CFFD117

Vests must be fitted to the user. Too big, and you can not sit down without the vest riding up and hitting you in the chin, too small and it will leave gaps on the sides and vital areas. Also most vests are guaranteed for only 5 years by their manufacturers, however some departments can not afford to replace them when the hit that time limit. The NYPD gives its officers one vest, that's it, there is no spare to use if you clean it, or it is sweating from working during the summer. You want to replace it, save up your money (which if you use the uniform allowance money, it will take two years, without spending any money on any uniform items. We get $1000 a year lumped into the first paycheck in December, and it is taxed so you end up with just less than $%600). Vests also lose effectiveness when they get wet. You can not launder the ballistic insert, only the carrier. The insert is usually recommended to be clean with a damp cloth., so if multiple people are going to share them, its going to get disgusting quickly. Most vests also provide very little to no protection against bladed weapons, i.e. knives, daggers, etc and nothing against explosive devices. Rifle rounds and high powered handgun rounds will penetrate most vests on the market
I also disagree that law enforcement is better than anyone else. We are held to a higher standard than anyone else. Get arrested for a domestic incident, and convicted you are fired (federal law about domestics and gun ownership).
If the scene is not safe you do not enter...first thing they teach in EMT class.

Or maybe our softer, gentler society has had some unintended consequences...

1) Yes but when the contract for sanitation ends in summer and they walk out in July. 3-5 weeks of garbage pilling up and the politicians cave on negotiations.
2) Seeing as your retired EMS.....I remember friends leaving NYC*EMS for NYC Sanitation and at the time we joked that both wore green uniforms, both drove white trucks with flashing lights, both had to pick up garbage, but sanitation limited the weight and it was already out on the curb.

AGAIN........Are you guys still pissing at each other over the traffic situation.
If, there was nothing wrong with the truck, because we are all blaming the driver;
If, the truck driver wasn't driving so fast;
If, the truck wasn't overweight;
If, the driver didn't get trapped;
If, the fire department worked faster and extricated the driver faster;
If, the EMS personnel could have gotten the surgical team there faster to cut off the drivers legs;
Maybe, just maybe, the world would be perfect!
But answer this.................
If a dalmation had a square ass, would he poop dice?

Every 911 Dispatcher's dream!
Photo taken by me this morning in Rockefeller Center.

Dan- they modified the ashtray into a NON REMOVABLE spit cup with a through-the-dash DRAIN. When you flick the high-beams three times it flushes with wind-shield wiper resevolir fluid.

Bring back the 70's style Blue and Gold
lol

Great topic, dwc!

In regards to the Houston incident,

Spoke to a friend. As usual, the media is manipulating this situation, exeggerating what happened, and reporting based on ignorance of the fire service.

When firefighters arrived, and during the duration of the incident, it was not known if anybody who lived inside was present. The house had been "renovated" several times and was falling apart, the electricty was turned off, mail was piled up at the door, the landscaping was overgrown, and, at the time, there were no cars in the driveway. The house was an extensive Colliers Mansion-hoarding situation. The victim was buried under a huge pile of debris, includingg large parts of the structures. and his body was basically disingrated. Neighbors didn't know anybody who lived in the house, and several neighbors believed the house was vacant as multiple neigbors stated they hadn't seen anyone in months at that house. There was no sign that squatters were living in the house, as the kitchen was stripped, no food, and no running water meant no toilet. No way to find the signs of elimination. The body was found by chance by Arson Investigators following the burn pattern.

The "mother" came the day after, and immediately retained a lawyer who happened to be also on scene with a neighbor who was supposefly a client in an unrelated case...., who, in turn, called the media.

We all make mistakes. This was a crappy situation for the firefighters. The guy was dead when they got there from smoke inhalation, and with the conditions and information stated above, we can't take an entire structure apart and remove all debris during the searchs. And in Colliers Mansion conditions, it's most likely that victims may put themselves in risk of not being found during a fire. And, during the searchs, firefighters were keeping getting buried when the piles of crap that lined the hallways kept falling on them, complicating their search. Overhaul may not be extensive enough to even find any fire victim in the conditions stated above, especially when there's no one on scene or no information to find out about people living in the house (the IC followed all leads that he could get). Also, it was treated as an arson and the scene was secured until daylight the next day. When doing overhaul evidence must be preserved as best as possible.

So, instead of the media emphasizing how clutter can kill you, they turn a cheek to all the facts, glaze over what the conditions were inside the structure and blame the villians in this story....the firefighters. It's situations like this where I'd love to put the reporters and neighbors in a turnout gear and a donned SCBA and let them search through those conditions, and see what they come up with.

And really, does any firefighter want to NOT find somebody?

As for the FD, it's a really strong combination department located, like their name, is a northwestern suburb of Houston, TX. Several members are also career guys in some of the busiest companies in Houston.

http://www.northwestfiredept.com/NWSite/NwFrame.html

Empress is a union shop (International Association Of EMT's and Paramedics Local 20). I'm suprised that Yonkers FD, having a strong union themselves, would be trashing Empress and threatening the jobs and livelihoods of over 200 people with a company that has served the City Of Yonkers for over 20 years, and is able to provide a large amount of ambulances to the system anytime. While the firefighters recieve very good pay, benefits including a great pension, it's unexplainable why their Union would go after another union where the members of that union don't have nearly the same pay and benefits of YFD members. And while the EMT's and Paramedics are running their butts off covering calls, with down time spent in an ambulance on post, the firefighters have stations they can go back to after they dump patient care on EMS, which then does the meat and potatoes of the work. I didn't think that trashing another union was how they played the game. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.
I guess if EMS is 80% of your call volume, if the City paid for more ambulances and flycars dedicated to Yonkers in lieu of an FD first response, that would really bring down their numbers, and that would affect staffing and funding. And they must forget how Empress is a vendor of the City of Yonkers, and part of that is delivering what the customer (City Of Yonkers) wants. Must also forget that, even though they claim "For Profit" ambulance, Empress provides EMS to the City Of Yonkers for FREE, and often sacrifices their transport side of the business so they can provide excellent service to the city. Empress also provides, at mostly their own cost, a full service EMS Special Operations unit, with numerous personel extensively trained and very well equipped to support the fire department in Haz-Mat situations. Empress also provides EMD pre-arrival instructions to callers, which has been proven to be lifesaving. Not to mention how clinically progressive they are, such as being the first EMS service around to use RSI. Also, Empress EMS maintains their headquarters in central Yonkers, pays taxes to the City Of Yonkers, and employs numerous city residents. Their dedication to the City is evident.
I find it disgusting that the website implies that due to the EMS provider, that they are "saving lives everyday". Empress has some of the strongest and most experienced EMS personel out there, and you don't see stories about the good they do, because the fire department usually wants to take all the credit, as evidenced on their new website. The EMS employees are the ones saving lives everyday, as EMS is their full time job. Firefighting is YFD's full time job, and the motives of them trashing EMS is sketchy.
I guess true colors are showing.

How about we line the borders of Newtown with FireFighters and EMS so they can' t get in to the town, you know go ahead make my day.

The firearms used, 2 handguns, were legally purchased, owned and REGISTERED to a LICENSED person. They were stolen after that person was murdered.
Like most politicians, several people will have knee jerk reactions to this senseless act carried out by a mentally disturbed individual. They will call for all kinds of new laws and regulations when the ones we have still mean nothing the criminal. So China should ban knives. We should make it illegal to own and drive cars because some people choose to drink and drive and kill others.
What would you have us do, ban all private ownership of firearms? Have the government confiscate them? The ONLY thing that is keeping what is left of our constitution intact is the Second Amendment. Without it, and what it provides, the rest of the amendments and the rest of the Constituton stand no chance of surviving for long.
Gov Huckabee said it correctly as have many others in the past. We, as a nation, have pushed God from our schools, work, politics, sports, and just about every aspect of our lives. And then we wonder where He is when something like this happens.
"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,....murders....: All these evil things come from within... ." Mark 7:21,23.
My condolances to the many who have suffered loss this tragic day. You will be in my prayers.

As much a I hate to admit it this is true. EMS is treated like a second class citizen in the FDNY but it is still better then when we were under HHC ( based on what I've been told). There are some old timers who swear up and down on HHC but the majority say it's better under FDNY. We've gotten better pay/ benefits, as well as a much better budget for EMS. The ambulances used to be barebones you were lucky to be part 800. Now most of our buses are overstocked and the stations have plenty of extra to restock. However as I mentioned you are a second class citizen. Many people get frustrated that when EMS does something they refer to you as " FDNY members " or " Firefighters" and very rarely mention EMS. Also the changing our of supervisors mentality has changed drastically in even the 4 years I've been there. I wish our bosses were like the bosses for the Firefighters, but ours would rather write charge packets, for the same thing they were doing a year ago before they got their bar. This is where the whole Sandy thing comes into play. Unlike what the Commissioner says units were ordered to stay at their cross street locations ( not in shelter) during the storm, and station supervisors were ordered to stay in quarters until the water was so many many people lost their cars because it was too late to evacuate. Had these same Chiefs been out in the field ( there is usually only 1 to 2 EMS chiefs on at night and they're basically ghosts who only appear when something big happens) they would have seen how fast the conditions deteriorated and how much danger the crews were in. Putting the crews in danger jeopardized the citizen's we are here to protect because we became focused on trying to save each other and therefore took longer to respond to emergencies. Many member unnecessarily lost possessions and their vehicles because of the lack of preplanning and the lack of orders issued. This is a job to be proud of, and a honorable job where people look up to you. However I believe it is unacceptable to sit back and simply take abuse which can endanger you, this isn't a rant by someone who is burnt out, this is a rant by someone who loves his job however wish it was managed much much differently.

We all know what this job is about. This is one place that tradition comes into play in a meaningful way, and I don't care to hear from the naysayers and that "200 years of tradition uninterrupted by progress. I'm not talking about tactics and strategy, fog vs. straight, PPA. Those things are not tradition. A firefighter''s helmet is a symbol of who he is or who he was. Whatever style of helmet he wore is not the operative here. The symbolism here is that it is HIS helmet. Wearing this helmet he has accomplished things that the average person could not ever fathom. He has seen life and he has seen death. He calls anyone who wears similar headgear his brother because he knows where that person has been. If a firefighter meets his death on the job, it is his helmet that leads him to his funeral service.
My father passed away, non-LODD, when I was 15 years old. His helmet was solemnly and ceremoniously presented to me by one of his brothers. When my first son got on the job, I presented him with that same helmet. When my second son got on the job, I presented him with my old helmet. Those helmets are kept in places of honor in their homes. Why? Because that helmet says "That's who we are."
Politicians, City Managers, the general public, and unfortunately, some firefighters don't understand the symbolism. As for the rest of us, "You can leave this job, but you can't leave this job behind"
So, then, is that stinky, strange-looking hat worth $100?

This article is an embarrassment to the job and more so to this disgrace of a firefighter. The article would have you believe that this is a dietary issue and that the other firefighters are making him feel like an outcast because of his dietary choices. I've never worked in that firehouse, but we all know what the firehouse kitchen is like. The kitchen is sacred in the firehouse. It's where a group of firefighters, working together for 24 hrs, come together as a unit, cook and eat. Everyone coming together is key to the cohesiveness of the firehouse. Not everyone likes what is put on the table every night and no one is forcing food down your throat. Plenty of people I work with don't eat shellfish or cheese and some guys ARE cutting down on their meat intake for health reasons. That's fine, but everyone still pays and everyone still cooks. If nothing else, it's a highly important symbolic activity. We have a rule, if you're "out on the meal" then that's it, you're out.
Don't be fooled by the NY Post rhetoric or this guys nonsense story. The trouble didn't start because one person decided to change their diet. It began when that one person decided that the whole firehouse and a sacred aspect of it's culture had to change for him. We drill together, we laugh together, we eat together and we put ourselves in harms way together. You can't shun one of those things and expect everyone to maintain the same level of respect for you.
If any serious credence is lent to this story, it will be one more slide down the tube for society.

Basically it is designed to hold 700 cadets and take them on yearly cruises for sea term, which lasts around 3 months. There are classrooms and several berthing areas. I was on sea term when the earthquake hit Haiti, and the ship was activated and was going to be sent down to act as an area to house rescuers. This never happened, as we were de activated before we reached Florida ( to offload us cadets) and the USS BAATAN was closer and able to get there faster. As for its use in NYC, I would imagine it could be housing people or it could provide power to the shore using its steam plant. It could also be loading and bringing supplies down using the cargo holds.

Fellow Members,
With climate change creating more and more severe storms, and weather topics being some of our most popular, most posted in, fastest growing and most viewed threads, we've decided that the weather topics deserve their own section.
So, we've created "The Weather" forum, for discussion of the weather, weather events, storms, and everything related. It can be found in the Local Forums section, right under "Fiscal Crisis".
-Seth G. "x635" on behalf of the EMTBravo.net Team

They started out white but the city cut funding in the budget for keeping them clean so now they're just so dirty they look black.

Basically it is designed to hold 700 cadets and take them on yearly cruises for sea term, which lasts around 3 months. There are classrooms and several berthing areas. I was on sea term when the earthquake hit Haiti, and the ship was activated and was going to be sent down to act as an area to house rescuers. This never happened, as we were de activated before we reached Florida ( to offload us cadets) and the USS BAATAN was closer and able to get there faster. As for its use in NYC, I would imagine it could be housing people or it could provide power to the shore using its steam plant. It could also be loading and bringing supplies down using the cargo holds.

Basically it is designed to hold 700 cadets and take them on yearly cruises for sea term, which lasts around 3 months. There are classrooms and several berthing areas. I was on sea term when the earthquake hit Haiti, and the ship was activated and was going to be sent down to act as an area to house rescuers. This never happened, as we were de activated before we reached Florida ( to offload us cadets) and the USS BAATAN was closer and able to get there faster. As for its use in NYC, I would imagine it could be housing people or it could provide power to the shore using its steam plant. It could also be loading and bringing supplies down using the cargo holds.

Heres a photo from Hartford PD i took earlie this year in Hartford,CT....The PD seized a hummer from drug lords and turned the vehicle into a PR vehicle.

Rumor has it the dog is under investigation for discrimination. Apparently he chases cats but not other dogs...

Spy shot:

Lots of leg room, no charging ports and minimal emmissions so its "green". The NYS version has been modified for your safety with the "Mini Bloomburg Drink Holding System".

What a shame these two 3rd Pct officers were seriously injured. I hope they recover quickly and my thoughts go out to their families. I know guys on the job and they always say going home safely after the tour is completed is the number one priority. Sadly these two officers didn't get to do that.
http://www.lohud.com...dyssey=nav|head
Anyone who is "on the street" on South Broadway at 2 AM, I wouldn't give anything they say too much credibility.
.

So If I read this right, Dan yielded the right of way to a dead person?

"The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.
Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."
Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog."
-Colonel Grossman