6 shifts a month2 people a night
Fire and emergency response
Fire service shift scheduling
Here the job is placing crews rather than individuals. How many people are on a shift matters, but so does which qualifications they bring.
Example setup: a 27-person station · 24-hour shifts with 3 crews on a 24/48 pattern · 9 people per shift · at least 1 officer and 2 drivers on every crew.
A typical setup
A single 24-hour shift rotates through three crews. Roles are defined so the required number of officers, drivers and firefighters is fixed for every shift.
Which constraints apply
- 48 hours of rest after a 24-hour shift
- A required role mix on every shift
- Weekly total hour cap
- A ceiling of holiday shifts per person
- People who should not be rostered together
The result
If a required role is missing, the schedule lists it as an error, so a shift left without an officer shows up before you publish. The monthly list prints as a PDF for the station wall.
How you set it up
- Build crews, not individuals. A 24/48 station rosters whole crews. Set the crew size first, then fill the roles inside it.
- Make the role mix a hard rule. At least one officer and the drivers you need on every shift. Set it as a requirement so a shift without one shows as an error, not a surprise.
- Set the rest that the pattern implies. 48 hours after a 24-hour shift is what makes the three-crew cycle work. Put it in explicitly rather than relying on the pattern.
- Cap holiday shifts per person. Over a year, public holidays are the part that quietly becomes unequal. The ceiling is what keeps it level.
Common questions
Does it keep the same crew together?
It rosters by role and by the pairing rules you set, so you can hold a crew together by requiring the same role mix and blocking the combinations you do not want.
What if a shift ends up without an officer?
It is listed as an error with its date before publishing. A required role that cannot be met is never silently dropped.
Can we run 12/24 instead?
Yes. Set a 12-hour shift and the rest period you want after it; the cycle follows from those two numbers.
How do we handle training days?
Mark them as time off for the people attending and regenerate, so the station stays covered while they are away.
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