mfc2257

No Seagraves in Millwood.

I see this as being an even bigger asset in the back of the rig when you are trying to push drugs read the tape from the monitor etc, all while southbound on the TSP to WCMC.

It's one less person that has to hover over the pt. while enroute.

Also free's up someone to give the pre-hospital report.

Certainly not a substitute for traditional CPR training, but what a great way to modernize the process when appropriate.

Go Mohegan!

Millwood has two... One on E245 (our Squirt) and a mini Bullard on E247. They are Great Tools!

HOWEVER

I have two big issues:

1st, is training. I strongly believe that training without a TIC is imperitive. I feel like everyone who is going though basic these days just want's to finish so that they can use a TIC when they get to their first real job. The senses that a salty old FF has are not replaceable by a camera. Everyone should be of the opinion that when they get to a job that they probably won't get to use the TIC either because something is wrong with it (it didn't charge properly or someone forgot to plug it in after drill) or because the Truck Co. already has it inside doing search & rescue and now you have to go in with the knob to put the thing out and you don't have the camera.

2nd, is training with the camera. TIC's do not give a FF a very good depth perception. Thus, when operating in a tense situation where you are already succeptable to heat, fatigue, and fear, (yes we do get scared) the image on the screen apears to be so close, yet it is really 10-20 feet farther away. This can get people into trouble as they rush to get to the spot that they see in the camera. Now they have just covered 20 or so feet in a room that they probably haven't checked for danger (weak floor, another crew, etc.)

I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I think it's easier to get in trouble with a camera than without

Looks like a great invention... The only question I would have, is are they heavy enough to withstand the wind or traffic from blowing them over AND how well do they hold up to getting bumped or run over as we know happens ALL too often.

It's not that a FAST team needs to be dispatched to every call where the word "fire" is used. Dryer fire, oven fire, chimney fire etc, leave the FAST team in bed. This is what we have dispatchers for to ask the caller questions.... "Ok sir I have dispatched the fire department, now exactly where is the fire... In the bedroom.. oh and in the hall, ok sir I am going to alert more units, can you hold on a moment."

Essentially, when a caller states "my home is on fire"

Or a passer by states that "there is fire coming out the window"

It's safe to say that the first few minutes of a fire are the most dangerous. We need to rely on the dispatchers to take the calls and determine the severity of the fire so that if a FAST team is needed that they are added to the box in a timely mannor.

Another problem is Police dispatching instead of the county. The county gets paid to do it (I know their system leaves much to be desired) so they should be taking the calls for fire dispactch. If the PD take the call and dispatches, the callers tone of voice and the specific words that they use are lost by the time the 60 control dispatcher starts needing to coordinate a mutual aid effort. Had 60 Control talked to the initial caller there is a better line of communication as to what is going on. Instead when the DP does it, they are trying to coordinate a fire/ems response (something they really aren't trained or paid to do) AND get their own cars to the scene as well.

About 8 years ago I rode the back step of Price Georges County MD Truck 12. This truck was a convertable Pirsch (I think) with only a 4 man cab so two men rode the step. However I believe that it is actually against the law today.

It's amazing how funding for emergency services are struggling to maintain staffing and funding, but our legislators are willing to spend millions so that special interests can thrive.

You make a good point about having a successful simple paper system and how it will be hard to justify upgrades following it's success. It's a double edged sword. We need immeadiate help and if we are successful in implementing a temporary system the policy makers will view it as a final solution.

To help combat the problems with staffing a CAD system, I feel that a portion to the solution would be to give each department a computer format that they must provide the necessary information to the county in. Then as the county recieves the information, it can be downloaded into the system instead of manually imputted. I realize that this takes time and money to develop but at this point we need to be looking at long term solutions anyway.

This is going to sound crazy, but until we have an efficient CAD in place, we don't need to stop the process of becoming more streamlined in our mutual aid process. Break each territory up into Boxes. Create an excel spreadsheet with the box numbers and types of alarms MVA, Structure, Collapse, Hazmat etc.... Then include 1st, 2nd etc alarm assignments and the chief's choice of apparatus. These cards are laminated and kept in a rolling hanging file drawer at each dispatcher's side. A call comes in and they reach into the department's file, and for that address, dispatch the proper box assignment. Until this can be computerized this is a perfect and unbeliveably simple solution that works (I've seen it)... And also provides a backup in the case of computer or data failure. The chief of each dept. should be required to submit changes to box assignments 2 times a year to keep them current. If a chief has Engine xyz on a box, and they aren't getting out fast enough then he has the opportunity to change that assignment on the box card 2 times a year. If XYZ engine is out of service, all the dispatcher has to do is look to the second alarm assignment for that box and dispatch the next engine that the chief has listed. This is also a way to make sure that a chief gets what he wants. If he for example lists E146 from Chappaqua as his 1st due mutual aid engine because of its 5in capacity and it's not available, any other engine from Chappaqua might not due. An engine from Chappaqua can come in three different flavors... E145 with the 3in hose reel, E-144 with 3in and 5in and E146 with enough 5in to lay from here to Manhattan. Thus his next choice may be from another department from the oppisite direction not just one of Chappaqua's other engines. This can all be layed out on a very simple card. If anyone would like examples of box cards please email me at mfc2257@yahoo.com

Don't quote me on this, but I believe Portchester sends a Truck, Engine, Rescue to calls within the RB district. There have been some pretty nasty battles over this territory and the fire service there. It has changed a few times in the past decade from what I believe was full Portchester coverage to Rural Metro without PC coverage and now to RBFD with some type of support from PC.

Agreed... Combi tools aren't necessarly a replacement for a full set of tools... However there is also a slightly different way of using them... Thanks to Matt at AAA who sold us ours (It's on E-248 not R-36) myself and a few guys on the department can take just about any car apart in comperable time. Taking a door or a roof job is easily accomplished.... The combi tool does start to lose some of its capabality on cars that have sustained major damage through rollover AND high speed impact. But on these calls the combi tool is a great way to do hydraulic work on other parts of the car that need work but unfortuately can't be touched yet b/c the big tools are in use doing something else. Example... Access is needed for EMS to the pt. The spreaders and cutters are being used to free the door. The combi can be making roof cuts and taking the other door so that after the pt is stablized by the medic, easy extrication can be done quickly without having to wait for the big tools to finish the original task of getting pt access.

Absolutely... In a forum like say... The Mt. Pleasant Chiefs Assn. meetings, departments should band together and tell the county what we want. After all we are the ones who's lives are on the line... Not the county emergency policy makers.

Sorry.. Didn't want the point to come across as whining... And yes we do a good job... It appears that we aggree that it doesn't matter who arrives first. But I am a realist about the macro situation. Our mutual aid system is very antiquated. The days of cheif's having to spell out the details of their mutual aid request over the radio while enroute to a call should be long gone. They should just have to ask for their second alarm assignment etc. We called for tankers 10 & 14 the other day and Tanker 10 was out of service. Instead of going directly to Tanker 11, 6 or 16, the dispatcher called the chief to ask his preference. Who cares just put the next due available rig on the job. We should be over the garbage like... "we don't call xyz dept for mutual aid ever... Our chief's have never gotten along" but we're not over it. Same with "well that's just the way it's always been"... I really don't like hearing that stuff. Fact of the matter is that our departments are doing a great job on their own (Millwood/Briarcliff and Katonah/Bedford Hills etc) but I don't think that there is a ton of continuity county wide. I don't think that the administration at 60control has helped us to grow and improve our dispach process and mutual aid. In fact the politics down there have done nothing but hurt us.

Food for thought.....

I find that around town on the twisty roads where you are turning, speeding up slowing down etc, that on-spots are great. However, when making long runs on straight roads, I pick them up. Above 20mph chains arent really doing you any good. You have inertia behind you and they aren't providing any additional traction at that speed. As far as stopping goes, once a rig is moving it is extremely hard to overcome the laws of physics chains aren't going to help stop the rig until you slow down below 15 miles per hour... In fact they can cause a wheel lockup easier at highway speed.

Also... Has any department even done winter weather drivers training.... We never have, but I think it's a great idea. Dr. Jones doesn't have to go out in the snow, but we don't have a choice. There are plenty of MPO's that have never driven in a foot of snow. It's not a bad idea in my mind to get one of the older rigs to the local school or train station on a bad day and let the guys figure out how the rig acts in a panic stop and accelleration. Also in the dry when the boost from turbo diesel's spools up it doesn't effect us. In the snow, a modern turbo diesel will produce enough boost and torque to get the largest of trucks sideways.

Happy to help. I'll email you this weekend.

It's all about ego in Westchester... I spent 4 years as a FF in Gettysburg, PA. (gettysburgfd.com). Adam's County PA has 26 departments and is 2 times the size of Westchester. G-Burg had the only aerial device in the county and EVEN ran as the first due truck across state lines to the National Fire Acadamy in MD. Automatic mutual aid is required through their box dispatch format. No one cared about who arrived first at the fire. A typical job had 1 or more rigs from 3-5 departments dispatched on the first alarm. Part of the rivalry/friendship/etc between these departments was trying to be good enough to smoke someone into their own box AND not getting bent out of shape when someone else made it to your job first.

Westchester needs to grow up. We play like 1st graders.

Millwood is awaiting delivery in the next 6 weeks of a new engine to replace E-248 (one of the 1982 Kenworth garbage truck chassis twin to MFD's Telesquirt)

Spartan chassis with Sutphen box.

1500gpm single stage, 750gal water, 25gal class A and B foam.

Sutphen chassis wouldn't fit into main station as the bay isn't tall enough but Spartan chassis is aprox 4 inches lower.

The Engine will look identical to E-247 (1998 Spartan/3D)