nydude2473

Of course that is correct. But with property values being that high, I would guess adding a few career guys shouldn't be too hard to do. There's probably entire streets where the whole block isn't worth $1.5 million dollars in some places. I would guess that public safety is a lot more important than some of the other city services offered. Where does all that tax money go ? From reading here, it doesn't seem that it is spent on the fire department.

What I meant was that you would expect a firehouse in this condition to be in a part of the country where resources (money) is very hard to come by. You know, where departments depend on pancake breakfasts, bake sales and spaghetti dinners to fund themselves. It's not about call volume. This appears to be a firehouse that hasn't even had basic maintenance for years. The fact that it is still viable at all is a testament to how well it was originally built. It's a shame that a classic Tudor building like this has been allowed to deteriorate to the point of major reconstruction or tear down and start over.
Again, one has to ask, where does all the money go?

If you are old enough, you would remember the County Police when they were 'just' the Parkway Police. Then their leadership moved to make them a real force in the County, expanding their capabilities and equipment and transforming them into the pre-eminent department they appear to be today.
Reading the incident report from this morning, it was clear that the County officers assigned to Mt. Kisco had a major incident with potential loss of life, so the County PD responded by sending the appropriate support.
Good for them.
Is the County really so poor that it can not have 24/7 paid fire personnel able to respond specialized County equipment and apparatus to emergencies?

That's absolutely scary! So they have 3 career guys and rely on the Volunteers who are barely existent, as it sounds from reading these posts. That sounds like the right equation for a bad event to happen. I know these cities, towns, and villages hate giving money to emergency services but this is absolutely ridiculous. Why does it always have to be till someone gets severely hurt or killed for someone to do anything.

Because that's the way it is in America. I'm sure if the taxpayers knew exactly what was going on, how the money is being spent, then maybe someone will step to the plate and petition the problem. Until then, status quo.
I commend the leadership in the City of Rye for acknowledging that there is a problem in their emergency services AND that they want to fix it. Unfortunately, you and I both know that getting volunteers this day and age is extremely difficult. Who knows what the solution will be? I just hope the mayor and city manager think things out before declaring an idea as a solution.

That's absolutely scary! So they have 3 career guys and rely on the Volunteers who are barely existent, as it sounds from reading these posts. That sounds like the right equation for a bad event to happen. I know these cities, towns, and villages hate giving money to emergency services but this is absolutely ridiculous. Why does it always have to be till someone gets severely hurt or killed for someone to do anything.

Thankfully the officer had a camera to record the incident. I have been pulled over a few times and never demanded a break. If the officer saw fit, I was given a warning. If I got a ticket I pled guilty and paid the fine. The easiest thing is obey the law.

Simple Definition of negligence

: Failure to take the care that a responsible person usually takes : lack of normal care or attention

Please don't ever come to treat me or my family with that attitude. "EDP" calls can be drug related, diabetic emergencies, and even if "just" a mental illness they deserve the same level of care as anyone else.
To dismiss a call based on dispatch information is very irresponsible.

As a former member of SHAC. I remember when we would do on the average of about 5 mutal aid calls a week. We would jokingly say our motto was have ambulance, will travel. But I see now times have changed. I no longer live in the area for a while now. But to the person who said it was just an EDP. I hope to god your not a member or an EMT of a Amblance Corp, and God help us if you are an officer. That was the most disgusting and unprofessional thing to say.

Look, as much as no one likes to do EDP calls, it's still not an excuse to delay service. You don't know what can happen in that time. It can go from a "regular" EDP call to them actually hurting themselves or another and it becoming a medical emergency. Time is always of the essence. We shouldn't be regulating which calls to go on just because it's this kind of call or that kind of call. That happens with the FD's and we see how that ends up hurting morale and efficiency.

They are trying to stay afloat! God be with them, since it looks like Empress is trying to take the whole county.
I think your absolutely right! Considerations have to be made about certain communities for their EMS services, but absolutely think something needs to be done. Some places could and should definitely consolidate, and others seem to be doing fine on their own. Everything needs to be reviewed!

Look, as much as no one likes to do EDP calls, it's still not an excuse to delay service. You don't know what can happen in that time. It can go from a "regular" EDP call to them actually hurting themselves or another and it becoming a medical emergency. Time is always of the essence. We shouldn't be regulating which calls to go on just because it's this kind of call or that kind of call. That happens with the FD's and we see how that ends up hurting morale and efficiency.

they made richardson the commissioner?thats politics for you.

its nothing more then a political joke! doesn't help the FF'S. he sounds like a 5th grader. yonkers did the same with pagano years back. i feel sorry for the guys in mt vernon.

They should start by raising the Standards! Stop hiring so many knuckleheads! Now there's a brilliant idea!

Ridiculous! I've heard him talk before and he really doesn't seem all that put together. Maybe I'm just used to seeing how the FDNY has been doing things lately but shouldn't they put somebody in that role who has more command experience, not just some union guy because he's good with the guys. That role is about leadership and bringing a department to the next level.

They need to revamp that whole department. It definitely starts from the top down. The way things have been run are what has put the department in the position it sees itself today. I hope that with the new mayor and his hope to put the city on the right track, that that starts with a reboot of the fire department. It's not fair to neighboring communities that their fire service is put out of their jurisdiction for long periods of time to fight a fire in a city, where if they had the right number of manpower and equipment, they could probably handle most of those calls on their own.

They need to revamp that whole department. It definitely starts from the top down. The way things have been run are what has put the department in the position it sees itself today. I hope that with the new mayor and his hope to put the city on the right track, that that starts with a reboot of the fire department. It's not fair to neighboring communities that their fire service is put out of their jurisdiction for long periods of time to fight a fire in a city, where if they had the right number of manpower and equipment, they could probably handle most of those calls on their own.

Ridiculous! I've heard him talk before and he really doesn't seem all that put together. Maybe I'm just used to seeing how the FDNY has been doing things lately but shouldn't they put somebody in that role who has more command experience, not just some union guy because he's good with the guys. That role is about leadership and bringing a department to the next level.

60 Control has very strict policies on what they can and cannot due according to my understanding. Once a unit signs on for a call that call becomes their responsibility. In this case 73B2 signed on the air and became the "responsible party" to ensure that an ambulance responded to that call and it is out of the hands of the dispatcher. There is a time frame that I am sure someone else can talk about as I cant remember off the top of my head. If a unit hasnt signed on in that time frame then it automatically goes mutual aid. Once someone signs on (73B2 in this case) the clock stops.

I can't speak for the labor history of Empress. I can only speak from my personal experience in N.R. Abbey Richmond had the New Rochelle contract from when N.R. Hospital stopped ambulance service Jan. 1, 1975 until around 1983-84 when Affiliated Ambulance was awarded the contract with a much lower bid then Abbey. Affiliated was able to do this because they had only a few EMTs and 1-2 paramedics. Once Abbey lost the contract there were more EMTs and Paramedics then Abbey could use so many of us jumped over with the promise of working only in N.R.. When we jumped we lost all our seniority, vacation pay, sick time and went to Affiliated starting pay, which was much lower then Abbey's for both EMTs and Paramedics. Most of us didn't want to leave our comfort zone, many had worked in N.R. for over 5 years. This was also good for the N.R. system. The police and fire knew us, the E.R. staff knew us, we knew N.R. and at that time the Pelham's also.
Affiliated systematically rotated in new EMTs and Paramedics into N.R. and then started to mess with the old timers,(they actually scheduled paramedics to do ambulette runs) to a point 80% of the old timers left Affiliated. It wasn't soon after the old timers left that Affiliated could not meet the contract and N.R. abruptly cancelled it. The City of N.R. then handed the contract to Empress who at the time had their own problems, but was the only remaining ambulance company that able to operate in Westchester. This was the jump start that Empress needed to grow.
Then the system cycled again and again to this point where Empress is the 6th contracted provider in N.R. When I spoke of stability in the EMS, I was also referring to the system itself, not just the employees. Every time a new provider enters the system, everyone has to adapt. However it is easier nowadays to have a smoother transition do to technology. CAD, GPS, cell phones, radios with talk-a-bout channels, etc.

Fail.
Then maybe they should hire the other half of the crew. This is ridiculous.

Does anyone know why they would hold onto the call for so long when they couldn't muster a crew?

These guys elected him President knowing full well the criminal charges? Shows who's in the majority in that Union I guess.

I don't see Mount Vernon as ever being properly staffed or equipped.
A large portion of the city is rented, and the property owners don't live in the city. When a structure burns down, it's considered "urban renewal" to the City. Fire Protection has not been a priority for the city for decades. The same problems come up over and over again. When I Google'd articles about Mount Vernon Fire Department in the Journal News/Reporter Dispatch/Daily Argus and NY Times, the same problems just repeat year after year.
It's sad, because there are a lot of guys in Mount Vernon who are passionate about firefighting, and are excellent firefighters. With the right leadership (on the City level), they have enormous potential. But it seems whenever they start getting traction on an issue, something comes up. The negative publicity seems to be endless. The morale is terrible. The stations, equipment, and apparatus are in disrepair. The hiring practices don't ensure the best possible candidate, and a lot of the good ones try to transfer out, or wait patiently for retirement as soon as possible. Guys lose hope that they'll ever be promoted due to politics. With this, they lose talented guys, and the heritage of knowledge and experience that goes with it. The new generation is set up for failure from the moment they walk in the door.
The city doesn't truly care about economic development and the potential the city has, and has failed at every effort to attract real sustainable development , so they'll never have a solid tax base to pay for the aforementioned.
Even with proper funding, excellent leadership, and productive collaboration, these are issues that will take years, if not decades, to repair.