calhobs

The superbowl is no where near the most important event of today. This is Ronald Reagan's 100th Birthday. I wouldn't post this for any president but Reagan wasn't just any president. He was our 40th and our BEST. Reagan is regarded by both sides of the aisle as one of the best presidents of all time.
His smile, his wit, his patriotism, his conservatism and his vision for American still endure to this day. For a man with such a gentle face, he was a pillar of strength and a profile in courage.
Happy Birthday Gipper, We Miss You.

There was no doubt that a shameful liberal like yourself would take the opportunity to bash a great man like Reagan when all this thread was about was wishing him a Happy Birthday. Judging by your age status 18-21 you weren't even alive during the Reagan Presidency so anything you know was taught to you in whatever bastion of liberalism ( sorry i meant college) that you hide from the real world in.
You speak of Iran Contra .. first things first junior, no concrete evidence has ever been uncovered that directly linked Reagan to Iran Contra with that being said, the sale of weapons was devised to secure the safe release of 6 American Hostages that were being held in Iran. Some money was then funneled to the Anti Communist fighters but funding and arming anti communist groups is nothing new for the US.
Were the other presidents that you mentioned good presidents ? Yes they were but they weren't the leaders that Reagan was. The rest of the world respected and feared him which ultimatly kept us safe... but thats something that rose colored glasses wearing liberals like yourself know nothing about.
You have proven yourself time and time again on this site to be liberal, anti cop , anti government, and sometimes anti everything. You're obviously a young know nothing kid that thinks that your corner of the world is everything and the rest of us known nothing.
You post your stupidity on here like you know what's going on when in reality you couldn't shine the shoes of the senior men and women who are on this site.
I'm sorry about the rant guys and i know this will get pulled down real quick but you can only read this s*** from this guy so many times

Sorry, but your counter argument is flawed too.
A college education in many occupations does equate to being "better". Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant & Engineer are a few that come to mind right away.
You are right that a college education may not make someone a "better" firefighter or company officer no matter how long they spend in school. However, the converse can also be true. Some people, no matter how great a firefighter/company officer or how long as one will automatically make them a "better" Fire Chief. They may be prepared to lead a scene or be able to make other operational type decisions, but 20+ years on the front lines may not prepare them for the rest of the job, like preparing budgets, directly dealing with city officials, writing grant proposals, preparing and delivering presentations to acquire additional or protect current department resources,etc.
I think there's a legitimate argument for a Fire Chief to have some degree of college level education.

Sounds like we all are worried what happens in the firehouse gets put on facebook. If we are so worried that something bad that happens at the fire house lands there, well maybe you have a bigger problem in your firehouse that you should be watching and takeing care of.

Greetings all. I have been member on this site for a long time, and at the moment I am also an assistant Chief with the Elmont FD. I will not get into specifics at this point, but just wanted to say a few things.
First, the Elmont FD is in no way racist, nor is the company in question trying to incite a racist point of view. Like it or not the nickname "rebels" and the use of the confederate flag has been a somewhat popular choice of fire companies for decades. Im sure you all know of a company somewhere called the "rebels". Hell just google "fire Dept. maltese cross rebel flag sticker" and you will see a dozen designs for your helmet and other applications from many fire service stores.
Second, the company was organized in 1924, and at the time was the only company on the East End of the district, away from the other then 3 existing companies in the West all a few blocks from each other. Back in the day the competition between fire companies was probably more fierce then it is today. The other companies did not want them to be located at that end of the district and "beat" them to the fires in that part of town. They got the nickname of the rebels because they went against the grain from day 1. The nickname rebels was born for being "different" not being racist.
This all said, the flag does bring about some strong feelings from many folks, and in the end we exsist to serve the public not offend them. I will leave it at that for now.
Be safe all.

Its like watching monkeys use tools for the first time

Bear with me for a moment; A while back, I put up a request on the board for any gear or equipment that could possibly be donated to a rural fire department in Maine. My mother's cabin is in the town, and I had contacted the COD on a different matter, but the discussion evolved to the needs of the department.
They don't HAVE enough turnout gear for their members. Maybe the Chief from Rockland, antiquefirelt could expand on the lack of funding for the fire service up there......
Initially, the idea was greeted with much enthusiasm from more than a few members. As I tried to pursue the idea of following through, one member actually grew hostile in his e-mail responses, like "I'm so busy, why are you bothering me..." Aside from maybe one member the request for donations turned into an utter bomb with members dropping the ball.
I was not going to mention this until now in this discussion, I just began wondering....something is definitely not right here, aside from the horror show of 14 seconds of video. I think maybe we should be careful to rush judgement, but now that this is out on the blogs and boards, the fire service deserves to know the facts. But I relayed the information about the gear for Maine thing because.....maybe this department lacks turnout gear. You may laugh, but it's a 2011 reality in the fire service that there are places that lack basic turnout gear.
Of course, chances are these are some type of members of a department were seeing, they might have all the latest and greatest gear.....back on a rack at the firehouse, or folded neatly in a compartment.
These stills from a newspaper tell more of the story:
http://www.uvaldeleadernews.com/news/article_69171608-1c40-11e0-b79e-001cc4c03286.html?mode=image
I would say hold off judging until we know for sure, and we deserve to know, there's nothing wrong with asking the question, "what the hell is going on here?" It could be taken as a mockery of our profession, career or volunteer. There should be a groundswell of anger in the fire service at incidents like these if justified, because everything guys fight so hard for in this business...guys died and safety improvements came from their deaths....do we disregard those lives given to the service...do we disrespect the profession so severely....I was actually thinking earlier a good soundtrack for this video would be 14 seconds of a ringing cuckoo clock.
But one thing I want to do is give credit to the Brother working on the roof properly. Like it ain't hard enough, and you have added chaos from the personnel around you....

Well, that's part of the problem right there. They're towing cows for cryin' out loud!
Once they clear up their livestock removal issue, then maybe they can stop kowtowing and start negotiating.

Two members of the Sleepy Hollow Police Department passed away this past week. To say the department is hurting from this is an understatement. I worked with both of these officers while providing services thru the village via Westchester Ambulance, Westchester EMS and TransCare. Both were outstanding officers who gave to the community they served right to the end and deserve to be recognized for the good they did.
James Patrick Brophy of Croton and formerly of Sleepy Hollow, died January 7, 2011 after a long illness. He was 61. Born in Tarrytown on January 26, 1949, he was the son of Joseph and Evelyn Byrnes Brophy. He graduated from Sleepy Hollow High School in 1967 and Franklin Pierce College in 1971. He began his career in law enforcement in 1971 as a police officer in White Plains and transferred to North Tarrytown in 1973. He worked his way up to chief of the Sleepy Hollow Police Department and retired in 1997 after 26 years of service. James was a member of the Sleepy Hollow PBA, Westchester County PBA and the New York State Chiefs of Police Association. He was a member of the Hudson Valley Critical Incident Stress Management Team. He was an instructor at the Westchester County Police Academy and a Firearms instructor for the FBI. James was a former member of both the Sleepy Hollow Fire Patrol and the Cortlandt Ambulance Corps. He is survived by his children Erin Brophy of Buchanan and Shawn (Stephanie) of Joshua Tree, CA as well as his granddaughter Teagan Brophy and his grandson Orion Brophy. He is also survived by Marie Brophy. Visitation will be at COFFEY FUNERAL HOME on Monday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. His Funeral Mass will be Tuesday at 10:00 at St. Teresa of Avila Church with interment to follow in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. COFFEY FUNERAL HOME 91 N. Broadway Tarrytown, NY 10591 914-631-0983 coffeyfuneralhme.com
Bobby Checchi of Tarrytown, New York, passed away on January 14, 2011 at Calvary Hospital. Born to Ugo and Ida Checchi in the Bronx on August 4, 1960, he was 50 years old. Bobby is survived by his beloved wife of 21 years, Nancy and his loving son Gavin; his caring sister Linda Robinson and husband Vince of Dundas, Canada; brother Ugo Checchi, Jr. and his wife Judy of Alstead, New Hampshire; mother-in-law Shaaron Plate and husband Cy of Phoenix, Maryland; brothers-in-law Charles Plate and wife Rebecca of Virginia Beach, VA, Frederick Plate, Jr. and wife Carole of Holland, PA and Timothy Plate and wife Leslie of New Market, MD; sister-in-law Karen Plate of Norfolk, VA; eight nieces and nephews and four great nieces and nephews. Detective Checchi retired from the Sleepy Hollow Police Department in August 2010, where he served the village for 23 years. Bobby felt his greatest accomplishment was the privilege of serving as the detective assigned as the School Resource Officer for the Union Free School District of the Tarrytowns. His commitment and passion for the young people of the Villages were exemplified by his continuous and direct involvement with youth, including over twenty years of coaching competitive baseball in the Tarrytowns. He also served as volunteer assistant coach or Varsity and JV baseball at Sleepy Hollow High School, and developed the summer and fall programs the TNT Baseball continues to compete in around the county today. His service to youth was acknowledged when Bobby was awarded "Hero of the Year" by Westchester Parenting magazine for his mentoring of the youth in his community. Visitation will be at Coffey Funeral Home on Monday and Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. His Funeral Mass will be Wednesday at 10:00 at St. Teresa of Avila Church, Beekman Avenue, Sleepy Hollow. Burial will follow immediately at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Bobby was always concerned that the summer was idle time for youth, and felt there were not enough programs to serve the children and youth. Therefore, it was Bobby's wish that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns with specific goal to provide scholarship funds for community youth to attend or establish various summer programs. Donations should be sent to The Bobby Checchi Memorial Scholarship Fund c/o T.U.F.S.D., 200 North Broadway, Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591. COFFEY FUNERAL HOME 91 N. Broadway Tarrytown, NY 1591 914-631-0983 coffeyfuneralhome.com
Joe Tomaso retired medic

Forming another commission, guess they were not happy with the results of the last fist fight.

"The epic snowstorm that hit the Northeast last week was matched with an epic effort from first responders, including a group of firefighters in Neptune, New Jersey, population about 5,100.
The Hamilton Fire Company crew that worked the night after Christmas were all volunteers, said iReporter Bhak Tanta-Nanta, a firefighter who filmed a 67-hour shift that spanned three days."


http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/01/man-chronicles-firefighters-67-hour-shift-digging-out-n-j-township/?hpt=C1

"The epic snowstorm that hit the Northeast last week was matched with an epic effort from first responders, including a group of firefighters in Neptune, New Jersey, population about 5,100.
The Hamilton Fire Company crew that worked the night after Christmas were all volunteers, said iReporter Bhak Tanta-Nanta, a firefighter who filmed a 67-hour shift that spanned three days."


http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/01/man-chronicles-firefighters-67-hour-shift-digging-out-n-j-township/?hpt=C1

We received a post- arrest the other night in the local ER. She (a dialysis pt who missed her rx due to the winter storm) called 911 saying she couldn't breathe and "was probably having a heart attack." 2 minutes later PD broke down her door and found her asystolic-- started CPR. 2 more minutes later ALS arrived and loaded a few rounds of Epi and Atropine into her. Got a pulse. Gave 1 more of Epi and 1 more of Atropine. Scrambled her to me in the local ER with a pulse of 40 (mostly ectopic, med-based beats). We immediatley began the hypothermia protocol (AKA Code Cool).
Fast forward: 2 days.
She was warmed back up in our ICU from 93 degrees to 98 degrees and was extubated the day after. 2 days later she was extubated and asked ME, the one who received her and wrote her off as non-viable, ""What the Hell was I thinking bothering you people with my medical problems??? I'm so sorry I bothered you all!"
WE broke her ribs, tore her lip tubing her, and jammed lines and tubes all over the place in her tiny body, and she's apologizing to ME. This is why I do this. Beyond words. Seriously. There's so rarely a save post-arrest, and if the person survives, he/she rarely comes out of it as much more than a plant on a window sill. And she thanked ME.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, all. NEVER forget why you do what you do and NEVER assume your efforts are fruitless. This woman was proof to me to always the assume the outcome is going to be a GOOD ONE.

Providing members the basic Confined Space & Awareness Safety program is almost impossible in Westchester County. How often have you even seen this course offered at WCDES? NOT NEARLY ENOUGH!
For the past few years, one of our members was granted a status of "Supplemental CFI" which allowed him to teach NYS OFPC courses in house for us. During this time, we managed to provide the CSAS class several times, HMFRO Original & Annual Refresher, Scene Support Ops and other courses. I don't have the exact nummbers in front of me, but we GREATLY BENEFITED FROM THIS!
A few months back, WCDES informed our Instructor that he could no longer do this, as it was only a "trial period" and they didn't want to continue it. To say that this is a major blow to our well-documented and repeatedly proven operations is an understatement. The second blow came a couple of weeks ago, when DES pulled the plug on using our firehouse as one of their satellite training facilities - citing "lack of attendance." Not for nothing, nobody ever bothered to A: advertise our firehouse as a satellite, B: Never took the time to explain to us (THE CHIEFS) what we needed to do to host classes here and C: Who cares if 6 people show up to a class? That's 6 people that benefit from this training!
As a Training Officer / Instructor myself, if I have one student, I am giving them my time. AND I DO IT FOR FREE!
I KNOW I will catch s*** for saying this, but I am very displeased with the way this county operates. People can say I am over-reacting or not seeing the big picture, but the proof is in the ink. If the classes WE ALL NEED are not offered often enough, then how the hell are any of us going to ever meet or come close to meeting those requirements that apply to us?
If a career FD is entitled to have an MTO, why can't volunteer departments? Don't the Instructors require the same training as the career guys? We have half a dozen guys whom have completed FSI-1 and have extensive training and experience themselves. Three of our guys are even certified by NYS to teach THIER PROGRAMS - BUT THEY CAN'T. What sense does that make?
Sorry for ranting and steering away from the original topic. But in defense of the TFD and almost all of us other volunteer FDs in Westchester - HOW THE F*** CAN WE EVER BE EXPECTED TO MEET OSHA/NFPA/ Other REGULATIONS WHEN THE PROGRAMS AREN'T OFFERED A FRACTION OF HOW OFTEN THEY SHOULD BE?
/Rant

Sounds like we all are worried what happens in the firehouse gets put on facebook. If we are so worried that something bad that happens at the fire house lands there, well maybe you have a bigger problem in your firehouse that you should be watching and takeing care of.

Note to IC's: The first thing you should do the morning after you have been interviewed is read the paper. It's important to know what you didn't say.

I'm no lawyer, but in my reading it seems like they are in compliance.
It says "Certified airports are required to include in their airport emergency plan, to the extent practicable, provisions for the rescue of ...victims from significant bodies of water or marsh lands...adjacend to the airports and lie beneath the approach and departure flight paths..."
I would imagine that the plan would say something to the effect of "In the event of an accident with victims in the water, the NYPD, FDNY, and USCG, etc. will be immediatley notified and will respond with X number of vessels capable of handiling Y number of patients."
The regulation only requires, to the extent practicable provisions for rescue. It does not require that the airport authority be the one that actually operates the rescue assets.

Yes, while the employeer does not have to pay that volunteers salary for the time, the employeer is not compensated for lost productivite, which depending on the industry can be substantial.
Nope, but I know many and there have even been many threads on here about chiefs commuting in dept cars or parking at the train stations. I do not know how many, but even with this law, I dont see that they will be coming back quickly or will use the law to go to work late. If protecting the community is so important, then maybe they should not commute out of the community.
So which law takes is correct the one that says you can or the one that says you can not? The bigger issue is when the nurse does not relieve anyone or is not relieved by some one. Then that does not apply. i.e. most OR nurses work a day shift and prior to the start of the shift there is minimal staff if any assigned to the OR.
Same deal as the nurses, day shifts have more staff and oncoming employees may not actually relive somebody. If its extreme then why no exemption in the law?
This was for municipal or commercial EMS employees and the same holds true for them as the corrections.
Then 1) This is clearly not true in CT (they pass a law that says they can) and 2) IAFF has never enforced this and its up to each local & each department to determine how they handle this.
I guess the 1,000's of IAFF members who are FDNY firefighters that volunteer never new that. So if a FDNY member is late because of a volly call does he need the law to protect his job?
Now please answer the original question: "Now we have volunteer firefighters who are employees of my career department. Does the legislation mean they can come to work late or leave work to cover calls back in their volunteer community? To cover them the citizens of my city will have to pay overtime to cover this. That means that my taxpayers (who are willing to fund proper fire protection) will be subsidizing a volunteer community that if they utilize this law (if signed) shows they are willing to let our taxpayers fund their dept."
Your answer was an attempt to say that career FF's dont volunteer and we all know thats not the truth.
1)this bill will do nothing to improve the dropping numbers of volunteers, but the politicians that cant pass a budget will use this to show that the are behind the VFD's....please reelect me.
2)If the employeer wants to fire them he just can't use the excuse you were late.....it will take him one more day to "find" a reason.
3) it allows employeers to screen out volunteers and not hire them in the 1st place.
That maybe true, but is only because the bill wont do what FASNY wants it to do........turn back the clock to the good old days when everyone worked localy and the whistle got 100 guys.

How about we do away with the trophies and judging and just march and wave to the kids. Who cares if my firetruck is cleaner than yours?

I appreciate your concern, and your obvious pride in being an AMerican and a member of emergency services. However, in my opinion a lot of what you have written is mere speculation and it is much too early to do that with the limited info we have at this time. To me, this seems like a very amateurish attempt and at this point who knows who tried to pull it off and what their intentions were?
In my opinion the individuals responsible for this incident will only be succesful if we let it have any effect on our daily lives or preoccupy our thoughts. Yes, we should pay attention to what happened and be vigilant and prepare ourselves for what may happen, but put it all in proper context, don't speculate, and don't make it out to be any worse than it actually was.

This is an issue that should be examined closely. This could very nearly have been a tremendous disaster. No one can tell exactly how many people would have been killed had this bomb functioned properly and the psychological ramifications would be extensive, bringing a fear that lurks in the back of our minds to the surface very violently. The police officer who responded to the vehicle was peering through the windows before realizing what was contained within. That's a little closer to a bomb than I can imagine most of us ever wanting to be. Supposedly did a great job at moving people away and bringing the necessary NYPD Bomb Squad and FDNY units.
As terrible a reality as it is, this is something that we, as emergency responders, need to be very aware of today. Furthermore, there has been some scuttle about the intended method of detonation and whether or not the smoke was intentional as a device to lure responders. If there is any validity to that theory, imagine the process. Device creates smoke, brings responders and then the primary device detonates. What a terrible event....
The reality is, there are very sick people who come up with intricate ways to kill lots of people and specific people. Be safe and cautious and try not to let ever present complacency effect your level of preparedness.

The same happened to me, its just popularity contest and a way for people to get even on post they dont like. I dont see any real purpose for it, but whatever, it is what it is.

The same happened to me, its just popularity contest and a way for people to get even on post they dont like. I dont see any real purpose for it, but whatever, it is what it is.

At the risk of getting a few malicious negatives (like the ones I got when someone actually looked me up and then negatively rated a thread that I had started LAST YEAR), not that I care too much anyway, I'd like to come out and say that I think the whole membership rating system is nothing more than a popularity contest that contributes nothing to the board. The whole point to the board is to debate the issues; if you agree and would be inclined to rate a post or thread positive, you don't have to say anything other than "I agree." Conversely, if you disagree, and would be inclined to rate it negatively, then it just seems better to debate the issue.

You've all heard of the Detroit ladder getting struck by the Amtrak train a couple weeks back. Here are some videos relating to it.
Video from the train's perspective:
http://www.break.com/index/detroit-fire-truck-hit-by-train.html
Video of aftermath from a chopper:
http://statter911.com/2010/03/01/breaking-news-detroit-tv-station-reports-fire-truck-hit-by-amtrak-train/