JFLYNN

I rarely comment on this guys posts because they are usually so incredibly off base, incorrect, disrespectful, and inflamatory when it comes to YFD. However, I can assure all that this has never been discussed at any time during the last 7 years that I have been a member of senior management and to be absolutely clear, it is not being discussed now, and I do not anticipate it will be discussed or considered at any time in the foreseeable future.

I rarely comment on this guys posts because they are usually so incredibly off base, incorrect, disrespectful, and inflamatory when it comes to YFD. However, I can assure all that this has never been discussed at any time during the last 7 years that I have been a member of senior management and to be absolutely clear, it is not being discussed now, and I do not anticipate it will be discussed or considered at any time in the foreseeable future.

Helicopper pretty much summed this up. Many people don't realize that 1st Amendment rights (freedom of speech) don't apply to speech, on or off duty, made pursuant to official duties- that is, it owes its existence to the member's or employee's professional duties and responsibilities. Therefore department members may be disciplined for speaking out against department policies in certain situations. Certainly, a Fire Commissioner, who serves at the pleasure of the Mayor and has no contract or union protection, cannot reasonably be expected to openly disagree with the city administration.
There may be very many statements which have been made in the press that many members of senior management disagree with very strongly, but to openly criticize the policies of the department would possibly subject that individual to discipline. Union Officials, however, have very broad latitude in what they are able to say, which is why serious criticisms of policies, etc. generally come from union leaders, and not the rank and file, or senior leadership. Silence should not be taken as approval however.
I would like to emphasize that in this post and in any post I make on EMTBravo, or elsewhere, I am expressing myself as a private citizen, in a non-official capacity. The content of my posts is not being disclosed in my official capacity and such content represents solely my opinions and does not necessarily represent the official position of the City of Yonkers or the Yonkers Fire Department.

I rarely comment on this guys posts because they are usually so incredibly off base, incorrect, disrespectful, and inflamatory when it comes to YFD. However, I can assure all that this has never been discussed at any time during the last 7 years that I have been a member of senior management and to be absolutely clear, it is not being discussed now, and I do not anticipate it will be discussed or considered at any time in the foreseeable future.

Although I appreciate the fact that I am thought of now and again, I have to pass on commenting about this. I still show up to work and do my job as well as I ever did and don't plan to change that, I have stayed away from EMTBravo for a long time and don't feel like entertaining a political debate. I ask that those involved fight their own battle and remember that the dispatchers are people with families, lives, and homes too.
Respectfully,
Kris Mason
Public Safety Dispatcher, Yonkers NY

Clearly I have little knowledge of the workings of your local FD's and the politics, but in reading 628's website I see them being honest about something that affects city residents.
First Respnder EMS ties up FD units, for how long is determined by the number of buses on the street at any given time. Like it or not, For Profit EMS services generally have to have all their units in constant motion to remain profitable, therefore they're like the airlines, they have fewer seeats than customers. This is not a reflection of the dedicated individuals who staff these buses, who likely feel the pain of constantly rushing call to call, knowing that the delay of their own definitive care may be detrimental to their patients. These people don't make the decisions on how many ambulances are in a given area, but in fact must work with what their given. This short staffing of EMS units is how a fore profit system stays afloat in times like these and how they pull in profits in better times.
For YFD or other FD's that have similar First Responder systems, the programs are double edged swords: they're clearly out on the street more often positively interacting with their local citizens, but they're also tied up unavaible for other emergencies, a real issue when you're already short staffed and have fewer apparatus and stations than your city and incidents indicate. This is big boy rules, peoples livliehoods are threatened and those who remain after cuts jobs' just get more dangerous. Less personnel, less companies mean, longer times for ventialtion, or water on the fire. Fewer personel make tough work even tougher as the same tasks must be completed by fewer people.
While I'm not looking to stirs this further, I've yet to see anyone that was incensed by the website actually state that the delayed response times are not an issue?

The union has one concern, take care of its own members. I do not see it as an attack on Empress per se, but lets face it, if another ambulance company were to offer the same service at less cost to the City of Yonkers, Empress would be gone. The city bean counters have no loyalty, just cold hard cash calculations. I see as more against the city. Lets face it, if the City could save money on EMS, do you really think it will go to YFD? I would almost guarantee that it would be spent elsewhere.

Some interesting stuff there...when you read the amount of apparatus, 10 engines...6 trucks...only two ladder towers...all I could think of is "That's it?"....
You can see YFD rigs all day long, but until you see it on paper...then it hits hard...thats almost crazy..

With all due respect, CPR and Defib ARE the essence of first response, and should be done by a CFR and not a medic, so the medic may continue to drop a tube and a line. It is hard enough to deliver a shock within 90 seconds and not have interrupted resperations of more than 20 seconds when trying to hook up BVM/o2 just by fumbling through all the tubing and aed wires by yourself, and now one medic is supposed to do all this, and tube, and get a line. I would rather see 4 people set up a BVM with continious breaths and o2, and shock, and the medic can be a medic, not a CFR.

So is the assertion that a single medic is better than a company of 4? I'd be surprised if any union would advocate for their personnel to be allowed to respond alone, seems like a dangerous situation in many cases. Maybe Yonkers doesn't have the drug or crime problems we have?

How many of you who have SOO much to say about what goes on in Yonkers actually live in Yonkers? I've been a Yonkers resident for almost 11 years, and I can say with ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY that I want that engine company down the street from me responding if I call! I have a wife and little boy at home and rest alot easier when i'm at work and know that if my wife has to god forbid call 911, that Engine company is going to be there very quick! I'm tired of some of these posts by people who don't have a dog in this fight!
As a Yonkers resident, and an FDNY Union Delegate, I say I support you Local 628
Keep up the good fight!!!!

About a week before my son was born last summer, I was on my way home from work one morning. I was driving North on Central Ave. and started feeling extremely lightheaded, nauseous, and dizzy. By the time I parked my car in my parking spot I was blacking out. I barely made it into my door when I practically collapsed on the floor. My wife called 911 imediately and within (it seemed instantaneous) 2 minutes or so, the men from 14 Engine were in my apt. taking care of me.................Can't say the same for Empress...........
And by the way, the Brothers from 14 Engine provided Excellent, Competent care! I can say that because I've also been doing this for a living for almost 12 years, in an Engine company that runs over 4,000 runs per year.
You on the other hand seem to have an axe to grind with the YFD.................Do you live in Yonkers or do you work for Empress? If the answer is no for both, then keep quiet!

Helicopper pretty much summed this up. Many people don't realize that 1st Amendment rights (freedom of speech) don't apply to speech, on or off duty, made pursuant to official duties- that is, it owes its existence to the member's or employee's professional duties and responsibilities. Therefore department members may be disciplined for speaking out against department policies in certain situations. Certainly, a Fire Commissioner, who serves at the pleasure of the Mayor and has no contract or union protection, cannot reasonably be expected to openly disagree with the city administration.
There may be very many statements which have been made in the press that many members of senior management disagree with very strongly, but to openly criticize the policies of the department would possibly subject that individual to discipline. Union Officials, however, have very broad latitude in what they are able to say, which is why serious criticisms of policies, etc. generally come from union leaders, and not the rank and file, or senior leadership. Silence should not be taken as approval however.
I would like to emphasize that in this post and in any post I make on EMTBravo, or elsewhere, I am expressing myself as a private citizen, in a non-official capacity. The content of my posts is not being disclosed in my official capacity and such content represents solely my opinions and does not necessarily represent the official position of the City of Yonkers or the Yonkers Fire Department.

All of the 18 Fire Companies with the current manning are necessary for fire and emergency protection, regardless of the existence of a First Responder Program. There is no certainly as far as I can tell that "several" companies would be eliminated if the First Responder Program were eliminated. In my educated opinion YFD manning levels are not excessive in relation to similar sized Northeast Departments.
It should be noted that many who post on here, including occasionally YFD members, engage in speculation and do not necessarily have an adequate understanding of the "big picture".
I would like to emphasize that in this post as well as in any post I make on EMTBravo, or elsewhere, I am expressing myself as a private citizen, in a non-official capacity. The content of my posts is not being disclosed in my official capacity and such content represents solely my opinions and does not necessarily represent the official position of the city of Yonkers or the Yonkers Fire Department.
And yes, I realize it would be safer to express myself anonymously, but that is not my style and never will be.

All of the 18 Fire Companies with the current manning are necessary for fire and emergency protection, regardless of the existence of a First Responder Program. There is no certainly as far as I can tell that "several" companies would be eliminated if the First Responder Program were eliminated. In my educated opinion YFD manning levels are not excessive in relation to similar sized Northeast Departments.
It should be noted that many who post on here, including occasionally YFD members, engage in speculation and do not necessarily have an adequate understanding of the "big picture".
I would like to emphasize that in this post as well as in any post I make on EMTBravo, or elsewhere, I am expressing myself as a private citizen, in a non-official capacity. The content of my posts is not being disclosed in my official capacity and such content represents solely my opinions and does not necessarily represent the official position of the city of Yonkers or the Yonkers Fire Department.
And yes, I realize it would be safer to express myself anonymously, but that is not my style and never will be.

Oh, another quick point in response to this post that I just realized has not been made yet....Local 628 nor the UFOA have never "gone after" or "attacked" Empress' union. In fact, it might be perceived to be the other way around. You see, approx. 22 years ago, when YFD began regularly responding to First Responder work, which was not currently being done by anyone except the occasional response of YFD to medical emergencies, or the YPD ESU responing to accidents and injuries, the YFD Administration, and both unions, advocated for more ambulances on the road, documented poor Empress response times and inadequate equipment, all of which bettered the working conditions of Empress members and created additional jobs for Empress employees. YFD also requested and had put in the contract that Empress medics would provide training to our members, thus creating work for them. Now, fast forward 22 years later and IT SEEMS that Empress' union is supporting replacing YFD as first responders with Paramedics in fly cars, thus "going after" local 628 and UFOA work, not to mentionthat this is a notion that anyone involved in the system as a professional should realize will compromise patient care for many reasons. Over the years the idea of YFD taking over ambulance service had been floated by various political leaders, and neither 628 nor UFOA had ever pursued this work.
So, It's hard to try to make the point that the YFD unions are somehow hurting Empress employees of their union or have ever done so.
In any event, just a reminder to all in this great city who respond to any type of emergency- we all have much more in common than we hold as differences- there are no enemies amongst us. Patient care must come first and foremost. So, please everyone on all sides of this contentious and emotional issue- although we may have strong disagreements in certain areas, let's agree to treat one another with respect at all times (especially in the field), and to be honest in our dealings with each other. All of us have a tough and at times, dangerous job that is worthwile and deserving of respect. Let's not demean ourselves or our professions by engaging in pettiness and mean spirited behavior. We are all much better than that.
And of course, please qtip.....

Oh, another quick point in response to this post that I just realized has not been made yet....Local 628 nor the UFOA have never "gone after" or "attacked" Empress' union. In fact, it might be perceived to be the other way around. You see, approx. 22 years ago, when YFD began regularly responding to First Responder work, which was not currently being done by anyone except the occasional response of YFD to medical emergencies, or the YPD ESU responing to accidents and injuries, the YFD Administration, and both unions, advocated for more ambulances on the road, documented poor Empress response times and inadequate equipment, all of which bettered the working conditions of Empress members and created additional jobs for Empress employees. YFD also requested and had put in the contract that Empress medics would provide training to our members, thus creating work for them. Now, fast forward 22 years later and IT SEEMS that Empress' union is supporting replacing YFD as first responders with Paramedics in fly cars, thus "going after" local 628 and UFOA work, not to mentionthat this is a notion that anyone involved in the system as a professional should realize will compromise patient care for many reasons. Over the years the idea of YFD taking over ambulance service had been floated by various political leaders, and neither 628 nor UFOA had ever pursued this work.
So, It's hard to try to make the point that the YFD unions are somehow hurting Empress employees of their union or have ever done so.
In any event, just a reminder to all in this great city who respond to any type of emergency- we all have much more in common than we hold as differences- there are no enemies amongst us. Patient care must come first and foremost. So, please everyone on all sides of this contentious and emotional issue- although we may have strong disagreements in certain areas, let's agree to treat one another with respect at all times (especially in the field), and to be honest in our dealings with each other. All of us have a tough and at times, dangerous job that is worthwile and deserving of respect. Let's not demean ourselves or our professions by engaging in pettiness and mean spirited behavior. We are all much better than that.
And of course, please qtip.....

Part 3.
Disclaimer- my apologies for spelling and grammatical errors in previous and future posts- there is a lot to cover here and I don't have time or emergy to dot the i's and cross the t's- I hope I am making some sense to most of you nonetheless.
Here we go...I agree with the poster who stated that Empress is "clinically progressive" and who espoused the value of Empress' EMD pre-arrival instructions. However, I should point out that the "Haz-Mat Special Ops support to YFD" provided by Empress is done with equipment purchased with federal grant money (UASI and MMRS), and training conducted by YFD. The nature of this support is generally to provide a secondary technical decon only.
One point that was made by a brother YFD member, above, should be emphasized. Empress has so very many dedicated and professional members. However, the majority of these individuals do not spend the majority of their working lives in EMS, and particularly not with Empress, although some do. Many Empress employees move on to Fire or Police Department careers, elsewhere in emergency medicine, or on to other careers altogether. The Empress work force is nowhere as stable as YFD. This is just reality and I believe is pertinent. I won't give my opinion regarding the effect of a stable vs. a more transient workforce because it is just that, my opinion, and we all know what those are worth. However, these facts should be provided so that all of the stakeholders (particularly city residents) might be able to deternine relevance.

Went through this many years ago. Stopped at my fathers house for breakfast, on the way into work for 9x6 tour. He said-"hey, your firehouse is on 43st.,right? I think it has been destroyed by a huge fire!" I hoped (selfishly) that it was the other company,Engine 65, also on 43 st., not Rescue 1. No, it was my firehouse- the 6-story (heavy timber) piano factory burned (arson) and collapsed onto our 3-story quarters.
We spent 2 weeks digging through the pancake collapse, getting to our lockers and finding old photos and memorabila (sp?). One of the guys had many large coffee cans filled with quarters, and another had all the masts and sails and gear for his sailboat in the cellar, in addition to his three boys band equipment. (He told his boys that they could rehearse in the firehouse basement, as long as the Captain wasn't working). Well one day the Captain made a last minute mutual, and ending up working during a "rehearsal". Needless to say, he wasn't happy when he heard a huge racket going on in quarters!
Anyway, we had to relocate for several years to E34/L21 on 38st. unil a new quarters was rebuilt on the site. Of course the wrought-iron circular staircase and the old kitchen and the wainscoting-all gone in the new "modern" station. Losing your firehouse to a fire is very painful even if it was an accident.

I'm done for tonight..when I have time I will post the conclusion to this series of sloppy, but hopefully informative posts, entitled-
THE BOTTOM LINE- Short term and long term consequences of eliminating the YFD First Responder Program, and why, if it ever is eliminated, it will inevitably be reinstituted in 9-24 months.
In the meantime my friends, please...qtip.....

Part 3.
Disclaimer- my apologies for spelling and grammatical errors in previous and future posts- there is a lot to cover here and I don't have time or emergy to dot the i's and cross the t's- I hope I am making some sense to most of you nonetheless.
Here we go...I agree with the poster who stated that Empress is "clinically progressive" and who espoused the value of Empress' EMD pre-arrival instructions. However, I should point out that the "Haz-Mat Special Ops support to YFD" provided by Empress is done with equipment purchased with federal grant money (UASI and MMRS), and training conducted by YFD. The nature of this support is generally to provide a secondary technical decon only.
One point that was made by a brother YFD member, above, should be emphasized. Empress has so very many dedicated and professional members. However, the majority of these individuals do not spend the majority of their working lives in EMS, and particularly not with Empress, although some do. Many Empress employees move on to Fire or Police Department careers, elsewhere in emergency medicine, or on to other careers altogether. The Empress work force is nowhere as stable as YFD. This is just reality and I believe is pertinent. I won't give my opinion regarding the effect of a stable vs. a more transient workforce because it is just that, my opinion, and we all know what those are worth. However, these facts should be provided so that all of the stakeholders (particularly city residents) might be able to deternine relevance.

Great post my Brother, whoever you are, lol- please let me know your identity if you don't mind. Thanks to you and Capt. Smith for the informative posts and to all of our members for not discrediting ourselves or our department by engaging in name calling and nasty, unprofessional language. Of course I would never expect our guys to sink to the level that some others on this thread have sunk to, but thanks nonetheless...
I will add a bit from my perspective- please bear with me as I am exhausted and pressed for time do I will bang this out quickly and it may be a bit rough around the edges....
I am nearing the end of my career, and frankly, I don't really think I will be personally affected if in fact the YFD First Responder Program did end, although I sincerely doubt that will happen for long, if at all, and I will explain why below. In fact, I certainly have more to lose by posting on this topic rather than remaining silent as this will likely piss some people off...oh well...
I have been a member of YFD for almost 25 years, since before we had a First Responder Program. As a very junior Firefighter I was a member of the committee which some at the time said "ruined the job" by convincing first, Local 628, and later, with the backing of L-628, helped to convince the City Fathers that this program was a good idea. The union did not come up with the idea of this program or push for it at first. You see, years ago, YFD only responded on medical runs when there was a confirmed cardiac arrest and Empress Ambulance either was not available at all, or did not have enough personnel available to perform good CPR. We responded on those fairly often. We had only very basic first aid training and CPR. There were numerous times when we performed CPR for very long periods of time before the arrival of the ambulance. Sometimes a Paramedic fly car would arrive and we would wait, and wait....sometimes not even the fly car. The Empress employees were almost always professional, dedicated, and we had a great working relationship. It sure wasn't their fault that the number of ambulances available didn't meet the need at that moment. One day, at Engine 306 where I worked, a family ran in with a baby in respiratory distress who had actually turned blue. A senior man /EMT opened the airway and started Oxygen. The baby wound up being ok. The family was irate that they had called over 20 minutes before and we had not responded (we checked the times and this was accurate). We explained that FD did not get sent to these type of calls unless it was a cardiac arrest and Empress requested us. It was very upsetting to me/us to know that people who we were sworn to protect, particularly children, could be having a life threatening medical emergency that we would be able to assist with, yet we would not be called.
I really never wanted to do emergency medical work back then- I thought of myself as a Firefighter and my idea of a Firefighter was different than what it is today. Nonetheless, because of situations such as I have described above, I agreed with some other Firefighters who advocated for us to go on these runs more regularly as was being done in other parts of the country, and seemingly very successfully. It took a couple of years, but eventually the program began. At the time, approximately 22 years ago, it is my understanding that Empress was charging the City of Yonkers a flat 1 Million per year for their services plus the ability to recoup from billing. Almost as soon as we began the First Responder Program that ccontract was re-negotiated and Empress then waived this 1 Million dollar fee. Also, there was no minimum number of ambulances that were required to be dedicated to City of Yonkers- almost as soon as YFD began going on these runs,it was noticed how very bad Empress' response times were- not due to any fault of the overworked Empress EMT's and Medics, but again, because of a lack of appropriate resources. So, very shortly because of YFD complaints, Empress agreed to keep a minimum number of ALS and BLS units in the city and this was put into their contract. I also think that it was at this time that a certain maximum average response time for Empress BLS and ALS units was placed into Empress' contract which improved things dramatically. I guess if prior to YFD involvement no one was really paying attention to ressponse times, why bother having a lot of ambulances available- the number of billable patients was not dependent on response time- they would all wait as long as it took for the ambulance so why incur the expense if no one was complaining, right?
Admittedly, I haven't gone on a First Responder rum for almost 7 years now, but I did respond on very many over the years. Almost always, I found Empress employees to be fantastic and I thought we had a great working relationship, even if there was a bit of uncomfortability at times- egos and jealousy and just basic human misunderstanding on both sides creeps in of course, however in my opinion we were mostly all regular working people who enjoyed the adrenaline rush and especially, helping people. During the approximately 15 years that I went on First Responder runs with YFD there were very many times that we arrived significantly before Empress ambulance. The large majority of time we arrived at least a couple of minutes before Empress, and often, especially when I worked on the East side of Yonkers, more than 10 minutes prior to Empress. As Captain Smith was, I was involved in 2 successful childbirths (the Moms did basically all of the work of course but they were sure glad that we were there nonetheless) before Empress arrived (not the same ones), and I and my crew initiated CPR COUNTLESS TIMES before Empress' arrival. END OF PART 1 TO BE CONTINUED

Part 3.
Disclaimer- my apologies for spelling and grammatical errors in previous and future posts- there is a lot to cover here and I don't have time or emergy to dot the i's and cross the t's- I hope I am making some sense to most of you nonetheless.
Here we go...I agree with the poster who stated that Empress is "clinically progressive" and who espoused the value of Empress' EMD pre-arrival instructions. However, I should point out that the "Haz-Mat Special Ops support to YFD" provided by Empress is done with equipment purchased with federal grant money (UASI and MMRS), and training conducted by YFD. The nature of this support is generally to provide a secondary technical decon only.
One point that was made by a brother YFD member, above, should be emphasized. Empress has so very many dedicated and professional members. However, the majority of these individuals do not spend the majority of their working lives in EMS, and particularly not with Empress, although some do. Many Empress employees move on to Fire or Police Department careers, elsewhere in emergency medicine, or on to other careers altogether. The Empress work force is nowhere as stable as YFD. This is just reality and I believe is pertinent. I won't give my opinion regarding the effect of a stable vs. a more transient workforce because it is just that, my opinion, and we all know what those are worth. However, these facts should be provided so that all of the stakeholders (particularly city residents) might be able to deternine relevance.

Part 2- Now, to some of the misinformation that has been posted on this site in regard to the YFD First Responder Program.
Misinformation response # 1. This work constitutes a large majority of our responses, or our overall work. This is not accurate. First Responder runs account for approximately 55 % of our incidents. However, each of these incidents requires the response of only one Engine Company, and the Engine Company is generally back in service in 20 minutes or less, sometimes longer of course. Obviously to anyone familiar with the Fire Service, the typical incident any Fire Department responds to (the other approximately 45% ) involves many more apparatus and personnel for significantly longer periods of time. A First Responder run with utilizing one apparatue and 4 Firefighters for 15 minutes is one incident. A 3 Alarm Fire utilizing 14 apparatus, other vehicles, and a total of 63 or so Firefighters for six or seven hours is also one incident, kapeesh?? Furthermore, the "workload" of a Fire Department is not only responses, but also the necessary training, inspections, cleaning, maintenance of vehicles, equipment, etc.
Misinformation response # 1a. Therefore, although the rumored elimination of the First Responder Program may (not my area of expertise) allow certain contractual minimum personnel levels to no longer be adhered to, it will not obviate the necessity to have adequate Fire Companies and personnel available for Firefighting and other emergencies. Sure, no FD is as busy as twenty years ago with fire duty, and certainly not as busy as 30 or 40 years ago. Nonetheless, fires do still occur, and adequate personnel and equipment is necessary for this. There is a very valid reason that similar sized city FD's all over the U.S., and in fact the industrialized world conduct First Responder Programs- the very nature of a Fire Department requires Firefighters and their equipment to be readily available for guess what, fires! However, this ready availability of individuals who are trained to handle emergencies and have apparatus to quickly respond allows city sized Fire Departments to have personnel available to supplement the primary EMS response with First Response capability. This supplementation is able to be done by Firefighters who, for the most part, will need to be there, available, anyway! The Firefighters do not get tied up with transport (generally), transfer to the medical facility, PCR's, cleaning the ambulance, etc. So, they are able to go right back into service as soon as the patient has been placed in the ambulance, or in many cases, sooner, right?
Misinformation response # 2. Oh, here's an easy one- we have 4 Firefighters per apparatus (3 Firefighters and a Company Officer), not 5. That is the manning we have had per apparatus for over 30 years. It's hard to understand how any individual who would purport to understand the situation in Yonkers could state that this is all about reducing manning from 5 to 4 per apparatus, or words to that effect.
Misinformation response # 3. The majority of these runs are nuisance runs. Well, that depends on what you consider a nusiance run. The fact is that if we know in advance the situation is not a true medical emergency, then neither the Fire Department nor the emergency ambulance service shoud respond, right? The problem, which has been studied at the highest levels for many years, is how to deduce from the initial phone call what is and what isn't a "nuisance call"..I don't know how to quantify how many of these runs that YFD (and Empress) responds to are not true medical emergencies, but admittedly the number is significant, as it is in EMS systems almost everywhere. No one wants to respond on any type of alarm where we are not needed, and as soon as someone can find out how to deduce true emergency from nuisance run every time, please let us know!
END OF PART 2 TO BE CONTINUED

Great post my Brother, whoever you are, lol- please let me know your identity if you don't mind. Thanks to you and Capt. Smith for the informative posts and to all of our members for not discrediting ourselves or our department by engaging in name calling and nasty, unprofessional language. Of course I would never expect our guys to sink to the level that some others on this thread have sunk to, but thanks nonetheless...
I will add a bit from my perspective- please bear with me as I am exhausted and pressed for time do I will bang this out quickly and it may be a bit rough around the edges....
I am nearing the end of my career, and frankly, I don't really think I will be personally affected if in fact the YFD First Responder Program did end, although I sincerely doubt that will happen for long, if at all, and I will explain why below. In fact, I certainly have more to lose by posting on this topic rather than remaining silent as this will likely piss some people off...oh well...
I have been a member of YFD for almost 25 years, since before we had a First Responder Program. As a very junior Firefighter I was a member of the committee which some at the time said "ruined the job" by convincing first, Local 628, and later, with the backing of L-628, helped to convince the City Fathers that this program was a good idea. The union did not come up with the idea of this program or push for it at first. You see, years ago, YFD only responded on medical runs when there was a confirmed cardiac arrest and Empress Ambulance either was not available at all, or did not have enough personnel available to perform good CPR. We responded on those fairly often. We had only very basic first aid training and CPR. There were numerous times when we performed CPR for very long periods of time before the arrival of the ambulance. Sometimes a Paramedic fly car would arrive and we would wait, and wait....sometimes not even the fly car. The Empress employees were almost always professional, dedicated, and we had a great working relationship. It sure wasn't their fault that the number of ambulances available didn't meet the need at that moment. One day, at Engine 306 where I worked, a family ran in with a baby in respiratory distress who had actually turned blue. A senior man /EMT opened the airway and started Oxygen. The baby wound up being ok. The family was irate that they had called over 20 minutes before and we had not responded (we checked the times and this was accurate). We explained that FD did not get sent to these type of calls unless it was a cardiac arrest and Empress requested us. It was very upsetting to me/us to know that people who we were sworn to protect, particularly children, could be having a life threatening medical emergency that we would be able to assist with, yet we would not be called.
I really never wanted to do emergency medical work back then- I thought of myself as a Firefighter and my idea of a Firefighter was different than what it is today. Nonetheless, because of situations such as I have described above, I agreed with some other Firefighters who advocated for us to go on these runs more regularly as was being done in other parts of the country, and seemingly very successfully. It took a couple of years, but eventually the program began. At the time, approximately 22 years ago, it is my understanding that Empress was charging the City of Yonkers a flat 1 Million per year for their services plus the ability to recoup from billing. Almost as soon as we began the First Responder Program that ccontract was re-negotiated and Empress then waived this 1 Million dollar fee. Also, there was no minimum number of ambulances that were required to be dedicated to City of Yonkers- almost as soon as YFD began going on these runs,it was noticed how very bad Empress' response times were- not due to any fault of the overworked Empress EMT's and Medics, but again, because of a lack of appropriate resources. So, very shortly because of YFD complaints, Empress agreed to keep a minimum number of ALS and BLS units in the city and this was put into their contract. I also think that it was at this time that a certain maximum average response time for Empress BLS and ALS units was placed into Empress' contract which improved things dramatically. I guess if prior to YFD involvement no one was really paying attention to ressponse times, why bother having a lot of ambulances available- the number of billable patients was not dependent on response time- they would all wait as long as it took for the ambulance so why incur the expense if no one was complaining, right?
Admittedly, I haven't gone on a First Responder rum for almost 7 years now, but I did respond on very many over the years. Almost always, I found Empress employees to be fantastic and I thought we had a great working relationship, even if there was a bit of uncomfortability at times- egos and jealousy and just basic human misunderstanding on both sides creeps in of course, however in my opinion we were mostly all regular working people who enjoyed the adrenaline rush and especially, helping people. During the approximately 15 years that I went on First Responder runs with YFD there were very many times that we arrived significantly before Empress ambulance. The large majority of time we arrived at least a couple of minutes before Empress, and often, especially when I worked on the East side of Yonkers, more than 10 minutes prior to Empress. As Captain Smith was, I was involved in 2 successful childbirths (the Moms did basically all of the work of course but they were sure glad that we were there nonetheless) before Empress arrived (not the same ones), and I and my crew initiated CPR COUNTLESS TIMES before Empress' arrival. END OF PART 1 TO BE CONTINUED