24 On 48 Off Shift Schedule

How the 24/48 schedule works

The 24 on 48 off schedule repeats every 3 days: one 24-hour tour on duty, followed by 48 hours off. Three platoons staggered one day apart keep the station covered continuously. It is easy to read and easy to trade, which is why it remains common in fire and EMS settings.

Who uses the 24/48 pattern

Most commonly fire departments, EMS services, and some industrial emergency-response teams.

Plan 24/48 around the station’s relief and callback reality

The three-platoon rhythm is easy to read, but it leaves little room for an unplanned absence on the day a platoon is due. Identify the relief route in advance: qualified float coverage, a voluntary callback process, or another locally approved arrangement. Do not let the calendar imply that a vacant tour is automatically covered.

Review the full repeating cycle for training, court dates, apparatus checks, and community commitments that fall on particular platoons. These are operational events, not reasons to overwrite the base 24/48 sequence without explanation. Mark them as dated exceptions with an owner.

Make the tour handover explicit. State where equipment status, open incident work, and any station issue are recorded, and who confirms receipt. A clean calendar helps crews see the rotation; the handover process makes the long tour workable.

Pattern comparison

If you are deciding between nearby options, compare the weekly hours, longest work run, and biggest off block before you standardise the rota.

A shorter longest work run usually feels safer and easier to recover from. A longer off block is better for commute-heavy or remote teams, but often comes with a tougher on block just before it.