sueg

I always felt it was a permanent solution to a temporary problem. However, for those in that dark place, the problems don't seem so temporary.
I don't condone it but I can understand it.

Granted, Robin Williams death was tragic. He was a great man. However, there are numerous Soldiers, Firefighters, Law Enforcement Officers, Paramedics, EMT's, Dispatchers and just regular people that also are great people from all walks of life that commit suicide everyday and it goes unnoticed that there is an epidemic that has been going on for a long time. Many of us know people who ended their own life and only realized the signs and the fact that they should have done something after it was too late.
And because a celebrity takes his own life, it gets noticed and all of a sudden, it's a big deal and everyone is talking about how people should help people contemplating suicide and their should be more attention given to the issue. But the fact of the matter is, once the Robin Williams media circus calms down, people will again forget about this silent killer and the stigma that prevents many from seeking help will return. People don't understand that suicide prevention is not something simple or easy to do.
It's disgusting the way some EMS workers and Police Officers treat and label "EDP's"....even that term is wrong and hurtful, and I feel that contributes to many people in emergency services not seeking help. I also believe they fear being shunned for the rest of their careers should it make it to the gossip circuit or the kitchen table. There are some cruel people in our business who enjoy seeing their peers suffer.
On a lager scale, our mental health and wellness care system is understaffed, underfunded, and unable to give people true tools to succeed in many cases. This is not something that's going to be or can be solved by giving people antidepressants.

Contemplating suicide is a deep and dark place to be, and, in most situations, all it takes is one friend who truly cares to save a life. Sadly, there will always be people who lose all hope for their lives, feel very alone and uncared about in that moment, and don't see another way out or a path towards a happy future, and nobody will or can intervene at that point. In most cases, suicide is not an impulsive act.

Finally getting away from the Horrible Hortons. Good luck with the new bus Sue!

New Fairfield 91-2 Ambulance a P.L. Custom Emergency Vehicle ambulance, Medallion Series GM Diesel custom designed so it more comfortably fits all of our equipment and to more closely match the space, inside height (to keep our taller members from having to hunch over) and equipment placements of 91-1. Still waiting on production pictures, but delivery due either early September (or early October?). Wanted to get the power stretchers for both ambulances, but even one would have put us way over budget, so for now just going with a newer version of a regular Stryker stretcher to replace the one, and working on getting another one for 91-1 since that way older one just broke. Many, many thanks to Patterson for their loaner - you wonderful people saved us from being down an ambulance, and we very much appreciate that. So do our patients

Just my TWO cents on this..... 35 years as a resident in the City of Peekskill.
Fire runs are down. EMS runs are up. The system is not perfect. Is any FD or EMS agency?
Before we bash an agency such as a Career, Vollie or Combo FD why don't we give a little credit?
Peekskill FD Career Firefighters are some of the best Paramedics/EMT's
in Westchester County. They have received numerous lifesaving awards,
It was not uncommon several years ago to wait for an Ambulance 10, 15, 20+ minutes.
No ALS. No BLS Engine/Rescue. Maybe a PPD Officer would respond with an EMS bag. PPD had a few EMT's.
Can "the system" be better? Perhaps. Is it a ticking time bomb? No
The Chiefs, Officers & Members of the PFD (Career and Volunteer) do the best they can
with the resources they have.

Remember the Exxon Valdez.

Could this happen today?
Yes of course.
All the technology today:GPS monitoring, computer assistance, radar, redundant systems and other "fail safes" can all be rendered useless when one incompetent person, or careless person gets thrown into the mix.
The chances of an "oh-sh*t" incident, over the long haul, is likely in the "probable" category.
Anyone recall the Costa Concordia, the Ocean Liner from Italy?
That was a modern ship with modern navigation aids and see what happened to that ship.

Not to comment on what is the biggest, etc, but this one applies to Westchester Departments. When the USS (not SS) Constellation burned in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1960, SCBA's were just starting to be used by the fire service. Most commonly used at the time were things like OBA's, Chemox, and the like
FDNY had some Scott SCBA's and departments in Westchester had maybe one or two in their inventory.
FDNY put out a request for as many SCBA's as could be mustered. Southern Westchester departments gathered as many as they could and loaded them on Eastchester Rescue 5. I don't know who else was involved, but I know that my father responded to Brooklyn on R-5.
Just a historocal tidbit

You are all "missing the boat." NYC has seen MANY maritime disasters. In fact, the colony of New Amsterdam was formed because of a maritime disaster when the ship Tyger burned to the waterline while moored in lower Manhattan. Capt Adrien Block (ie, Block Island) and his crew built the first European structures on the island and inhabited them until they built a new ship (Onrust). The hull of the ship was found in 1916 during work on the subway system at Greenwich and Dey Streets; now under the WTC site. Two firefighters were killed in maritime fires; Thomas Cooney in 1902 (fire on the British Queen started near Hoboken but drifted to Governors Island) and John Harvey in 1930 (fire at Pier 42, aboard the Muenchen). Lt. Francis Blessing of Rescue 1 was awarded the James Gordon Bennett Medal for rescuing two men from a submarine fire at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1918. 1941, the SS Panuco at Pier 27 in Brooklyn - 41 dead. In 1942 the SS Normandie burned at Pier 88 where it rolled on its side and got stuck in the mud because of the instabilty caused by the massive amounts of water pumped in to battle the blaze. Fifty workers died aboard the SS Constellation at a fire in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1960. In 1966 the SS Alva Cape and SS Massahusetts collided and exploded, killing 33. Other fires occurred along the riverfronts that did not include ships, only the piers such as the Lukenbach pier in 1956 where 10 civlians died and the Staten Island Ferry Terminal fire in 1946 where FDNY Telegraph Bureau Lineman Harold Clandening made the Supreme Sacrifice. The most recent maritime disaster was the SI Ferry Andrew Barberi crash that killed 10 civilians; no fire but a maritime disaster responded to by FDNY. And of course, there are the ones already mentioned by the group.

Just one other note...I guess it depends how you define "biggest."

In the 5th picture, on the drivers side, there is a large drum with a pump and hose attached. Is that to spray Vaseline on the rig to get out?
By the way Boston has a station (not sure of the number) that is a landmark and they can't modify it. It stations a ladder and engine that have to be custom made due to the inability to modify the bays. Some times you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Can't get a smaller engine and can't modify the building. Get out the Crisco and hope for the best.

The volley's can not and do not drive the apparatus in the COP so essentially with those 1 or 2 career men on ems runs the city is down two rigs. 110 vollies can show up but with no rigs what good are they?

The Black Tom explosion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion
As a younger member in the firehouse there were still a few old timers who could recall being woken by the sound and shaking in Port Chester

While that was a massive fire, the General Slocum was the "biggest" maritime disaster in NYC history
On June 15, 1904, the General Slocum caught fire and sank in the East River. At the time of the accident she was on a chartered run carrying members of a church group. An estimated 1,021 of the 1,342 people on board died. The General Slocum disaster was the New York area's worst disaster in terms of loss of life until the September 11, 2001 attacks and remains the worst maritime disaster in the city's history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_General_Slocum

This happened on May 30 1973, . I was 5 years old at the time. I remember hearing the explosion and then my house shook for about 3 minutes, and I was about 3 miles away from it. The SS Esso Brussels & SS Sea Witch collided Just North of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge then drifted under the bridge while still on fire. I remember one of the boats was pushed to the shore line after the fire was "put out" it sat there for weeks smoldering about 25 feet from land.
The lower level of the bridge was closed for weeks, and then opened and closed for repairs for a few years due to this.
This is possibly the biggest Maritime Incident in NYC history. Here is a link with some info
http://wikimapia.org/10471086/SS-Esso-Brussels-SS-Sea-Witch-Collision-Site and a pic of that night. Does anyone remember this or any other major Maritime Incident in NY

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Both as horse drawn and as early motorized weight was a major consideration as they did not have the power to overcome the additional weight, but then something happened they most have missed here, in the 1930's we started building enclosed cabs.






During the 2nd world war, most depts. could not purchase anything as most metal was being directed toward the war effort. and immediately after the war there were still delays in the recovery. We found some depts. started buying them and then they disappeared until cities needed to cover the members for protection.

News 12 this afternoon and again this evening with three different reporters reported that Rye boarders New Rochelle. Since both are city's one can only assume that Harrison, Mamaroneck village & Town and Larchmont have been eliminated.
Its a good thing that news 12 is as local as local news gets.
http://westchester.news12.com/news/i-95-ramp-to-i-287-reopened-after-fatal-crash-in-rye-1.8989131

Date: 8/7/14
Time: Dispatched 0648
Location: Bartlett x Katan (On the dead end)
District: Confines of the 122nd Precinct
Units:
Patrol: 122nd Precinct, 123rd Precinct, Duty Captain
SOD: SOD-2, Aviation 16, K9-38
ESU: Truck 5, Adam 5, Bearcat, U5 (ESU Duty Officer), Adam 6
Detectives: HNT, TARU
FDNY*EMS

Description:
Suspect Keith Belajonas wanted for the murder of his wife in Upper Darby Township, PA last night. Amber Alert issued for the two children who were abducted by the suspect. Amber Alert extended all the way to Staten Island, where suspect was spotted robbing a CVS location. Precinct units located the vehicle and set up perimeter to await SOD units, HNT and TARU.
0738 - Units on scene requesting no further on this job, suspect apparently DOA in the car. No word on the condition of the children at this time.
Children were found safe at the CVS location. Apparently the suspect attempted to rob one of his relatives who worked there.

One might assume that the Fire Chief has either been directed by the municipality to assist the VAC or has gotten approval to do so, in which case he'd like say that is what you get when you don't fully fund a FD. How is this any different than if the same engine is tied up on a BS run? The community generally determines the level of risk they're willing to accept vs. the costs. I get the thought process, but there is a point where many (most) communities will not fund staffed fire apparatus due to the low volume of fire calls. This outcry over a one man engine?
For many of us underfunded/understaffed FD's, you take any excuse you can to get another firefighter on shift. If I hire someone to do EMS and that occurs 2 to 3 times a day, the other 5, 8, 10, 0r 22 hours a shift I have one more on duty firefighter. That's a win in small town America. The key is being honest with the taxpayer about what their getting and the risks, ultimately they'll decide the level they are comfortable with.
I might add that in small town America where the daily fire problem is little to non-existent, a citizen in distress is an active emergency that is addressed, we don't withhold care "in case something else happens", when statistically it won't. As call volumes grow, the staff either needs to grow with it, or the second call is slower to be answered, again, at the final determination of the taxpayers. All you can do is educate them, falsely hiding your deficiencies only harms the public and the membership.

Somebody filming a police interaction could in some cases aid the police against somebody else's edited video. I know if i had video footage that disputed a edited video that made the cops look bad I would give it to them. Thats one of the reasons dash cam video camaras were placed in many patrol cars.

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 am just guessing here, but if I ran a department that provided both Fire and EMS services, and I had some kind of grant money for firefighter training but not for EMS training, I would certainly look for certified EMT's that I could train as firefighters and not the other way around. This would seem to me to be the most cost effective way to accomplish the goal of having cross trained personnel. Now if two applicants came in at the same time and were essentially equal except that one was an EMT and the other was not, then I would expect the one who is not to have to wait until there were enough students to make hiring an instructor cost effective. This would mean that the EMT would advance within the department faster and most likely end up responding on calls before the other recruit. The recruit who is not an EMT would have the option of seeking out a class elsewhere, but as it was not department sponsored and not covered under the grant it would be at his own expense. No real problem with that as long as it is understood up front. If the non EMT recruit were already certified as a firefighter, it might seem that he was not being treated equally but in fact that would only be perception based on the limitations of the grant. Things will never be fully equal in any department because life isn't fair.

Wow, you guys have run short staffed for so long you have not got a clue what proper staffing is. And I am not talking about this latest crisis. 75 firefighters lets see how short you really are........
To staff 4 engines (you mentioned 3, but don't you run 4), 2 ladders and a command unit to meet the minimum standards to respond to a 2,000 sq ft. single family house without a basement requires a minimum of 26 firefighters per shift. That 12 more than you currently run.
That gives you 3 firefighters and 1 officer on EVERY RIG.
To maintain 26 per shift you need 104 firefighters plus the additional members who are assigned to staff (training, codes, chief, etc.) you also need to cover contractual overtime which means each member would work an additional 20% or you need to go to 5.2 FTE's to staff your rigs, which would bring the total dept size to 135 (plus staff).
You are fighting for table scraps when you really need a steak diner. And you seem willing to accept the scraps.
And while you think you can handle a room & content fire under the "normal" staffing, you are cutting way too many corners and putting yourselves and the citizens at risk.
Now I can guarantee you will never see the numbers you should have. In fact I predicted 6 years ago that most of the career depts. were going to see staffing reductions and that we could either consolidate or each dept would suffer. I figured that we were spending the same amount of money to staff rigs with one or two as a consolidated dept would spend with 4 on a rig.
22 firefighters & officers on a response was what I proposed, and the response from almost everyone is we do not want that.
Now every one of the depts. is either fighting to survive (and I'm sorry but those that run with less than OSHA requires are not surviving) or has already faced the reductions (and more are coming).
Go read the NIST study's on staffing. They proved that fewer better staffed rigs do a better job than lots of understaffed ones do. They actually proved that 2 + 2 = 3
when 2 firefighter engines team up with another 2 firefighter engine, they are only as effective as a 3 firefighter engine and the standard says 4 minimum.

I think most would agree that if you're sticking your body parts into the melee you're too close and we've all seen those videos lately. If you are close enough to reach out and touch the cop, you're close enough for him to be worried about someone reaching out and trying to take his gun.

They will say fires are down and to keep your Job we needed productivity out of you guys! So be an ambulance chaser now!