turk182

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  3. Posted

    What I meant to ask, was Why is the Fire Service still doing interior attack on nonoccupied buildings? After the initial search, an all clear, the building is well involved and the insurance company is going to have to bulldoze it anyway. Is it really worth someone's life for something like this?

    The cut and dry is it is our job! Just because a building is not occupied should not mean you can right it off as a complete loss. Size up, pre planning, and firefighter safety should dictate what type of attack.

  5. Posted

    i will never be sold on this idea in a same town like larchmont because when a fire dept has to send a ladder and an engine on a ems call it means they are just bored because their work load is so low lol

    be real 2 engines on a ems call is crazy these guys are just looking for  work that does not exist

    they need to grow up

    So you would rather have taxpayers money go to guys sitting around doing nothing? I would give them credit for wanting to get out there and be useful to the community they serve

  6. Posted

    The thing that stinks is we can talk about this until we are all blue in the face and it is not going to change. How people can defend what they spend money on is beyond me. Lets say there is a department (lets call it Whole Wheat Fire Department) Now Whole Wheat covers +/- 6 square miles does approx. 850 calls a year has 2 front line engines 2 back up engines 1 front line ladder and 1 back up ladder. oh and lets not forget about the 3 chief cars, utility pickup, and 2 boats. Did I mention that the average personel reponse to a call is around 6 firefighters which would include 3 to 4 career firefighters. Yet when you question why Whole Wheat needs a third TIC or a third extracation tool or that $40,000 pickup you're told mind your own bees wax. Yet bring up real issues they are swept under the carpet faster than you could imagine. I guess departments like Whole Wheat can get away with it since they save so much money by not training, not providing physicals, not giving fit tests, and by not doing a assortment of other usefull and dare I say required things. Well I am blue so now a shut up. Have a Great Day!

  7. Posted

    http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local...story?track=rss

    STAMFORD - In a move to improve financial and operational oversight of the city's five volunteer fire departments, the mayor plans to give control of their budgets to the city's Public Safety Department.

    Previously, city funding went directly to the volunteer departments, Mayor Dannel Malloy said. Under the transfer, in the next fiscal year, the five budgets would be consolidated under the Department of Public Safety, Health and Welfare, and dispensed to each volunteer fire department at the discretion of Director William Callion, Malloy said.

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    Under the city Charter, the volunteer companies are independent of the city and largely funded by taxpayers dollars.

    Malloy has asked the city for $2.1 million for the upcoming fiscal year to fund the volunteer fire departments' operating expenses. He also requested $200,000 to examine whether the current fire system provides adequate citywide coverage. The budget is expected to be approved by May.

    Malloy announced the transfer at an editorial board meeting at The Advocate yesterday. He said the change should improve communication between the city and the volunteer fire chiefs on staffing, training and equipment needs.

    "The volunteer companies will have to maintain a relationship with the public safety director and my office," Malloy said yesterday. "The public safety director will dispense the money based on their ability to respond to our reasonable requests for information about whether volunteer firefighters are certified, how many are physically able to respond to an emergency on an average day" and other questions.

    The Board of Representatives does not have to approve the change, he said.

    The move follows a dismal response from the city's six fire departments to a request from the public safety department to submit information, including number of paid and volunteer firefighters, medical exams and training. Callion said he has repeatedly asked for the information, which would give the city a better understanding of how the departments operate.

    As of the Feb. 27 deadline, the city has received information only from the Stamford Fire & Rescue Department, Malloy said.

    "It would be hard to continue on a status quo relationship if we don't have information that tells us who's capable of responding," he said. "I'm hoping we'll reach that compliance; it's a relatively simple request."

    Asked how he would get information from the volunteer companies, Malloy told The Advocate, "We need to know, and we will know - or there will be some difficulty."

    Later, in a telephone interview, Malloy said the city plans to continue to work with the volunteer companies to obtain the information. He said the transfer of the budgets to the public safety department does not imply that funding could be withheld.

    "It's not our intention to not fund the departments. What I'm trying to do is build a system, under the current Charter, with respect to all departments," Malloy said. "I can't imagine that the companies would not subsequently disclose that information."

    Historically, the city and volunteer companies have clashed over how to staff fire departments, train firefighters and respond to calls.

    Fire chiefs said they were unaware of Malloy's plan.

    Turn of River Fire Chief Ray Whitbread said he could not comment immediately on the transfer. But he said he did not object to providing the city with training and staffing documentation. Whitbread said it was the city's first request and the two-week deadline was unreasonable.

    Whitbread also said a letter he sent to the city asking for clarification about the purpose of submitting the documentation was never answered. He plans to submit the information to the city within the next couple of weeks, he said.

    "It was never indicated what this information was for. We had never been asked for it before. It was a brand new requirement for us," Whitbread said. "I certainly don't think it's an unreasonable request, but it's a lot of information to gather in a short time."

    Stamford Fire & Rescue Chief Robert McGrath said the transfer could save the city money on bargaining for fuel and equipment.

    "Instead of having five or six different fuel companies providing heating oil or fuel for stations, we could bargain with one vendor," he said. "It could certainly save the city money and the taxpayers that fund the fire protection to see that they're getting the best bang for their buck."

    Whitbread and McGrath said they support a study of the current fire system's coverage.

    Malloy and Callion have said they hope to start the study this summer.

    In the last four years, Malloy has asked the Board of Representatives twice for money to study the fire system and has been denied. The last fire study was done in 1995, he said.

    "It's time for an outside entity to look at our fire services," Malloy said.

    - Assistant City Editor Angela Carella contributed to this story.

  12. Posted

    http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local...age=1&track=rss

    Labor of Love

    EMS work has changed, but reward remains the same

    By Natasha Lee

    Staff Writer

    Published February 18 2007

    On the front lines: Every call a gamble for city's emergency medical responders

    Staffing, funding concerns add to challenges

    POE: Over 30 years, EMS work has evolved from bandaging bleeding wounds to jump-starting the heart with a single shot of medicine. Once a first aid service run out of funeral homes, EMS agencies are now mobile emergency rooms, with professionals trained to respond to hazardous material explosions and terrorist attacks.

    or POE: A call can take anywhere from 45 minutes to nearly two hours to complete, and every one is a gamble.

    "You never know what you're walking into," said paramedic John Corris. "You always prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

    STAMFORD - Paramedic Jessica Crowley worked quickly to inject the sugar water solution into the elderly woman's vein.

    The call came in on a recent Thursday afternoon of a hypoglycemic emergency at a house on Hackett Circle South in Glenbrook. Crowley, and her partner, Kevin Burwell, an emergency medical technician, found the 86-year-old diabetic unresponsive on the floor next to her bed.

    "I was so scared, she was just lying there," said the woman's niece, who called 911 after coming home for lunch.

    The emergency call was the fourth that day for the Stamford Emergency Medical Services team. Crowley, 26, and Burwell, 30, had already treated a pediatric seizure, a car accident and a man suffering stomach pains. Calls can vary from two to more than 10 during a 12-hour shift.

    Though critical, the diabetic call was not unusual, particularly among the elderly.

    "A lot of diabetics know the routine. Their blood sugar drops, we give them some dextrose and they feel better," Crowley said.

    Dextrose is a concentrate of sugar water that helps elevate a person's blood sugar level. Seconds after the injection, the woman awoke as if an alarm clock had buzzed.

    "They are really amazing, they saved her," the woman's niece said.

    Crowley and Burwell say they don't often get that type of praise.

    "I don't think people understand what we do," Crowley said. "People think we're just ambulance drivers, that we'll throw you in the truck and we're your taxi cab. We're saving peoples lives."

    Over 30 years, EMS work has evolved from bandaging bleeding wounds to jump-starting the heart with a single shot of medicine. Once a first aid service run out of funeral homes, EMS agencies are now mobile emergency rooms, with professionals trained to respond to hazardous material explosions and terrorist attacks.

    As the industry has grown, so have the demands and challenges, workers and advocates say.

    "We're definitely a lot busier than people imagine," Burwell said.

    SEMS paramedic and EMT union workers have been in a contract dispute with SEMS management for more than a year over wages, and have twice rejected contract proposals they said failed to offer competitive wages. Union workers have been without a contract since June 2005.

    Last year, SEMS, responded to 11,000 calls. Call volume at the department increased modestly at 3 percent over the last decade, said Executive Director Patricia Squires, who oversees the private, nonprofit company.

    But as the city's population continues to age and grow, so do concerns of staffing and funding.

    Similar to the nursing shortage, EMS departments nationwide are struggling with staffing shortages, attrition, heavy workloads, and reimbursement from state and federal health care and insurance programs such as Medicaid. Last year, SEMS wrote off $924,000 in uncollected payments.

    The department's operating expenses for last fiscal year were $5.7 million, 15 percent of which was funded by the city.

    According to the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the industry boasts from 800,000 to 900,000 paramedics and EMTs, but advocates say the number is rapidly decreasing as workers use their experience as a springboard to higher-paying professions such as physician assistants, firefighters and medical administrative positions.

    With 27 paramedics and EMTs, SEMS is three positions short of full staff, but maintains high-level service, Squires said.

    The department has 20 volunteers who are required to complete a basic level of EMT training. Paramedics require 18 months of training; an EMT from three to six months.

    Under a contract with the city, SEMS is required to respond to 93 percent of advanced life support calls in under eight minutes, and has repeatedly met the time, Squires said. SEMS also has a contract to provide paramedic assistance to Darien.

    Staff is required to attend monthly continuing medical education courses and SEMS requires new hires to have a minimum of one-year job experience.

    Still, as the number of active volunteers fluctuates and enrollment at medical training schools dwindles, it is expected to become more difficult to attract new employees. Last month, SEMS hired a training director to help run CPR and AED training courses for the public, and generate interest in the profession.

    "We're beginning to see a squeeze," Squires said.

    Paramedics and EMTs are often underpaid and pensions are small, a primary reason for attrition, NAEMT president Jerry Johnston said.

    "It is difficult to make a career out of it depending on where you live. Traditionally, public agencies pay better than private agencies, but a private provider only can pay their staff what they can afford to pay them," Johnston said.

    The starting salary for a SEMS EMT is $32,146 and can reach $44,501 after 12 years. A paramedic starts at $41,664 per year, and makes $57,657 after 12 years.

    The state average runs $15 to $25 per hour for an EMT, and $60,000 to $65,000 for a paramedic, according to the Southwestern Connecticut EMS Council, which represents EMS in 14 towns and cities in the state.

    Fairfield County EMS agencies offer some of the more competitive salary rates, but the industry overall is low-paying, said council president Robert Petty.

    "The pay raises for medics and EMTs have not been amongst the highest considering the kind of training and responsibility that people take and find themselves in," he said.

    Fairfield County's high cost of living discourages most workers from living here. Many have hourly commutes and juggle second jobs to make ends meet.

    "People think we're asking to be rich," Burwell, who commutes from Milford, said of the contract dispute. "We're just asking to make enough to live and take care of our families."

    The physical demands also are taxing.

    "It's a profession that beats on the body," said 37-year-old paramedic John Corris. "I wouldn't be in this shape if I had just taken that accounting class."

    Corris and his partner, Steve Speanburg, 56, discussed battle wounds on a recent Friday night between calls. Corris has been with SEMS for four years.

    Speanburg, a veteran EMT, has been with SEMS since 1986 when it was Stamford Ambulance Corps., a primarily volunteer-based organization that worked with three of city's fire departments to provide limited medical services to parts of Stamford. SEMS was incorporated in 1987.

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    Speanburg's sprained his shoulder and injured his back carrying people on stretchers down stairs.

    Paramedics and EMTs carry more than 70 pounds of equipment to each call including a cardiac monitor and defibrillator, oxygen devices and a bag of dozens of vials and medicines.

    While rain and snowy conditions can make for difficult driving, maneuvering an ambulance through Stamford's congested streets is often their greatest challenge. Despite flashing lights and a siren, motorists are often slow to move out of their path, Speanburg and Corris said.

    "My head is like a swivel," said Speanburg, who drives the ambulance. "My eyes are constantly looking in all the mirrors."

    They face other obstacles reaching a patient: family members often try to intervene; sometimes houses are not numbered; driveways might not be shoveled.

    A call can take anywhere from 45 minutes to nearly two hours to complete, and every one is a gamble.

    "You never know what you're walking into," Corris said. "You always prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

    Just before 10 p.m. that Friday night, Corris and Speanburg were sent to Atlantic Street to check on an intoxicated man. They arrived to find one of their "regulars" passed out on the cold sidewalk next to the store. It was about 20 degrees outside, and the man, believed to be in his early 30s, was mumbling in Spanish.

    "We pick him up every day," Corris said, preparing an IV of saline fluids.

    Speanburg and Corris wrapped the man in thermal blankets to raise his heart rate.

    The man is among a group of homeless day laborers who spend their earnings on alcohol and are regularly rescued by SEMS, they said.

    "He gets lost in society. He gets poisoned every day," Corris said. "His liver will eventually go."

    The SEMS crew faces many forms of death. There are senseless accidents: children inside mangled cars without child seats; overdoses; suicides.

    "It's another thing that comes with the job that you have to get through," Burwell said.

    They rely on humor, and each other, to get by.

    Between calls, at medic station 3 at the Tully Center, Burwell and Crowley watch television, surf the Internet and talk about weekend plans. TV cooking celebrity Rachel Ray is a favorite.

    At times, their banter echoes sibling rivalry.

    "We're like two brothers," Burwell said of their friendship.

    Despite the challenges Burwell said he can't see himself doing anything else. In April, he'll graduate from the Joint Hospital Planning Council in Bridgeport with his paramedic license. He's the sixth-generation in his family to go into public safety.

    "After 16 years of doing it, I still absolutely love it," he said. "It still feels like the first time every day."

  15. Posted

    Wait second, the volleys and career get different equipment because it would be too expensive to equip the volleys???  A few questions first...Are the volleys interior ff's or just scene support?  Are the dept apperatus fulls staffed by career ff's or is it just one or two to get the rigs out?

    Correct Career and Volunteer currently get differant gear. I think Rich C's point was that if the Vols. switched to Morning Pride overnight it would be to expensive. The Career FF got the gear over a 4 year period. Other then that it would be up to the companies to spec Morning Pride if that is the gear that they want( that is how we the career got it.)

  16. Posted

    I'm not interpreting what firecapt is asking the same as many of you.  You keep mentioning individual training...he is asking input about fire departments.

    You can have great employees, but if the corporation sucks and is broke.  The business is broke.

    Great idea. 

    We have NIMS.  How about having regional staff that inspects fire departments like EMS agencies get inspected.  Checking on individual records, physicals, fit testing.  Apparatus files, in house training records and content and so on.

    Have this come up on the floor of the state legislature and watch the jockeying and crying towels begin.

    Isn't that sort of what I.S.O. ratings do/are. I understand they are designed for insurance company to rate a department but it is a rating none the less is it not ?

    Question on the whole NFPA standards. What recourse do youthink there is when the standards are not met? Of course after the fact it allows for a great law suit I am wondering how to us it to try and get changes made before there is even a reason for a law suit.

  17. Posted

    Not that I really feel the need to defend my actions or posts I do feel a need to respond. If you were offended by my post so be it. There are certainly far worse things that I could say about the City of Rye Fire Department that I chose not to say just like I am not airing all the dirty laundry in this post. If you think I just hap hazardly posted you are incorrect. I had penned two or three replies that a choose to delete before even hitting the the post button because I felt they would be too harsh and cause problems. As far as my sarcasim or attitude it comes from 18 years of being with the City of Rye Fire Department, 11 Years as a volunteer and so far 7 as a career firefighter. People will proably say oh he got paid guy attitude but you are wrong I am fighting for the same things toady as I was when I was Captain of the Poningoe Engine and Hose Co. I have nothing to hide and do not think that any public fire department should be able to hide either. If there is something wrong we should all be fighting to fix it. I can only hope someone with authority reads my post and takes notice and it helps my department or some other department.

    Anyways I will stop my rant here

    Have a great day all

  19. Posted

    Boy.....what a typical reaction.  Make broad sweeping statements with no suggestions for how to recruit more people to do the work.  Takes some serious effort and grunt time, but it's doable.

    What are you talking about? All I did was answer a question. You may not like the tone I used to do this but oh well.

    As for broad sweeping statements without any suggestions try this on for size. If the job is not getting done hire more men.

  20. Posted

    I thought Rye FD only had three Engines (191-193). When did they get, and what make is E194?

    Engine 194 = P.O.S.(1981 Hahn)

    The powers that be in their infinate wisdom have decided that Rye with it's 6 square miles needs 2 spare engines and one spare ladder. 194 is now the former 193. 193 is now the former 192 As for the placment of equipment I believe it is still somewhat up in the air. The response will remain the same 2 engines and a ladder on all structure type calls. THERE IS NO MANPOWER TO MAN MORE EQUIPMENT THEN THAT (and even that is questionable)

  21. Posted

    Excavator rolls over on blasting material

    By Robin DeMerell

    THE NEWS-TIMES

    DANBURY -- A 100,000-pound excavator rolled over onto 1,500 pounds of blasting material at a construction site off Old Ridgebury Road Friday.

    The blasting is part of The Riverton project being built on the former Union Carbide site.

    Assistant Fire Chief Stephen Williams said late Friday that the company doing the blasting had set blasting mats, dug holes and then filled them with explosives before covering them.

    It was during this process, Williams said, that the machine rolled over.

    It took four heavy-duty wreckers to upright the machine and put it back on its tracks.

    Williams said that no houses in that area of the city were ever in any danger.

    "That's a small blast," said Williams of the 1,500 pounds. "It sounds like a lot -- for some of the jobs they do, it's not a very big shot."

    He said no one was injured during the several hours ordeal.

    "Everyone was relatively safe, but we had the potential of setting off one of the holes," he said.

    No more info maybe some one from Danbury can fill us in.

  25. Posted

    1.  Who honestly cares if the PD has or doesn't have standards for when they are taking care of traffic?  I for one don't.  The agencies I deal with require their officers to wear vests.  One department I'm with requires nothing, the other does in regard to vest.  One only fire police every wear them...if they have them on them.  How many standards do they follow or policies their department has that most FD's do not that would make sense for us to do similiar or follow because they are law/standards.  I have a municipality that the police officers get fit tested every year and get a physical to wear both gas masks and SCBA's.  And the FD DOESN'T!  Meanwhile who spends more time in it?  The FD.

    2.  While the chief has responsibility for overall public safety, that does not make the scene "my scene" or the "fire departmetns" scene.  PD is still responsible for the investigation and documentation. 

    3.  The comes down to common sense and many still do not get it.  Its not about you, its about the people we serve.  ALL OF THEM, the ones on the road that didn't have a problem as well.  There is no reason to put all that equipment on the road.  Yet, you need 3 chiefs to a minor MVA...for what?  When the majority of the time I witness poor blocking and positioning of such vehicles.  Then add in as Seth stated, the often blue and green light parade and its a mess.  We want our cake and want to eat it too.  Well that's not always right.

    What is an MVA for the FD....9 times out of 10 you are doing an EMS assist.  Facilitating the removal of patients for EMS and mitigating any hazards to them and the person involved.  Lets not lose focus.

    Please tell me that I am mis reading #3 "Its not about you, its about the people we serve." While scene safety does protect those who are already involved isn't it really about protecting us. If I am working a job on say I 95 I really could care less about the people stuck in traffic. My first concern is make it safe(as safe as I can). It is too bad that people will be delayed but I did not cause the accident and I would really like to go home to my famliy at the end of the tour.