signal30

Canada, eh? almost made it.... oh...wait...wrong way...douchnozzle

what a dumbass

I NEED MORE WATA' CAPTON'!!!! ok, Scotty was Scottish, I know...but happy St. Patty's day anyways...

Those with the ability to take action, have the responsibility to take action...

Lets pray the actions that are needed are those of words....

shouldn't be any more top heavy than a typical light rescue-utility vehicle, only time will tell if the USAF got this one right, but hey, whatever you can do to cut more people---

Two basic issues: What is a Rescue Company and what is a Rescue Unit?

The Rescue Company is equipment (including transport) AND enough trained personnel that respond together and can perform a particular rescue function.

How much personnel is needed? This depends on the incident. FDNY has the best Rescue Staffing and their are many incidents that require additional Rescues, or trucks or squads to assist them.

The Rescue Truck. We have an issue because in Westchester a Rescue can be a regular van or a 24' tandum axle unit.

What is a Rescue? A light Rescue? Medium? Heavy?

If you own a 20'+ walk in rescue, but basicly only have the equipment to handle an MVA its not a "heavy rescue". A line I always get a kick out of is "Heavy Rescue is the capability of the company not the weight of the chassie"

We have truck companies that carry what I would equate to as the equipment for a light rescue unit (spreader, cutter, rams, cribbing, airbags, jacks and basic rope equipment). I have seen large rescues that do not carry much more. Infact often I see they do not carry enough basic cribbing to handle a car underride of a truck or school bus).

My 1st question to a chief when laying out a new rescue is what type of rescue calls do you plan on operating at?

Fire, MVA, Machinery, Water (surface, swift/flood, Ice, dive), heavy transport (truck, bus, train, aircraft, etc.), confined space, high angle, trench, building collapse, etc.

You can not carry everything you need on 1 vehicle to handle all of the above. This unit may respond to all of them, but you must decide what equipment you will put on this unit. And if you can't carry it, who does?

Much of this debate would go away if 60 Control had a list (that everyone saw) that listed rescues by capability (in terms of type of incidents).

As listed in the squad description, we also need to determine what staffing (including minimum training levels) needs to respond (FEMA calls this typing) with each type of unit (engine, ladder, rescue, etc.).

Also lets not get hung up with how many responders can ride in the rescue. Whats important is how many arrive with it and can operate as a company. There are many 2 seat heavy rescues, but they get another 4-6 responders in another vehicle.

probably one of the bests posts on the subject written thus far...

This truck is extreme overkill, yep, you definitely see it i'm sure, but i'm not so sure you're going to see anything else with this thing parked somewhere. I'm all about woo woo's, but someone made the comment of the "cost" issue with some departments that have to scavenge for simple safety items for their members while other departments blow their money on excessive items. Granted, I understand how budgets work...use the money this year, otherwise you can't really justify asking for the same amount next year. But maybe some of us can look at ourselves and be big boys and girls and say, you know what? i think we can cut back a little bit...

Yes, the truck looks good, and i don't necessarily know too much about this agency's jurisdiction, but i really would love to have been in the meeting where all this was being discussed. I doubt that at any point, was there ever so much of a concern about the cost.