SteveC7010

I'm not having any problems with the religious and cultural issues presented in this discussion. What nags at me a bit is why Hatzolah hasn't taken steps to deal with this in some way a long time ago. I don't pretend to know the rules around Hatzolah membership, but it seems to me that even if they don't allow female members, they'd have recognized the need and importance and helped a female team into existence to work with them.
Please understand that I am not being critical of any of these squads, but more trying to better understand the entire situation and not just one point of view.

+1
And it still needs to go to bid.
In our town, any purchase of $3,000 or greater has to go to bid. Purchases between $1,000 and $2,999 require several quotes. Purchases under $1,000 require a quote. Those limits are set by local government vote, and might vary from place to place. The State Comptroller will tell you that your town, village, FD, whatever, has to have rules in place like this.
Even the private non-profit that funds part of our ambulance service has similar rules in the by-laws.

I guess I'm not sure why you're getting upset over the fact that this is an all female volunteer corps. This is a culture that places much more importance on modesty and separation of male and female than most cultures in the U.S.. Now yes, every EMT, male or female, gets all the same training to handle any emergency we come across, and we all conduct our selves in a professional manner. However, some times people are just comfortable with care providers of the same sex. Think about it this way, your a middle age man, you walk into the urologist's office cause you're experiencing erectile dysfunction, you walk into the exam room, and the doctor's a 29 year old woman. Are you really gonna tell me that you'd feel just as comfortable talking about your ED to a young woman as you would a man? Also, anyone one who is going to call this corps is most likely also going to be calling Hatzalah, who are the same culture, and are going to understand. Plus, isn't making the patient comfortable part of any EMS job? Finally, I don't think they're trying to question anyone's moral, rather they are just looking for someone who understands and follows their wishes based on their religion and culture.

In no way do reserve funds circumvent bid processes or voter approval. All laws governing municipal purchases still apply. I'm not sure where you got that idea, but it's incorrect.
If the reserve fund is specific, say new truck or building, then the fund can only be spent on the planned purpose. If the expenditure is made and there are funds left in the reserve, the governing body can vote to move the money into another fund, reserve or general.

+1
And it still needs to go to bid.
In our town, any purchase of $3,000 or greater has to go to bid. Purchases between $1,000 and $2,999 require several quotes. Purchases under $1,000 require a quote. Those limits are set by local government vote, and might vary from place to place. The State Comptroller will tell you that your town, village, FD, whatever, has to have rules in place like this.
Even the private non-profit that funds part of our ambulance service has similar rules in the by-laws.

To withdraw monies in a Capital Reserve account, it needs to be put out to a permissive referendum. Basically the district must ask public permission to spend the $ the district already has.

In regards to these issues, I've often been tempted to call up the BEMS reps for my area and ask them if it would be OK if we operate our ambulance services and fly cars in the same manner. I'd really like to hear their side of the story of the double standard.

In regards to these issues, I've often been tempted to call up the BEMS reps for my area and ask them if it would be OK if we operate our ambulance services and fly cars in the same manner. I'd really like to hear their side of the story of the double standard.

I don't know the answer, I am just asking, how far from the Millwood sub-station on 134 was this proposed station to be located? Any possibility of putting a Yorktown engine in with the Millwood apparatus and sharing?
And I couldn't help notice that the plans for the new Yorktown station did not include a bunk room. It seems none of the new plans or renovations for the volunteer stations I see include any accommodations for overnight
duty. I believe my old firehouse was renovated for over $1M and no provision for a bunk room, yet this past winter there were more weather related overnight standbys than any time in the past.
NY was lucky this week, Arthur, a category 2, stayed East. But not by much. Whether for future combo or paid or just now for standbys why do we not make allowances for bunk rooms? Some of the new builds have been huge and yet they can't find 150 sf for a room that can fit two bunk beds so four firefighters can be comfortable for an overnight.

I was not aware of the animosity between some regular FFs and volunteer FFs until I began to read these forums. Perhaps things are different "back east", but out here in the wild west, volunteer firefighters are required to have the exact same training and certifications that the full-timers do.
We don't have volunteer firefighters in the metropolitan areas, but only in rural parts of the state. Without them, those areas would be completely without fire protection and first-responder medical care. I consider volunteers who give up so much of their time - and even put their lives on the line for the public - to be true heroes.
We also have reserve police officers who attend the same police academies and get the same continuing training as regular officers. They do the same job...they just don't get paid and they don't do it full time.
Now, having said the above, what I see as the only real difference between the volunteers and the full-timers like me (at least here in the west), is that we full-timers do this 10 hours a day, every day....and the volunteers do it maybe a couple of times a month. When you're doing a job every day, you're BOUND to be better at it than someone who only does it occasionally. But I think we should support the idea of the volunteers getting as much training as possible because when the fecal matter hits the air-movement device, we're both in the business of serving and protecting the public.

There are plenty of volly chiefs who are certified beyond the credentials that you specify. There are plenty who aren't. There are also plenty of career chiefs that litter suburbia with the minimum certifications required to attain the position, who have been placed there through political influence and have no business commanding a girl scout troop selling cookies let alone let alone a fire-rescue response. Your post seems to be more pointed towards a vollie vs. career discussion rather than actually having data to support whether or not volunteer chiefs in a particular municipality have the appropriate certifications to attend a training event that could potentially improve the outcome of an emergency that may occur in their first due response area.

I just discussed this general situation (not the Chester one specifically) with a NYS DOH BEMS rep in the past month. He reiterated that nothing in any state law prevents a municipality from contracting with a private company to provide ambulance service, and there is no legal restriction on that private company turning a profit. If the municipality was billing the patients directly for ambulance service, there are some laws that do prohibit the municipality from billing more than the actual cost of the service.
This is not the first case of this nature here in NYS. Google up East Rochester Volunteer Ambulance and see what happened there. It's a remarkably similar situation. The VAC was shut down, their rigs and all property turned over to the commercial outfit, and there was no recourse against the town.
It sounds to me like this guy's lawyer has no clue about the various state laws that apply in this situation. If he did, he'd never have allowed this lawsuit to get off the ground.

Caught the 24th WMD-CST over the weekend, missing one pickup and trailer though.

As we all prepare celebrate Memorial day 2014 with barbecues, parades and a day off I thought it might be fitting to put this day in perspective with a few facts.

1) Memorial Day was originally known a Decoration Day because it was a day when family and friends would gather to decorate the graves of the fallen as a remembrance. Food was often taken along and set out on sheets in the grass to foster a sense of community.

2) While the first Decoration Day events were held after the American Civil War in both the North and South, Waterloo New York was officially credited by Congressional act in 1966 as the birthplace of the tradition
3) A day set aside to remember the sacrifices of those lost became a national event in 1868

4) The term Memorial Day was first used in 1882 although for many the older term of Decoration Day remained in use until after World War 2. Memorial Day became the official name by Federal law in 1967

5) Traditionally Memorial Day is May 30. This along with 3 other holidays was changed to a specified Monday in 1971 by Federal law to allow for convenient 3 day weekends.

6) On Memorial Day, the flag of the United States is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. The half-staff position remembers those who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon, their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

7) And most important of all:
Since the birth of our great nation 1,321,612 Americans have given their lives to protect our freedoms and defend our country. We owe them all a debt that we can never repay. But we can and should remember. So before we drink that beer or eat that burger let us take just a moment to honor their memory and their sacrifice by saying thank you.

To all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our Nation. Thank you for your service and thank you for my freedom

God bless America.

Unless you can prove there was and/or wasn't an emergency then this whole thing is a mere assumption. IMO this is a non issue. Whatever they were doing must have warranted them to use their RLS, and if it didn't and they got into a mess they would own it. In addition im sure they are/were well aware that if someone like an off duty boss saw them and made a quick phone call and found out nothing was going on, they would get some grief as well. They know the deal and made a decision based upon it.
just my .2

http://wtvr.com/2014/05/13/richmond-ambulances-to-carry-plasma-a-first-for-the-nation/
This might finally change the way we treat trauma victims.

Nuc training facility for the US Navy. KAPL Milton is in the middle of a large forest just east of the Adirondack Park.
http://www.knollslab.com/index.html

Nuc training facility for the US Navy. KAPL Milton is in the middle of a large forest just east of the Adirondack Park.
http://www.knollslab.com/index.html

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory - Milton, NY. Forestry 81-3 (F-5)
Specs and other pics http://firematic.com/brat/kesselring13/index.htm

Great shot! I've always loved the BRATs. Can you tell me please, what is the "Knolls atomic power laboratory" and why do they need such a rig? I'm just not familiar with that part of the state.

Some people have noted that there is a lot of "cut and paste" topics on this forum.
I cut and paste topics because I want this to be a consolidated place to come and read relevant articles from local news sources, so our members don't have to go to the 10-15 news sites I visit everyday to collect content to present to this forum.
Some of these articles that are "cut and pasted" into topics are also meant to be a spark for interested members to discuss what the article was about.
This site is what you make of it, and if you complain about the "cut and paste" articles prevailing on this forum, then think of a good topic to discuss and post it, and encourage other members to post replies.
-Seth G.

School rules before FD rules for students who have yet to graduate from high school.
If the FD is that dependent on FF's who are still in high school, then the FD bears responsibility to find itself some qualified people who are beyond high school. The school is not cutting into the FD's resources; the FD placed too many eggs in one basket.

ITS THE RIGHT THING TO DO my parents made the rule with me when i was still in high school and a full active member at the firehouse. no late calls on a school night. the pager was off. i wish i did this when i was in college and a member of the ambulance corps there. my grades would have been better. Education is why you are there you are a better responder with knowing more. just like you can't respond when your in fire fighter 1 class.

If they're still in High School, that should be their priority. EVERYTHING comes second to them completing their education (figuring out those pesky pump calculations is much more difficult without simple Math)-- yea, I'm stretching that reasoning a little bit, but I think we see the point.
I think the department should be commended for this!!! The higher ups seem to be leading this young, impressionable minions along the correct path. This path means that there are bigger things than coming down for "big one" (let's face it, we've all missed the "big one" at one point or another).
I don't think you see it right now, but I hope you will, but it seems like this department is saying "I want your help, I need your help, but I don't need it THAT much, you do what you need to do, and that means finish school, we've got this"
Kudos!