GBFD111

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Posts posted by GBFD111

  2. Posted

    Not sure if this is much help but I was a Mutual Aid member of a Volunteer Fire Department from 2009-2013 when I was in college in Upstate NY. I was already a member of another fire department in Westchester so I had to join their "mutual aid membership." We wouldn't pay annual dues, weren't allowed in meetings nor allowed to vote, but had to abide by all of the same standards as their firefighters, such as physicals, annual interior requalifications, etc. This was perfect as I was able to volunteer and able to serve the community of my college town and did not have to deal with any of the politics or drama from the meetings. As a mutual aid member, I was allowed to use my home department gear or would be issued gear from the mutual aid department. As for insurance, my understanding was that I was covered under the Mutual Aid departments insurance, similar to if you call mutual aid regularly from another department. 

    LayTheLine likes this

  4. Posted

    He is not referring to the article. If you look at the "comment" section there is an individual who wrote this,

     

    "The joke is the fact that these hobbyist hero volunteers didn't find him as soon as they got there. The story was changed to say after the fire was out he was discovered. Make sure your smoke detectors work constantly! Put one in every room, heck, put two!" 

     

    Who has the audacity to say this crap... Hobbyist volunteers? 

    AFS1970 and EmsFirePolice like this

  5. Posted

    While working in St. Lawrence County we used the ambulance as a "flycar" for ALS intercepts all of the time. We would take the on call driver and the ALS and drop off the medic. There were actually many times where we did have to transport in our ambulance due to the other ambulance getting another call while we were on scene so we would handle and transport the ALS call and let the BLS rig go to the BLS call in their district. It worked very well actually. 

    AFS1970 likes this

  7. Posted

    I have heard that many VAC's in Westchester already have completed their in-service training for Nasal Narcan and already have it. I would rather BLS crews have Glucagon over the Narcan. BLS providers can use Glucometers though cannot give glucose to unresponsive patients. During a Diabetic Emergency minutes DO matter and if all of the Medics are out on a job we can't give D-50 the VAC's are stuck. Lets try to save those who have an actual medical emergency instead those who overdose on narcotics.

  9. Posted

    Has anyone else heard anything that can confirm the ABC report that the tanker was empty ? If so, any reason why a tanker would be left that way ?

    http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/northern_suburbs&id=9443100

    The tanker was NOT empty. A past chief dumped the water right away into a porta-tank.

    I watched a couple videos of the incident and swore I heard smoke detectors sounding in one of them.

    The smoke detectors were working just fine

    x635 likes this

  10. Posted

    Breezly,

    You are missing the overall point of what this initial post is saying. The topic here is consolidation within the fire districts that we live in, not to put down any department, individuals, etc. Relating to the fire that you are speaking of, I personally was not there because I have moved away but as most people know there is more gossip and rumors that go around a fire house, or firehouses, then a teenage girl in high school.

    Anyway, going back to the topic in hand...

    I have recently moved away from Westchester County and I am seeing this issue that RES24CUE has brought up in the department I am affiliated with in St. Lawrence County. We though are on the other end of it. Many of these rural departments near us can practically NEVER get a rig out of service and always depend on us for mutual aid. First off, if we go to one of these departments (which do not have a lot of money) and crash one of our rigs THEY will have to the cost of it. This will indubitably create tension between firehouses. One of these rural departments I have heard had to borrow money from the town to put new bay doors on their barn, I mean station so they can keep fixing their trucks they never use. Now what happens when we have an serious call in our district when our apparatus is covering what you can't handle? Call mutual aid again?

    Some of these departments only have maybe 15-20 fireman and are on the outskirts of our township, maybe 6-7 minutes away. If we consolidate these departments we can consolidate all of our resources, and have nicer toys to break.

    Its sad to say but I am seeing a full volunteer fire department a thing of the past. Here in Canton, moving towards the Ambulance side, we now have a paid ALS provider for our ambulances between 6AM-4PM Monday through Friday, and have been relying on volunteers to drive. All other hours of the day is solely volunteer ran both BLS and ALS. This worked for a while but during the regular work day it can be hard to get drivers and people who can volunteer their time for an hour and a half, praying that there will not be another call right before you get back in service that you will get forced into taking. Now as a department, we are talking about hiring a paid driver during the day and to be all volunteer during the evenings.

    We need to start looking into consolidation between departments, using money that we will save in rig costs as well as other budget cuts, to cover larger fire district with paid adequate manpower during the day. One can make the argument of "well you aren't going to get there faster." What is better, having a fully staffed rig and taking a little longer to get there, or having a half staffed rig exceeding what they can initially handle. After the work day ends, let volunteers come and volunteer within their community that they are proud of serving.

    Thoughts?

    Bnechis likes this

  12. Posted

    I just took my NYS Recert and had my onsite test last week. For my class it was not mandatory to buy a new book. I used the same book that i bought in 2010 when I took my original EMT-B. I also have not heard of any classes for a recert that it was MANDATORY to buy a textbook. If for some reason that it is the case, my opinion would be to talk to your FD and see if they would purchase it.

    I am definitely going for CME's the next go around...

  14. Posted

    these hoods are getting TOO good in my opinion. Reason being, yes, you want protection, but you also want to be able to "feel" the heat a bit. this will allow one more sense to give you an idea od conditions. These new hoods can practically be brought into an inferno and wont let you feel a thing

    I have to respectfully disagree with you. You should be able to read the conditions around you to make good decisions without having to "feel" the fire. BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS CONSTANTLY. God forbid you need to bail out or a mayday is called and you are not in an ideal location, I would want myself and the other members of my department, or any department for that matter, to have the BEST PPE to give the best protection to that firefighter until that brother is safe.

    FF1 likes this

  15. Posted

    As stated earlier, and I agree that to "expedite" is a phrase we use to make ourselves on scene feel better in an uncomfortable or serious situation. It can be beneficial to get across that the call is serious and we need all hands on deck as soon as possible but at what cost?

    For example, you have an ambulance driver who just got cleared 2 days prior to drive the ambulance. This is also the first time that the driver has ever drove anything bigger than a Toyota Prius. Now the driver hears the word "expedite" and pushes the gas pedal through the floor without using "due regard" on his/her response. Keep in mind this is the first time he/she has ever responded to a call, want to impress the other members on his/her "savy driving" and then rolls and crashes the ambulance.

    (I know arguments can occur that "well that person shouldn't be driving the ambulance but lets forget about that because it DOES and CAN happen, especially in the world of volunteers)

    Words like "expedite" may very well be uncomfortable for incoming responders. What should be done is to either communicate with Dispatch or to the Incoming Units on the patients current condition.

    Now you are NOT telling the new driver how to drive which will make the driver feel more comfortable. Also you are giving crucial updates to the EMT's/Medics/First Responders to help in best outcome of the patient.

    Will everyone stop saying "expedite?" No. Its a good discussion, especially for officers and those who really do care, but radio etiquette and proper word choices that should and should not be said over the radio is way too long of a discussion and will never end.

    Just my 2 cents...

    AFS1970 likes this

  16. Posted · Edited by GBFD111

    Date:11/6/13
    Time: 21:01

    Incident Type: MVA w/ diesel spill
    Location:I-684 NB area of 17.8

    District: Katonah
    Units: Katonah Fire: 2211 2212, R-17, E-115 KBHVAC: 65B2, WEMS: 45M1

    Description:

    21:01 Katonah FD, 45Medic 1 KBHVAC dispatched, tractor trailer roll over NB I-684 under Jay Street Overpass, possible entrapment

    21:02 2212 responding

    21:03 R-17 Responding

    21:04 NYSP chatter states near milemarker 17.8

    21:06 E-115 responding

    21:06 KBHVAC 63B2 responding

    21:07 On scene with the medic, possible self extrication, tractor trailer rolled over on side, leaking diesel fuel

    21:09 R-17 On Scene, taking middle lane, keeping left lane open, middle and right lane used as saftey zone

    21:09 2212 requiring spill number, lots of diesel on the roadway

    21:11 E-115 On Scene, pull in front of R-17, help R-17 with light source, "going to need lots of light"
    21:19 KBHVAC on scene

    21:24 reported leak is plugged, significant hazard with the trailer

    21:25 2211 on scene

    21:27 2211 assuming command

    21:32 KBHVAC en route NWH BLS

    21:41 KBHVAC out NWH

    still updating..

    WCFD, EmsFirePolice, JetPhoto and 1 other like this

  18. Posted · Edited by GBFD111

    Date: 9/12/13
    Time: 01:30
    Location: 205 Front Street, Rensselaer Falls
    Units: Rensselaer Falls Fire: (didn't hear the units check out) Canton Fire: 4-2, R-1, TA-20, E-8, Morley Fire: TA-47, ETA 61 E-32, County Cars: 4, 15, 24, 28

    Description:

    1:30- Rensselear Falls Toned for possible structure fire

    1:30 Chief Requesting Morley and Canton Fire

    1:31 - Rensselaer Falls Chief On Scene Confirmed Working Fire

    1:32 - Rensselaer Fals Chief Requesting NYMO and C&O

    1:33 - Hermon and Dekalb Stanby at their station

    1:33 - Car 4 en route

    1:34 - Morley E-32 en route 4 interior

    1:34 - Eta 61 OOS

    1:34 - R-1 and TA-20 responding from Canton full crew

    1:42 - Canton E-8 Responding

    1:45 - County Cars 3 15 24 28 38 for C&O

    1:46 - 4-2 on the scene with R-1 and TA-20

    1:46 - Pierrepont Fire requested to standby at Canton Station

    1:47 - Car 4 on scene

    1:49 -West Potsdam Mutual Aid to Standby at Morley Station

    1:58 West Potsdam E-76 Responding to Morley

    2:04 - West Potsdam R-98 Responding to Standby at Morley

    2:05- Morley TA-47 On Scene

    x4093k likes this

  20. Posted

    This is a very interesting topic to me because I am currently in school to become a PA. I believe that if there is some sort of "bridge" program to become a medic that it would be very beneficial for the PA to complete a certain number of hours actively on an ambulance. After working on an ambulance for the past 3 years as a EMT-B as well as helping out in a hospital, they are two very different environments. Who knows though, I am not the NYS DOH.

  22. Posted

    Fair warning: I'm going on a bit of a rant here.

    The sad fact is that many rural communities follow that exact model. The only way they get away with it is because call volume is so low that statistics will very rarely catch up to them.

    I personally think this is selfish, there is a standard and it should be upheld. But the general mindset that guides this kind of thing isn't exclusive to volunteers. Many firefighters, career and volunteer, believe that because they're considered the "experts" in the field, that they shouldn't have to respond to the will of their customers (within reason). That's crap. "ITS NOT ABOUT YOU" is the phrase that comes to mind, and maybe it should be painted on the inside of every apparatus bay door in the country. The residents of a community are put at ease believing they have a fire department that is trained to do the job. Maybe its not a career department, because the town hasn't determined it needs/can afford that level of protection, but they expect the personnel that do respond to be adequately trained to complete the tasks they're assigned.

    Here's an idea: Lets pass a law saying if your fire department doesn't follow minimum accredited training standards, you're required to call the organization "Bucket Brigade" or "Cellar Savers." Just a little truth in advertising.

    You want the title? Earn it. Show that you're proud of what it means and that you're willing to go the extra mile to help your community. Don't take a cop-out route like this. This kind of thing is an insult to those of us who are proud to be volunteer Firefighters.

    I completely agree with you here. This reminded me of an article that i read a few weeks ago about a department near my mutual aid company in Northern NY where they are actually "locked out" of their firehouse until they complete their mandatory trainings. No matter what your call volume is, one should be trained properly to hold their status as a firefighter.

    http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Tuesday-Newton-Falls-Fire-Volunteers-Locked-Out-201104971.html?m=y&smobile=y&clmob=y&c=n

    ^^^^article on firehouse lockout^^^^^

    helicopper likes this

  25. Posted

    This is not a issue in most cases, but as usual one bad apple could spoil the bunch. I think that in the case Santa riding on the fire truck is not the same as why the policies are in effect, they are there to warn against riding these outside positions while doing higher speeds to calls. Which one might ask, why we make a policy to prevent accidents with people riding outside positions instead of teaching how to drive safely instead.

    The case with the Santa who almost had his taken off, they was stupidity on the part of the rider not watching or his spotter watching his travel path.

    Leave this issue along, it is nothing to do with violations of fire department policies on riding to calls on the outside of the apparatus.

    Couldn't have said it any better Chief.

    boca1day likes this