antiquefirelt

I'd think the cost of the mask will be a non-issue compared to the rest of the system? 

While that's not cheap as far as outfitting every pack, it's fairly cheap in the TIC market, half the price of the last 3 we bought.

Without the details of the actual actions it's hard to say if this was well handles by the Chief or not. I might note that he did not in fact suspend the two. In fact the "threat" may have been just the notification that they'd violated the policy that could result in suspension. With the evidence out there for all to see, if the Chief wished to suspend them, he probably would have. I'm guessing it another case of the rules shouldn't apply to x, y, and z. 

Are you talking about taking an ambulance to an EMS call alone and leaving it and transporting with another service? Would seem to open up a huge issue? On the other had, my dept. routinely sends an ambulance to mutual aid request for ALS back-up, as often the VAC doesn't get a crew and we're left with our medic in the back of their bus with none of their licensed people, which is not allowed here. That said, we have three ALS ambulances and two vehicles available for transporting ALS personnel, so it's not often (extremely rare) that service suffers due to out of service equipment.

The bucket looks great for for master stream operations... all that room and two nozzles... Yuck! I wouldn't want to be the fireman during rescue operations and having to bail out in a hurry... you have about two linear feet of platform to jump on each side of the nozzles. How often do you expect the bucket to be 90 degrees to the structure? That makes it even more challenging. It would be nice to have angled corners because you are rarely perpendicular to the structure and at least 8" of foot hold on three sides of the bucket so you have something to step on under poor conditions. I don't even see any easy acting handles to open the bucket doors.
Pierce makes great apparatus, but their bucket to me isn't very desirable.

the chief made a policy.  chain of command.  it may be stupid but its something they should have talked to the chief and powers to be prior to bringing it to the media, now they will have a bigger issue. 
 

I would agree up to the point that the firefighter defiantly adds that there will be future FB photos with apparatus and gear, at which point, if there is a policy, then it goes from something easily addressed to insubordination. 
 
Often the issue isn't the photo of the gear, but that it establishes the poster as an employee/member and all other posts are now linked/associated with the department. Someone who sees other things undesirable of that member or that members friends, now sees the kind of people the FD hires/allows as members. Those die-hard social media fans often fail to realize that in the public sector: perception is the peoples reality.  

As I recall Providence Fire and their Health and Safety group of their Union was on the forefront of ensuring firefighters and fire victims were evaluated and treated for cyanide poisoning due to its presence in most structure fires. Hopes and prayers for the Capt and other Brother's at PFD. 

As I recall Providence Fire and their Health and Safety group of their Union was on the forefront of ensuring firefighters and fire victims were evaluated and treated for cyanide poisoning due to its presence in most structure fires. Hopes and prayers for the Capt and other Brother's at PFD. 

As I recall Providence Fire and their Health and Safety group of their Union was on the forefront of ensuring firefighters and fire victims were evaluated and treated for cyanide poisoning due to its presence in most structure fires. Hopes and prayers for the Capt and other Brother's at PFD. 

"In January the Town refused to pay Harrison EMS until we showed them our financials (they have no right to look at our financial, HEMS is private not-for-profit org not a town entity)."
This quote, if true, is troubling.
I have to back the town on this.
If that is the attitude of the management of an agency that receives town money, the town can probably do better looking elsewhere.
If this statement is true, it is a signal that this is much more than a pizzing match between the town and a few EMS members.
If they are taking town money, then they are answerable to the town.
This makes it look like HEMS is hiding something.
Anyone looking at this is going to come to this conclusion.

...and, not to mention the obvious, but wasn't there a few agencies up bit up the road who are now going through some rather complicated, embarrassing and possible criminal investigations regarding questionable use of public money?

 

Social Media policies are a big thing and it does not take much online content to make a dept or company look stupid. While it wouldn't seem this was the type of posting that a policy was implemented for, if its a violation of the policy, it must be treated as such. Picking and choosing how and when to apply policy is, well, very bad policy. And I'm not sure as we're not nearly as "Firematic" as a whole up this way, but "traditional Fire Dept. Wedding"? 30 years this month and I have never heard of or seen anything speaking to fire service wedding traditions. I've seen antique fire trucks as limo's but I didn't realize this was a thing.

It does not appear to be as cut and dry as you think. I was listening to part of the call. It appeared that there were several other factors that mucked up the situation.
1) In this case it wasn't a fire but a medical emergency. Does the fire officer still retain command?
2) It could not be determined exactly were the call was (Town or County).
3) It seems like there was an over dispatch because it was not known were the call was. (I could be wrong on this).   
4) The weather played a role I recall hearing about boat being dispatched and one of the chiefs replied "You realize that boat s a hard bottomed Zodiac, We have 20 knot winds out here. "
     Also its difficult to hear a radio on the river with high winds and trying to keep a small craft stable and on course.
They did have a command post set up at Half moon bay and I did hear that one of the chiefs took command form the shore. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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

My Monday morning QB instinct says I'd do it but prefer the truck back in, in case it got stuck you could use the aerial without going over the cab. Pretty common to see pics from PG county with truck off the pavement, not seen any that had poor results? It's always tough to argue against a positive outcome, easier to cast stones when it's a negative.

My Monday morning QB instinct says I'd do it but prefer the truck back in, in case it got stuck you could use the aerial without going over the cab. Pretty common to see pics from PG county with truck off the pavement, not seen any that had poor results? It's always tough to argue against a positive outcome, easier to cast stones when it's a negative.

My Monday morning QB instinct says I'd do it but prefer the truck back in, in case it got stuck you could use the aerial without going over the cab. Pretty common to see pics from PG county with truck off the pavement, not seen any that had poor results? It's always tough to argue against a positive outcome, easier to cast stones when it's a negative.

My Monday morning QB instinct says I'd do it but prefer the truck back in, in case it got stuck you could use the aerial without going over the cab. Pretty common to see pics from PG county with truck off the pavement, not seen any that had poor results? It's always tough to argue against a positive outcome, easier to cast stones when it's a negative.

Without a doubt, E-One has the best jacking system on the market in my mind. They can safely operate with a smaller footprint than nearly all others. My issue with rearmount towers is the retracted length being problematic on narrow streets. So no issue if your getting up in the air, but try to place the bucket on the deck 90 degree off the side with a  four section 100 ft aerial. Alas, they've been pretty damn successful so I'm sure they know what works for them, just a different view of similar issues.

Without a doubt, E-One has the best jacking system on the market in my mind. They can safely operate with a smaller footprint than nearly all others. My issue with rearmount towers is the retracted length being problematic on narrow streets. So no issue if your getting up in the air, but try to place the bucket on the deck 90 degree off the side with a  four section 100 ft aerial. Alas, they've been pretty damn successful so I'm sure they know what works for them, just a different view of similar issues.

It's always interested me that CFD utilizes all rearmounts and the snorkels. With city street widths I'm surprised they've not got a few midmount towers? Maybe the snorkel squads have the same water tower capabilities, but it seems like the ability to put a tower bucket on the sidewalk to use the gun would be a big benefit there.  

It's always interested me that CFD utilizes all rearmounts and the snorkels. With city street widths I'm surprised they've not got a few midmount towers? Maybe the snorkel squads have the same water tower capabilities, but it seems like the ability to put a tower bucket on the sidewalk to use the gun would be a big benefit there.  

http://louderwithcrowder.com/epic-louisiana-police-call-out-gangs-in-new-video/#.Vs4mFUU8LCT
 
 
I like this guy !!!

At risk of unintentionally insulting volunteers, I might ask if the FASNY study took into account how much money would be saved in property/insurance losses if a paid staffed FD was there to effect more positive outcomes sooner? Not a knock on the potential quality of work that a VFD can accomplish, but a realistic view of how much different a fire looks at minute 4 vs. minute 12. Take the same firefighters put them in the station when the call comes in nearly every time, and see how that affects the outcomes.

At risk of unintentionally insulting volunteers, I might ask if the FASNY study took into account how much money would be saved in property/insurance losses if a paid staffed FD was there to effect more positive outcomes sooner? Not a knock on the potential quality of work that a VFD can accomplish, but a realistic view of how much different a fire looks at minute 4 vs. minute 12. Take the same firefighters put them in the station when the call comes in nearly every time, and see how that affects the outcomes.