Everyday Carry
September 16, 2019 8:26 PM   Subscribe

 
Some of the twitter/instagram pictures are not actually emergency services.
posted by Gorgik at 8:29 PM on September 16, 2019 [3 favorites]


Does not contain pony. May contain Dog.
posted by bonehead at 8:33 PM on September 16, 2019 [4 favorites]


It's like some kind of strange real life Lego set or maybe a variant on a Richard Scarry book. I wish they had mouseovers for each item.

This is fascinating, and is something I had never even imagined existing until just this moment. This is why I love MetaFilter!
posted by hippybear at 8:37 PM on September 16, 2019 [7 favorites]


These pictures give me massive amounts of anxiety. I hate taking 1000’ of 5” hose off the damn truck once a year for hose testing; I’m sure as hell not taking all the crap off my rig if I don’t have to.

Fascinating to see what’s on apparatus outside America, but Do Not Want due to elevated blood pressure.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 8:57 PM on September 16, 2019 [13 favorites]


knolling is a type of flat-lay photography

Knolling is the arrangement of articles in an orderly fashion. You can photograph it afterwards, but it's not required.
posted by zamboni at 9:01 PM on September 16, 2019 [11 favorites]


Knolling is the arrangement of articles in an orderly fashion

I didn't know there's a term for it. I collect books that have these types of arrangements. Thank you, zamboni!
posted by datawrangler at 9:03 PM on September 16, 2019 [3 favorites]


Grassy knolling is a way to arrange reality into chaos. It is not recommended.
posted by hippybear at 9:04 PM on September 16, 2019 [14 favorites]


Okay, I love how the dudes who belong to the truck/car are in each picture lying there like little dolls (sometimes with helmets above them which makes them look like Lego dudes. And I extra love Neuchâtel and their fake robber.

The ones I was most fascinated by, though, were the motorcycle cop and the ski patrol, and now of course I want to see the kits of bicycle cops, Segway cops, horse cops, golf cart cops, etc., and all kinds of other non-car-or-truck-based emergency services! (The horse cop there doesn't count as there's no horse.)

(Also if your town has a "touch-a-truck" event they will show you all the gear, although usually still stowed on the truck, not all spread out. But it's really interesting!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:06 PM on September 16, 2019 [5 favorites]


Love these. Especially the firefighters arranged in action poses.
posted by greenhornet at 9:55 PM on September 16, 2019


Noting, this was a thing entirely impossible before camera drones became affordable for the masses.
posted by hippybear at 10:04 PM on September 16, 2019


of course I want to see the kits of bicycle cops

I'd love to see what's in the rack bag of a bike cop. I'd be willing to reciprocate with my own rack bag, both the small one (just about any ride but RAGBRAI) and the big one (RAGBRAI).

I like rack bags.

also panniers, handlebar bags, seat bags, underseat tool kits...
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:04 PM on September 16, 2019 [1 favorite]


Do you do inventory while stuff is stowed, sara is disenchanted? How often does inventory happen, anyway? The only time I've been responsible for lots of stuff that has to work was in the military, and then we emptied out the whole vehicle after each excercise, and actually unscrewed everything that was mounted once in a while as well. But militaries tend to have a different attitude to using people's time...
posted by Harald74 at 10:04 PM on September 16, 2019 [3 favorites]


Either that or all these places had to hire crews in with crane equipment to take photographs. #not
posted by hippybear at 10:05 PM on September 16, 2019


I'm guessing all the fire services already had the proper equipment to get up high, though.
posted by Harald74 at 10:07 PM on September 16, 2019 [4 favorites]


Doesn't explain any of the other photos.
posted by hippybear at 10:09 PM on September 16, 2019 [1 favorite]


I'd love to see plumbers and carpenters and electricians get into the act.
posted by peeedro at 10:12 PM on September 16, 2019 [1 favorite]


I might do this for my car. It would be me, two children, recycling bags, water bottles, books, 8000 broken goldfish crackers, bottle tops with no bottles, single shoes, stuff and "matter". Arranged exquisitely. Nice.
posted by recklessbrother at 10:50 PM on September 16, 2019 [20 favorites]


... and Marie Kondo with a single tear rolling down her cheek
posted by um at 10:57 PM on September 16, 2019 [10 favorites]


A tear that I would collect in a Tupperware container that has no lid. And finis.
posted by recklessbrother at 11:05 PM on September 16, 2019 [9 favorites]


I like the dog. And that #6 contains a robber (for slow policing days?).
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:13 PM on September 16, 2019 [2 favorites]


Dang #28. A supine horse would have taken this collection from ridiculous to sublime.
posted by Thella at 12:11 AM on September 17, 2019 [5 favorites]


It's a giant game of Spot The Difference.
Then complicate it by wondering why the italian fire truck curries a chemical spill suit and the others do not.
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 12:11 AM on September 17, 2019 [1 favorite]


I think I saw Waldo.
posted by sexyrobot at 12:26 AM on September 17, 2019 [1 favorite]


I love this. I looked at the first ten and then decided to save the rest for when I'm having a bad day. Looking at these pictures is going straight to my self-soothing dopamine centres for some reason. Thanks for posting!
posted by citands at 12:49 AM on September 17, 2019 [1 favorite]


sara is disenchanted, we rotate front-line pieces every week and don’t always have two full sets of engine company gear, so this in miniature (but we don’t have to pull hose off except for testing or parade racking).
posted by wintermind at 3:46 AM on September 17, 2019 [1 favorite]


Noting, this was a thing entirely impossible before camera drones became affordable for the masses.

Back in the day, we had these things called buildings, they were sometimes very tall and were usually right beside parking lots...
posted by Meatbomb at 4:01 AM on September 17, 2019 [5 favorites]


These look like playsets still in the pack.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:14 AM on September 17, 2019 [5 favorites]


This is great.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:02 AM on September 17, 2019


We look through the trucks every day, air packs get checked/refilled every day, usually a few times a month the preconnected hoselays (handlines of 1 3/4” or 2 1/2”) and rear 2 1/2” are deployed for training (we have trays! where we can keep extra preconnects loaded at the station and switch them out after a call/training with minimal downtime). More than one section of 5” comes off the truck once a year, during hose testing (we have an excellent water system and our district is all residential/commercial so we’re never far from a hydrant). If something looks dirty or needs repainted, someone will pull items off to be cleaned and painted/sharpened/repaired. Honestly, a true inventory doesn’t happen as often as it should; we are cataloging everything for a master inventory list with the software suite we’re using for everything (reports, pre-planning, scheduling, etc), but it’s a slow process. We’re not even a very busy department, and we have a light squad/service truck that has had many of the same tools on it for 30+ years, just moved each time the truck is replaced; it has hux bars on it. I’ve never even used a hux bar or seen anyone else use one. But removing an item from an apparatus results in butthurt behavior because omg it's different than it was!

Wintermind, when I was at previous work places if one of the trucks had some sort of mechanical failure, we’d have to limp it to the garage or have someone bring us a reserve and EVERYTHING except for 5” had to be moved over. It was a pain in the ass to move all of the crap that the bigger apparatus hold to like a 1987 open cab Pierce or a 1984 International; those trucks just had basic stuff and tiny compartments. Shit just went anywhere we could stuff it.

Thegirlwiththehat: so forgive me because I know that most of the world is much more progressive when comparing elements of the fire service, but in the US we generally have companies that are Hazmat, water/dive rescue, tactical rescue/USAR and those companies are going to have specific gear and tools on their rigs and probably even more apparatus and equipment (especially if they’re a Regional Response Team) so that they are able to complete the tasks that they are specially trained for. For instance, I have training at what used to be the Hazmat Operations level (now it’s called something different, I believe) but it ran from Awareness-Operations-Technician-Specialist; yeah I can respond to something small with my turnout gear and SCBA and duct tape, but I’d rather not. Let the glo-worms in the Level A suits show up and play, preferably where I can see them through my binoculars.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 6:17 AM on September 17, 2019 [12 favorites]


Okay, I love how the dudes who belong to the truck/car are in each picture lying there like little dolls (sometimes with helmets above them which makes them look like Lego dudes.

Playmobil, they look like playmobil sets.
posted by signal at 7:17 AM on September 17, 2019 [5 favorites]


Playmobil, they look like playmobil sets.

Someone else thought so, too :-)
posted by Gorgik at 7:51 AM on September 17, 2019 [2 favorites]




Hello, I am a writer and this is super relevant to my interests. Could totally use similar info for American and Canadian services if anyone knows a handy reference.

Thank you for sharing this!
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:02 AM on September 17, 2019


These pictures are so much fun! Here’s the one from the Zürich city fire and rescue service. (They are very enthusiastic about tagging their tweets but messed this one up slightly.) The text says that the professional and volunteer firefighters—we have both in Switzerland—were doing an inventory anyway, so they took the opportunity to make a Tetris challenge picture from the top of the rescue ladder.
posted by daisyk at 9:47 AM on September 17, 2019


If you like this, you might also like Material World: A Global Family Portrait "In an unprecedented effort, sixteen of the world’s foremost photographers traveled to thirty nations around the globe to live for a week with families that were statistically average for that nation. At the end of each visit, photographer and family collaborated on a remarkable portrait of the family members outside their home, surrounded by all of their possessions—a few jars and jugs for some, an explosion of electronic gadgetry for others. Vividly portraying the look and feel of the human condition everywhere on Earth, this internationally acclaimed bestseller puts a human face on the issues of population, environment, social justice, and consumption as it illuminates the crucial question facing our species today: Can all six billion of us have all the things we want?"
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:19 AM on September 17, 2019 [2 favorites]


Then complicate it by wondering why the italian fire truck curries a chemical spill suit and the others do not.

Most Fire services have dedicated Dangerous Goods/Hazmat teams who get enhanced training. Honestly, the best thing Fire can do during many spill emergencies is set up a perimeter at the right distance, then worry about the fire (if any). So, arguably, the people in suits are second or third response, not the first responder.

Hazmat site entry is very dangerous, takes a lot of planning and has a lot of associated infrastructure. There's air stations, decon lines and showers, medical and backup teams that need to be in place first, if you're doing a level A (suit+air) or level B (just air) entry. It's not something a single truck just rolling up should or could do safely.
posted by bonehead at 10:27 AM on September 17, 2019


here is an album cover i made that reminds me of this.

These pictures give me massive amounts of anxiety. I hate taking 1000’ of 5” hose off the damn truck once a year for hose testing; I’m sure as hell not taking all the crap off my rig if I don’t have to.

Fascinating to see what’s on apparatus outside America, but Do Not Want due to elevated blood pressure.


ah, yes, after i finally got the photos -- i had to put it all. back. that was almost as bad as the stressing over what appeared to be unsquare during the, er, knolling process (enknollment?)
posted by RTQP at 6:02 PM on September 17, 2019 [1 favorite]


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