have experience as a fire captain.