ARI1220

I feel for the volunteers but the company had 61 runs last year. Im sure a dept. like Pittsburgh can pick that up no problem. This will sting for a while but I'm sure its in the towns best interest , they could use the extra cash for law enforcement 

IMO there really is no need for paramedics in the hot zone of a hazmat situation (whether it's terrorism or an accident).  It would be better to have an EMT or two in there to quickly triage and pull victims out, allowing the paramedics to give life saving interventions to those who need it in the cool zone.  I've never tried to stick an IV with a class A or B hazmat suit on, but I'm guessing it's fairly difficult.

Here's Hillsdale VAC's 2014 Ford E350/Horton at Englewood's ER They recently switched to this color scheme 

I'm told the unit went into service on Monday.
 

 

 

I also wonder if these cars are similarly equipped as NYS. At a community thing one year they had a K-9 Trooper attending and the vehicle was set up so that if the interior temp reached a certain degree, the door would automatically open so the dog could get out.
 
Doesn't take long for the temp to get critical in FL w/o AC.

I have said this about firefighter training also. While the hours have increased, which is generally positive, there has been little done to creatively fit the classes to a busy Volunteer's schedule. When I took my first EMT class 21 years ago (feels old to type that) the class was two nights a week with a few Saturdays. My FF1 & FF2 had similar schedules. More often than not they are planned around the departments regular drill night.
 
Now I have taken classes that were on Sunday mornings and provided food in the cost of the class. I have been in classes that were held once a week, which obviously takes longer to complete, but those have been the exception not the rule. If a topic can be done with a single instructor, could the class be taught multiple times with different students coming together for practicals and tests? I don't know the answer but decreasing the hours is probably not it.
 
The last things I will say is that we have to stop talking publicly about how big a burden it is before we talk internally about a solution. I can't prove it but have long felt that inadvertently we are psyching out potential new members by telling them how impossible it is before they even ask.

 
Sadly there is nothing in the NYS general municipal law that requires Emergency Medical Services.  to persons in NYS  for EMS to come out from behind the shroud of being the bastard 3rd service this is one of the first items that needs to be changed.    

This would only be of use if dispatchers were allowed to make decisions.

Regardless of what this survey comes out with, Westchester should abandon the UHF Fire ground radio system which is line of sight and unmonitored , and adopt one which allows the dispatchers to monitor all fire ground radio traffic. NIOSH report after NIOSH report lists that Dispatchers being able to monitor fire ground transmissions in the event of a mayday is imperative to firefighter safety. All departments should reject any proposals without this important feature included.

With things being the way they are these days, I don't know how successful a "Mount Pleasant" EMS would be. You already have three different BLS/ALS providers in some of those communities. There are already contracts with these groups and I highly doubt anybody wants to lose out on money. Sadly, that's what it comes down to these days, it's never about the needs of the community.

There is also the other BS contingency plan....
 
Staffing RRV units with 2 firemen and an officer to respond solely to EMS.  This is nothing more than a "stop-the-clock" measure....
 
Wanna free up more ALS/BLS units?  Start a PSA about when you should call 911 and when you should buck-up for a cab!  Too often the "patient" having the emergency has all the ability to stop in the bathroom, get dressed and walk themselves downstairs....THATS NOT AN EMERGENCY CONDITION....

 
Didn't 'technology' give us air packs, foam, thermal imaging cameras, nomex, halon, etc, etc, etc, etc.? We've come a long way from bucket brigades and that's due to technology.  'WE' are only the means of utilizing and deploying the technology.

Who built that wall and who paid for it?, LOL.

Brotherhood without borders.
 
Photo: Contributed to FireRescue1
 

 

The first step is admitting one has a problem, and since agencies can't or won't do that even after the 3rd or 4th tone out.
 
the leadership in most agencies do not want change! 

Bedford Hills Snorkel in a parade in New Rochelle during the early 1970's 

5/15/85 Mt Vernon Snorkel 1 at 4th Alarm on 4th Ave & 2nd St and Millwood Squrt in 1996 White Plains parade.

 
Neither Snorkel nor Tele-squrt....Just a bada$$ with a boom!  Hahaha

Over the course of several years on this forum, there has been discussion over the allotment of Paramedic resources in Westchester.
 
As a former Paramedic, Firefighter, 911 Dispatcher, and scanner enthusiast, I'm tired of hearing ALS being dispatched to cut-and-dry BLS calls.  I believe the issue is deeper seated.
 
The way we currently do it is to send a Medic on everything no if, ands, or buts. But that has far reaching implications. We are going to face a Paramedic shortage at some point. Paramedic school is getting longer and more intense, and the people who want to put up with it and the low pay they get when they graduate is getting lower, while the cost to live around here is getting higher. Burning out Paramedics by having to go on these runs constantly is a real threat. Then there is the case of making the medic ride it in because BLS could only get a driver. We should not use this as a factor when dispatching Paramedics. 
 
Not to mention all the money that fuel costs and the wear and tear placed on the vehicles and equipment going to an 89 year old female who routinely pulls out her catheter. Some of money saved could be used to give Paramedics raises, which gives more incentive to be a Paramedic.
 
If EMD was properly used, and our dispatchers trained and trusted, we could utilize our resources better, saving them from the problems above.

No it is truly about time the Airlines in the USA are doing this. For the most part the the Airlines in Europe do this granted it is very expensive, but you will be flying a $100 Million Aircraft. JetBlue Airways spends about $85 Million without the engines yes I said without the engines, the engines are Pratt and Whitney's and each engine costs about $10 Million. JetBlue is regulated through the FAA, IATA, and ICAO. I highly doubt any one of these 3 organizations would allow JetBlue to do this if it wasn't Safe. Besides it will take them 4 years to get there according to the article anyway, and the FAA states that a Pilot needs a minimum of 1500 hours to become an Airline Transport Pilot which is an additional License that must be obtained prior to becoming a First Officer for a Major Airline like JetBlue Airways.
 
Source I'm a former JetBlue Airways Crewmember. Yes my numbers a accurate because those numbers came from one of the Vice Presidents of Airline Operations.  

Another argument for a complete consolidation of all Emergency Services (Fire and EMS [and eventually Police]) into 1 "Consolidated and Unified" Westchester County Department of Emergency Services Operation (Thus, as I have posted countless times on EMTBRAVO.net, you would be able to ensure ample coverage, elliminate redundancy and waste, and get rid of all of the buracratic political red tape.
I just would take a few prominent individuals within both the County and the State of New York to have the "balls" to say enough with the HOME RULE, enough with Union Interference, and enough with Local Municipality Political Holdings and Egos.

The fly car has an onboard 60 Control radio, Empress radio, and Pelhem PD radio.
60 Control dispatches 38M1, 38M1 then uses Empress radio or phone to tell them their going on a job.
Their is a portable trunked radio to talk to 60, and a portable radio to talk to Empress.

Looking forward to it, very precise and efficient and it will limit unnecessary radio chit-chat

It seems like everyone is ignoring the side-by-side example of a consolidated volunteer department that sits right next door to the town in which this fire occurred. The town of Somers and the Town of Lewisboro have very similar constructs but have gone in opposite directions in terms of a consolidated department vs individual departments. Somers is about the same size as the Town of Lewisboro. They have 4 fire houses spread across town but operate as one department, with one chain of command, one set of SOPs, one fire district and consolidated resources. Conversely, in the Town of Lewisboro, they have the Golden's Bridge Fire Department, the South Salem Fire Department, and the Vista Fire Department (and the Lewisboro Ambulance Corps). Each of these departments are completely independent of one another and have their own chain of command, separate Fire District, separate equipment and their own set of SOGs.
In my opinion the consolidated volunteer department makes more sense for the following reasons:
The town of Lewisboro has 3 Mid-Heavy Rescue Units (Counting Rescue 24 may it rest in peace)...All of NYC has 5! The town of Lewisboro has 7+ Chief Vehicles. Each department in Lewisboro has at least 2 "Class A" engines so that they can stay in service when one goes out for maintenance. 90% of the time each engine rolls without a full crew anyway (thats if they can even get two engines out the door) Shortage of Officers. When I joined the fire service 10 years ago Vista Fire Department had 3 chiefs and a multiple captains, Lieutenants and Foremen, etc...now they are down to 3 officers (a chief, a captain, and a lieutenant). I believe that GBFD currently operates with two of their Lt. positions vacant. Moreover, many departments' by-laws are constantly being set aside to allow people who don't meet the professional qualifications to hold office. In many instances, members are being promoted to officer positions after being a member for only a year and having never been first-due to a car fire let alone a structure fire. What it all comes down to here is that you are ultimately going to get the same resources to a fire in both towns. In Somers you will probably get 20-30 members town-wide who will all respond to a daytime incident. In Lewisboro, you will get 10 members from the "host" department and 5-6 from each of the other 2 departments in town via mutual aid.
The differences however are major!
There will be a delay in resources because you have to wait for the host department to get on scene to dispatch mutual aid...they will have to operate with 4-6 people for at least the first 10-15 minutes until mutual aid can respond to their firehouses and then to the scene. There will be way too many Chiefs on scene because there will be 3 from each of the other departments in town...and not enough indians because anyone who is even remotely good will be a chief already (side note...I think Croton Falls had command on this last Goldens Bridge fire and at their firehouse fire last year). The manpower from the three independent departments will be less familiar with the equipment and personnel from the other departments than that of the one consolidated department. 3 sets of SOGs vs one consolidated set. I thought the side-by-side comparison may help clear up the confusion that a consolidated department would have to be paid. The Town of Somers could probably have ended up as the Granite Springs, Amawalk, Lincoldale, and Town of Somers fire departments had they wanted to go that route...for all I know they may have been at some point way back when.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/10-13-for-empress-paramedic-rich-lang/298254