ARI1220

Attached is the Cambridge FD Run Card, which lays out the units dispatched for a 10 Alarm.
Cambridge FD Run Card.pdf

 
A quick look at their apparatus shows that their only other fire suppression units are "engine tankers" by their designation, 1000 and 1750 gal. This would make me think that a sizable portion of their district has no or un-reliable water sources. Running a "quint" with only 300 gallons of water would be un-arguably a horrible decision if that is the case. If you are only going to maintain two pieces, then the second must have a considerable water capacity as well. It appears they consolidated a medium duty rescue and pumper into the 2013 replacement as well. 
 
Maybe these gentlemen are just ahead of their time in acknowledging they have no true need for a tower ladder and that a 3/4 of a million dollar ladder truck sitting around is not a good investment. 

Hmmmm......Let's see how this is going to pan out........."Fire Service Operations Leadership with out any current or relevant training"
 
Eitherway, it's not good.  Just read some NIOSH LODD reports to see how its turned out in the past.

 
No, Donald. Firefighters being shot at is not a "new" problem, and are isolated incidents that happen rarely (West Webster NY).  And people do know about it.
 
More firefighters are being killed by heart attacks, cancer, suicide, building construction, and low staffing DAILY then bullets.
 

What always bugged me about News 12 was that they're supposed to be the "local" news source, but they wouldn't cover as many stories as they could.  They simply record a 30 minute spot and rerun it for hours, then do an update spot and rerun it for hours, repeat!  There's so many more stories that people could have payed attention to, say if News 12 did a 2 hour spot and reran it 2 or 3 times before doing an update.  BUT, now that there will no longer be a specific local news channel, even more stories will go to the wayside.

I buy/sell/trade all kinds of man cave things.  Message me if interested. 

I have read on a number of sites the backlash, almost all based on the board being unpatriotic or trying to be PC.
 
Beyond, what the board reported as being a safety issue, no one knows what the motivation is. 
 
But, I have witnessed, flags getting larger and larger on the back of rigs, to the point that we are disrespectful of the flag.
 
On engines, I have witnessed hose being laid over a flag that's so large that without wind or driving it hung below the level of the bed.
 
On ladders, I have witnessed grease and tattered ends on the flag where it whips against the turntable gear. I have also seen where it rubs on ground ladders as they are moved in and out of the ladder tunnel.
 
On all rigs, I have seen filthy flags, because the dirt that swirls around the rear of the rigs.
 
On the safety side, I have seen them hiding flashing safety lights, turn signals and break lights. Saw one get burned by high intensity flood lights and have seen firefighters grabbing the flag to help them climb the rig.
 
This is not patriotic, nor is it how the flag should be respected! I am not saying they should be removed, but consider how we are displaying them.

Speaking for the volunteer realm, these chronic lift assist calls are no different that the chronic automatic alarms.  They keep coming in day after day, week after week, and eventually you'll find that fewer and fewer responders are showing up for these calls.  The underlying problem here is volunteer burnout.  One can only respond to the same alarm so many times before they can no longer put up with it.  I'm not condoning a volunteer's action by not responding to these situations, but it's a reality that fewer firefighters and EMT's tend to respond to the "BS" calls as they become more and more frequent.  I've seen this first hand in ALL of the volunteer agencies that I have been involved with, whether it's the same old auto alarm at a given location, or the same old call to the doctor's office for an EMS assist, or even the same old lift assist at the same address.
 
Within the the career realm, it's just a little bit different.  We're already on shift.  We respond with the whole crew as we always do, whether you're on an ambulance or on a fire engine.  But, the same burnout is there.  You go to the same alarm time after time, you respond to the same call again and again.  But, this is where the complacency starts.  And complacency isn't just within the realm of the paid personnel.  Just look at the last paragraph.  The volunteers have the same problem.
 
So what's the fix to the problem?  I don't know.  But I really do like what SECTMB said:
This is totally a possibility!  Or...
 
Wouldn't it be nice if the Affordable Healthcare Act provided a system to take care of the people who really, really need it?
 
The bottom line is there is no immediate fix.  We can dwell on what is the right answer all day, but we're still responding to these alarms.  I think it would be great if there was a system or service to essentially deal with non-emergency medical calls.  But then again, what do you define as emergency and non-emergency?  What if the 99th lift assist call is actually the same person in cardiac arrest?  What if that 99th auto alarm is a working fire?  THAT'S WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO!  We dwell on the "what if" to ensure that people and their property can be saved.  Are there remedies to make our jobs easier?  Of course!  Unfortunately, it's just not up to us at this point of how those remedies are placed (at least on the EMS side).

They have more Rescues upstate where I  live now an they have the T- shirts to prove it

Just want to say that yesterday was some kind of a miracle.  The crane fell across all lanes, North and South and nobody got killed or seriously injured.  The bridge has been no stranger to tragedy, yesterday could have been one of the worst, glad it wasn't.
 
 

Just wanted to send my kudos to my boys back at the Belltown FD in Stamford for their tribute to the Dallas 5. They've added a blue with black border stripe to the rigs.
Good job boys!!
 
 

I have heard that the FDNY is spending a significant amount of money on a "going green initiative" and placing "charge stations" around the City . From what I interrupted, some sort of roadside pillar or fire alarm box looking thing  where ambulances normally sit on an available status when not on a run. Here the ambulance can be plugged in to run accessories, ALS refrigeration,  air conditioning, etc rather than run on high idle...or even run at all. Specifically in Queens and Manhattan to start. 
 
Is this the first round? Has anyone seen the specs?

New FDNY Ambulance, one of several at Wheeled Coach in Florida.
 
Special thanks to the spy!
 

 

Correct, there is only i think 100 or 101" of clearance in the door. Also i think HFD is the only dept left where all its members gear is on the apparatus.
 

Consider how it'll be interpreted when a chief sits on a witness stand, testifies under oath that his first due aerial or rescue could't respond because it was three towns away at parade or wet down.  Compare that to the testimony of a chief who's same equipment wasn't available because of the "nobler" reasons.  It's a lot better justification to be unavailable because of training or mutual aid rather than squirting water on the neighbors new rescue truck.  "We couldn't get there to extricate that family from their head on collision, because we were waiting for the trophies be announced at the convention parade!"

 
Yes, I'm sure chief's make these calls.  That doesn't make it a good plan.  
 
Does your Rescue carry extrication tools?  Do any of your other apparatus have them?
 
 
 
People would complain, and they'd be wrong.  If you have three engines and you send one, with a small crew to a parade, nothing wrong with that.  It's thought out and well planned.  The issue only arrises when you take a non-duplicative resource away.
 
 
 
About 15 years ago my volunteer dept. went to a parade, 5 minutes away, next town over.  Chiefs order....the ladder doesnt go.  Well, that was disregarded and it went.  A Liut. and 4 firemen we're suspended.  Imagine that, consequences.  
 
I will most definitely be at my next village board meeting.  That rig seems to go to plenty of parades, but more often than not, doesn't make it on the road for alarms.

This is not a new topic...but it hits close to home.  I live in a 6 story, fire-proof multiple dwelling.  This means...there are no fire escapes.  If a fire were to occur on the 4th, 5th or 6th floors, a resident could potentially be blocked from their front door....the only means of egress.  Whats the other way out?  An aerial ladder.  What good is that aerial ladder when its 20 minutes away at a parade?  Maybe farther!  My local FD has several engines and one, single ladder.  Why does that ladder, the only means of high-rise rescue, EVER leave town?  To win a trophy?  To show off?  To look cool?
 
If there were ever a tragedy, I'd expect those responsible to see criminal charges.
 
Im all for parades.  Im all for tradition.  Our volunteers give time and these kind of events are joyful and proper compensation for dedication.  We should have fun and maintain freindly relationships with neighboring dept's through social activities.
 
However, our first mission is life-safety.  If a town has 3 or 4 engines and 1 ladder....um....the ladder doesnt go to parades.  Smarten up, send an engine.
 
 
There wasnt a need to include a dept. name, because this dept. is not unique.  The list of offenders is long, sadly.

One of the nicest ladder trucks out there. A 2014 Seagrave Marauder II 100' Rearmount. Nice and simple.
 
Wakefield, MA is located just outside of Boston.
 

 

Not the best pic But here's a pic of Teaneck "75" at Englewood ER 2015 Freightliner M2 Horton

Ardsley FD
Westchester County NY Battalion 14
New Engine 164
 
2015 Spartan Gladiator/Spartan ERV
1750GPM
750 Gallons
30 Class A Foam
15W Harrison PTO Generator
TNT Central Hydraulic System
Hurst Extrication Equipment and single core reels
Command Remote Control Light Tower
 
**NOT ALL EQUIPMENT IS ADDED OR MOUNTED YET**
 

 





























 





 

Real firefighters involved in doing their job don't have time to take pictures of themselves. As the saying goes; "Don't brag about yourself, let others do it for you".

Bellerose Rescue, a volunteer ambulance agency located in Queens,is hosting a Community EMS Summit.  The goal of the event is to expose small agencies and EMS providers to the future of EMS in regards to community paramedicine and mobile integrated healthcare.  I think this would be a great opportunity for some Westchester agencies to look at how they can provide better service to their patients, without having to transport every patient to the ER (aka treat and release).  Funding of such programs will be discussed. 
 
If anybody has any questions they should email Dan at Dan@NYCommunityParamedicine.org .  I really think this would be a great opportunity for Westchester EMS agencies to expose themselves to some new viewpoints on how they can better serve their residents and increase EMS value.

In NYS, the fire chief is responsible for determining and reporting the cause of the fire, therefore sometimes they can determine it themselves without a C&O response. I believe they get basic C&O training as part of their command classes. In Westchester, once the C&O teams were formed around 20+ years ago, their use increased over time like any other resource. If my memory serves me correctly, prior to that, the DA's office had one investigator who did the C&O work, obviously he couldn't be at every fire.
 
As for lights and sirens, I was a PD Detective for 18+ years, I never responded to a scene that already had cops at it (i.e., a past burglary, robbery, homicide) with lights and sirens. There is no need for it on a scene where the active crime is over and the scene is being held down. In my last few years when I was actively investigating fires, I often went out upon the initial call so as to get there early for the reasons stated above. In that case I would use lights and sirens.  If I was showing up after the fire was knocked down, I didn't.

 

I find it a bit troubling. Yes methadone, suboxone, subutex programs have pros and cons, however, they're end goal is to help make the patient a functioning member of society again. I.e. career counseling, ongoing therapy.....in a nutshell, changing the behavior that led someone to abuse. With these "drug rooms", all I see is a place where you can get high as a kite and not worry about overdose. They're not trying to change the behavior, they're saying it's acceptable.