sueg

I give the LeLand Fire Department a lot of credit for having members who realized after one of their members had gone down on a scene that doffing gear from a downed firefighter can be a tremendously hard thing to do. The 10-step method they devised seems to accomplish doffing gear and providing immediate care while minimizing how many people would be drawn away from the other tasks at hand on a fire scene and actually looks great and very easy to accomplish. I can't wait to ambush some unsuspecting firefighters who wander by the firehouse on a slow day to practice the method on a mannequin and see the plusses and minuses. Immediate compressions (if he does not need it, I'm sure the firefighter might let you know quickly enough) and it is through gear at first, so no additional damage, plus it has you remove the helmet and mask fairly quickly to see how responsive or not the FF is and provides clear access to airway in case there is vomit in the mask or air gone and mask sucked to face, etc. The video shows the procedure can be technically done by 4 firefighters, and once the FF is removed from pack and coat, the EMS people can swarm over him and take further measures.
Always wondered how we would be able to get gear off quickly enough. Luckily, have never had to find out... May even work to get gear off collapsed heat exhaustion FF much more quickly than the lengthy time it usually takes to strip them down - minus the compressions, of course .
Worth looking into, at any rate. Kudos to them for thinking outside the box. Gets cramped and stuffy in there sometimes.

Seth, opinion only:
AHA just teaches high quality compressions and rate along with ventilation and defibrillation (acknowledging the 2015 AHA changes are about to hit the street) even for rescuer level.
REMSCO protocols just specify the need for CPR and, much the same as AHA, just rate and quality, defib cycles, etc.
Neither has anything to say about how one gets the patient into a position where "ideal" CPR, defib, and other measures plus transport can be performed. In my view, it's the kind of thing that could be adopted and practiced at the local agency level. Nothing in the procedure appears to be contrary to AHA or REMSCO protocol. It actually calls for and requires continuous, high quality, uninterrupted CPR.
I showed the video at our monthly ambulance squad meeting this evening. There was a lot of enthusiasm and interest from all the folks present, including our local fire chief.

Are there any departments locally that are implementing this into their training and protocols?

Source: www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com

I am wondering why none of you have started to talk about this here? Have you not seen it yet?
https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/ebola/docs/commissioner_order.pdf
It contains the actual order from DOH plus specifics required of hospitals, ems responders, and ambulance services. If you have not read it yet, I urge you to download the entire pdf and read it in its entirety. IMHO, this is going to have a major impact on every ems responder, but in particular the volunteer services may be even harder hit than others. I suspect many volunteers are going to be unwilling to comply with the initial and the ongoing requirements. This may to even more true of those volunteers who are not at least CFR's or EMT's.
Most material referenced in the order can be found on this page:
https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/ebola/#ems_providers

Here's another example, in this video out of Arizona , the fire vehicle is a step van typically aluminum and Fiberglass, and loaded with you name it right? its not a Toyota, a few issues here... Being from a department where My company had its share of Car Fires (sometimess 8 or 10 a shift in the 90's) its easy to ignore some of the "safety" side of these incidents ... Some people have been so instilled with the "Hollywood" version of 9 explosions from 12 directions... they often run away expecting that.. at the same time We are trained to Chock all vehicles at 5 am this obviously didnt happen, and the very idea that these fellas are going to STop the vehicle rolling after the fact is pretty silly and they are LUCKY that they didnt loose the hoseline, or get someone hurt.....

The video is worth a look... seems like these guys are having a bad morning for sure....

http://youtu.be/vbRFvCIVSDg

Just wanted to share the new video for our department: a longer version is coming, but for now we've released a teaser.
Morningside Volunteer Fire Department - Fall 2014 Teaser Video
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/morningsidevolunteers?ref=br_tf

Tonight 1842 hours
598 Blue Hills Ave - 2 story occupied dwelling heavy fire showing from the c side on arrival which is under investigation...
1 firefigher died was not yet identified for the Family's sake, reported as a 6 year veteran
1 firefighter transported to Bridgeport hospital burn unit with burns over 10% of his body
2 firefighters in hartford area hospitals with Minor issues
The residence was a 2 story 2 family and everyone got out, though under investigation with almost no info being released They said One firefighter bailed out of a 2nd floor window.... I'll fill it in as I am able
<Update>
The Hartford Fire Department Has announced the Line Of Duty Death of a Firefighter while operating at a structure fire shortly after 1829 hrs at 598 Blue Hills Ave.
The Fallen Firefighter has been identified as Firefighter Kevin Bell. Firefighter Bell was 48 years old and a 6 year veteran, who grew up in Hartford.

It is too early to report on the arrangements.

Prayers and condolences to the family co-workers and friends of 48 year old Firefighter Bell; hopes for very quick recoveries for the three injured firefighters and prayers of support for their families, too.

Prayers and condolences to the family co-workers and friends of 48 year old Firefighter Bell; hopes for very quick recoveries for the three injured firefighters and prayers of support for their families, too.

IF you read the NY Post article it says at the end that the patient was transported by an ambulette. The luxury ambulance wasnt even involved.

FROM EMS1
By EMS1 Staff
NEW YORK — The family of an elderly woman who died filed a lawsuit claiming a private ambulance service boasting "luxury transport" dropped her on the way home from the hospital and those injuries eventually killed her.
Court papers allege EMS providers dropped Maddalena Santoro, 90, as they were taking her up the stairs and into her Manhattan apartment December 2012, the New York Post reports.
"Her head hit one of the marble stairs, and she ended up in a coma," said lawyer Jeffrey Antin. She was in good health otherwise, and was going to the hospital for wound care, he added.
The service, Citywide Mobile Response Corp. boasts advanced medical transport services, and provides plush ambulances featuring 400-thread-count linens, flat-screen TVs, surround sound and a "multi-mode lighting system."

Like I said, I agree it should have been municipal employees not a contract service.

Danbury is just the latest to be looking at this from entirely the wrong standpoint. With any job, but more so in the emergency services, financial concerns can not be the only factor looked at. However any time there is a move to civilianize a job, be it dispatcher, records clerk, parking enforcement or even jailer, it is always brought up that it will be cheaper. Very often the field units complain because the penny pinchers don't understand that you get what you pay for. You want cheap, you can get cheap, but don't look for qualiy also.
At least in this setting it looks like the private staff will be in a Danbury owned center. I am generally against privitization because even when it saves money it often includes hidden cost increases and is often hard to switch back from if it does not work out. I have heard of cities privitizing and selling off all their equipment which makes it very hard to get rid of a bad contractor.
As for the certification issue, the state has a class for dispatchers. It was originally an 80 hour class that they bought from A.P.C.O. but as times changed they dropped it to 60 hours and then I think down to just over 40. There was allot of stuff in it that you just didn't need, but in my opinion it isn't enough. Syaing that it is just answering a phone is pretty much like saying that being a cop is just walking around town and beign a firefighter is just spraying water. Each job has it's specific challenges and each job is diferent enough that there are few if any direct comparisons.
How interesting that if this is just answering a phone and anyone can do it, that when it was field personnel they needed to get extra money to do it, but now that your wife / kid needs a job this should be done for half the money. I have an idea, why certify drivers as firefighters? I can hire a guy with a CDL for less than a firefighter, after all it's just driving a truck.

awe common, That post also said Danbury was the last place to use A firefighter Or cop to dispatch In the whole country too,.... You cannot believe A word the media says as it is..., MUCH less NOW they outight Lie about stuff
You cant blame anyone except the "journalist" for the "big words" they use or use in place of the ones' they dont understand..... I am not sure about getting a ticket for dispatching too fast, I do know Its a good idea to have a cuff key when The cops decide to cuff you to the console...

The original post had a link that mentioned "Licenced" dispatchers. In CT is there such a thing and a dispatching license? Can you get a ticket for dispatching too fast, or changing channels without signaling?

emsCharts just announced it still exists, but through settlement Golden Hour owns its stock and is the controlling interest. emsCharts will operate as a subsidiary/branch of it under the emsCharts name, so those circling around trying to pick off its customers that did not already bail due to not knowing if rumors of it closing were true may have to back off a bit. Maybe. We have no problem using emsCharts with our service, so hopefully will not in future.

Company I used to work for was based in CT. Had a CON for NY. Sent an ambulance to NY with a CT plate. Someone complained. NYS DOH told them to go squat and that if the company wanted to, they could sue. So no, you don't have to be NY Registered/Tagged to be NYS DOH certified.
Reverse case however I think is not correct. For CT as an example. NY Based agency operates several units in CT. I believe in order for them to get their CT trucks certed in CT they had to get CT registrations/tags. The CT certification process is far more annoying than NY IMHO. You not only have to prove need (similar to a CON) on an agency basis, but on a per UNIT basis. Said agency only had one truck certified for CT and was regularly pulling the NY truck from over into CT for 911 jobs. Someone in CT got their panties in a pinch and complained so the agency had to petition for an additional certified CT truck with CT EMS.

Gotta love those political hoops.

Firefighters,. EMTs, police officer, and even Boy Scouts rushed into the towers to rescue people.No one expected the towers to collapse on them. But we are the people who run TOWARD danger when everyone else is running AWAY. It's more than just "our job." It's our calling.
Like most of us, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news. The 2nd plane had not hit yet...and we were riveted to the television watching in horror as it unfolded.
No, I will never forget...and I deeply resent the people who HAVE forgotten. You know who I mean - the people who yap about "Bush's unnecessary wars" or "Bush lied about WMDs." The #1 reason for the war was never WMDs. It was a War on TERROR...and Saddam Hussein was one of the chief exporters of international terrorism. He was even offering cash rewards to anyone who would murder Americans or Israelis. If it was a suicide attack, he said he would pay the reward to the murderer's family.

And a court ruling that parts were unconstitutional

And then the technical errors were fixed with budget riders. Perhaps Government should not act so quickly anymore!

Government acts quickly when it suits them. Look at the so-called "SAFE ACT". Passed in under a month.
The government doesn't treat this as a priority because we continue to fight with each other rather than fighting for the issues.

He was found safely this afternoon in Coney Island in Brooklyn. The family credits social media in being able to track him down.

Because you can stretch hose but you can not stretch ladders.
When working as a flycar medic covering a number of different communities I watched depts. that never understood the value of this. Was amazed when the chiefs would order the ladder to stay away from the building so the engines could stretch in. At one fire, after the above happened, it was determined that the aerial was needed, so 1,800 feet of charged 5" hose was manually dragged out of the way so the ladder that was ordered away could make the front of the building.

A rule almost written in stone:
Truck gets the front of the building
IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOUR DEPARTMENT IS BIG OR SMALL, the rule still stands

You can't do that if there are four engines blocking the way