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Here's a great and detailed write up by Steve Spak in firsthand story format:
http://stevespak.com/waldbaums.html
And the NIST report:
http://www.fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire97/art141.html
RIP to those who died yet taught us many lessons saving many future lives.

36 years ago today, at approximately 9:20 AM six heroic F.D.N.Y. Firemen were killed in the line of duty when the roof of the burning Waldbaum's Supermarket they were operating on collapsed. Please take a moment today to remember these heroic Firemen and their families:
• Lt. James E. Cutillo, Battalion 33
• Firefighter Charles S. Bouton, Ladder Company 156
• Firefighter Harold F. Hastings, Battalion 42
• Firefighter James P. McManus, Ladder Company 153
• Firefighter William O’Connor, Ladder Company 156
• Firefighter George S. Rice, Ladder Company 153
Rest in peace Brothers, you will never be forgotten...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTzBg1YIZmI

A few of us old retired types are having a few adult beverages last night when the topic turned to this incident. Two retired NYPD friends said that this was NOT a carotid neck hold. In NY that has been designated deadly physical force and couldn't have been used unless deadly physical force was authorized. They went on to say that that is a two arm technique and wasn't what you see in that video and nobody in NYPD trains on it.
They said headlocks were the only way to get some people under control and if they ban them there will be big problems.
Now don't kill the messenger. I'm only sharing some expert opinion from some boys in blue!

First, let me say, I am not commenting on this specific case, rather in generalities which have a connection to this case.
Medical Examiner determinations are very different from legal/police definitions.
Medical Examiners generally have five classifications (there is a sixth in New York City).
Natural
Suicide
Homicide
Accident
Undetermined (Rarely used when none of four above can truly be determined, despite all best efforts)
(NYC Only: Complication of Therapeutic or Diagnostic Procedures)
Homicide from a Medical Examiners perspective means ‘‘occurs when death results from...’’ an injury or poisoning or
from ‘‘...a volitional act committed by another person to cause fear, harm, or death. Intent to cause death is a common element but is not required for classification as homicide.’’ It merely means the death was caused by another person. Not all deaths caused by another person meet the legal/penal law definition of homicide. Here is the perfect example. A guy breaks into your house and you shoot him dead. The Medical Examiner classification for that is homicide, as it was caused by another person (you). However, from a legal perspective, you had the law on you side and you committed no legal violation whatsoever. The two areas are often conflated, but they are essentially only tangentially related. Another interesting exception exists with DWI fatalities. But that's another story.

Thanks.
The only way that type of freelancing stops is with strong Incident command which is almost non-existing in Westchester. Once the lead agency gets things established at an incident, Set up a hot zone, do a PAR check and if personnel are in the zone that do not belong ask them to go back to staging. If that does not resolve it ask for a supervisor from their agency to respond to the CP.

More like "Dear Mr Article 32 Investigating Officer"................

The tan truck is a M983A3 HEMTT LET, the green one looks to be a HEMTT M984Asomething wrecker. It looks like the wrecker (green truck) was towing the LET (tan truck) and disaster struck. There is no "tractor-trailer" here.. Just one truck being towed by a wrecker.

Perhaps it was headed to/coming from Camp Smith for the 719th Transportation unit? I know they did a MTOE change and were getting rid of their line haul M915/6's. The LET would be the replacement for the M915 series.

I "owned" several HEMTTs when I was in the Army.. Cargos, fuelers, LHS's. Great trucks, and a blast to drive off road.

Pic By Orange and Rockland Fire Page

Meriden, CT just fired one of their Officers after several videos surfaced of him beating handcuffed, minority suspects on multiple occasions. IAD tried investigating him, but being the Chief's son, it took a federal civil rights charge to finally get him gone.
Is it annoying when people video the police? Absolutely. Does it get edited by those with an agenda? Sure does. Does it sometimes catch a good cop on a bad day? Without a doubt. Do we live in America, where people have a right to videotape in public? You're goddamned right we do.

Had to be in the BOWERY Firehouse Bell tower.

Per the attachment in the article, Jane Dunn (wife?sister?mother? of Colin?) appears to have another take on the events rather than letting it be seen as theft of a county vehicle and freelancing in the extreme. The only question is, was she there and witnessed their "heroic" actions, or did he relate his acts to her by phone or electronic media after being taken into custody? Guess we need more investigative details.............................
Must have been more to it than what she says for them to press obstruction charges, you would think.

Absolutely no difference, because you cannot tell just from what the caller told Dispatch whether the person who "fell" is really in cardiac arrest or just planking for fun; or the diff breather is a CHF patient about to drown or someone just having an anxiety attack; or the repeat AFA is really a structure fire or someone forgetting their code again; or the CO detector is a bad battery or the real deal until you physically get someone there to investigate and maybe pass the word back to the other responders. Which is why we try to get a full crew for both the ambulances and the apparatus as soon as possible so we can get there and do our job promptly with enough people to mitigate the situation whenever possible.
Unfortunately, some people do go by the intial Dispatch and think it is not worth their time to respond [AKA "not enough of a glory call"], or the trucks rush to be the first to respond without a sufficient crew to do so properly [AKA "Look at our great response time, but gosh, can't do a darn thing yet" or "Ooops, we took the wrong truck for the job" (or used the ambulance to get people there to helpbut do not have a crew to transport")]. Thank God for the core group of people who do take what we do seriously, and here's hoping it rubs off on the newer ones coming in down the line,

I think the money plays a pretty big role in it.
For example, what is a small ambulance corps to do that doesn't have enough volunteers to cover a call, but doesn't have the population or volume to pay for 2 paid EMTs every day?
I know the answer in that case is really consolidation, but until that happens, isn't it better to at least have 1 trained responder to assess and start treatment before the crew arrives than to have nothing, or farming the task off on another service (like PD)

From the Empress EMS Facebook page. GREAT WORK BY ALL!

That's like saying not all automatic alarms are fire calls. My question is how do you know when the actual fire or true medical emergency where minutes do count is going to occur? If we knew when that was going to happen we could all save a fortune by only staffing appropriately during those times.

Is this any different than fire apparatus responding with one or two guys on it?

Per the attachment in the article, Jane Dunn (wife?sister?mother? of Colin?) appears to have another take on the events rather than letting it be seen as theft of a county vehicle and freelancing in the extreme. The only question is, was she there and witnessed their "heroic" actions, or did he relate his acts to her by phone or electronic media after being taken into custody? Guess we need more investigative details.............................
Must have been more to it than what she says for them to press obstruction charges, you would think.

It may be besides the point, or maybe not, but one has to keep in mind that many of the calls are not always to save a life, but to help people who are sick, or cannot get up by themselves, or who are injured but not in danger of dying, or having a psychological emergency or episode or are drunk, or who had the flu for three days and call when everyone is now sleeping even if they do happen to be staffing inside the firehouse. Yes, we should get out as promptly as possible, and absolutely ASAP for the more serious calls and emergencies in which the patient is in extreme distress. But not everyone is going to die if we pass 9 minutes. Although I can understand the point of getting out faster, and wish it were always possible, especially for the patient's sake and comfort.

It may be besides the point, or maybe not, but one has to keep in mind that many of the calls are not always to save a life, but to help people who are sick, or cannot get up by themselves, or who are injured but not in danger of dying, or having a psychological emergency or episode or are drunk, or who had the flu for three days and call when everyone is now sleeping even if they do happen to be staffing inside the firehouse. Yes, we should get out as promptly as possible, and absolutely ASAP for the more serious calls and emergencies in which the patient is in extreme distress. But not everyone is going to die if we pass 9 minutes. Although I can understand the point of getting out faster, and wish it were always possible, especially for the patient's sake and comfort.

Great work!
FULL DETAILS: http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/events/2014/072914a.shtml

This seems more like an issue of priorities. I have seen fire departments that have EMS duties favor Firefighter training and even responses. I was once told by a senior member that I despite my being an EMT, and despite the department paying for my refreshers, that I was not bound to respond on EMS calls, even if I was in the building. I only HAD to go on fire calls. Why anyone would take this attitude is beyond me.

Date: 7/28/14
Time: Approximately 1340
Location: W 4th St x Jones St
District: Confines of the 6th PCT, if I'm not mistaken
Units: NYPD, US Marshals Service NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force

Description: 1 NYPD MOS and 2 Deputy United States Marshals wounded exchanged fire with a sexual assault suspect in Greenwich Villiage. All MOS were transported with non-life threatening injuries. The scumbag was killed.
Best wishes to the injured Detective and Deputies for a full and speedy recovery. Nice shooting.
*Please reply to this thread with any corrections or updates*

From the sleepy hollow vac Facebook page. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=322521171240211&id=130015527157444

Let's all pray for a quick recovery.