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Shift change

I want to offer some common sense recommendations to an overlooked and under appreciated part of a detail: the shift change, switch over etc.

This really applies to static posts on details. When I first started as a specialist we would always arrive at the gatehouse or otherwise referred to as a command post, 15 minutes prior to our scheduled shift time. The early arrival would allow the oncoming shift to get briefed on what occurred on the previous shift as well as any information pertinent to the upcoming shift. We called this period the “pass-down”. Once the oncoming shift leader and shift were briefed everyone was assigned their specific post.

The early arrival would allow each member of the previous shift to leave one by one as members of the oncoming shift arrived. Only the previous shift leader would stay until the oncoming shift leader would arrive.

The outgoing shift should do a thorough “hotwash” prior to the arrival of the oncoming shift and not during the pass-down.

The 15 minute early arrival was a treat to the outgoing shift. After working a 12 hour shift, 15 minutes feels like you gotten off an hour early. The other part and most important aspect is that all specialists should be ON STATION at the top of the hour, and not a minute later.

When a client requires coverage to start at a certain hour, that’s what that means. It DOES not mean arrive at that time, it means you are on station at that time. If you have tardiness issues this is definitely NOT the place for you.

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