Ging599

When I was working for a certain EMS agency in Yonkers per diem while working at a funeral home full time, I had a transport for someone who had made pre-arrangements earlier in the day at the funeral home. I saw no conflict there and yes they made is there alive.

Aw come on, you have to admire his enthusiasm ... even though I need to make new plans for tonight.

All kidding aside, has anyone heard of any studies or cases where LEDs caused seizures. People used to speak of epileptics going into seizures from strobe lights, would LEDs cause the same?

Did anyone happen to download this clip off of You Tube and save it? I know a Chief from the before mentioned accused Department that would like to see it. He, nor any of his fellow Chiefs have any knowledge of this video or incident and he is very interested in seeing it.

Found this link about ALF: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Manufacturing/Fir...tcy-Blames-IBM/

This morning our FD was called when our neighboring Dept. could not get out for a call and it got me thinking. How long does dispatch wait before calling mutual aid when a department can not get out for their own call? What protocols are in place to address this and are they county or department policies? If someone from the department that has the call signs on the base station in the firehouse, does responsibility for calling mutual aid shift from dispatch to the member that signs on if they aren't an officer? Does dispatch adjust their procedure if an alarm comes in via multiple calls or a more serious sounding nature from 911 callers? On the FD side of it, can a department be held liable for property loss or injury as a result of them not being able to respond in a timely manner? I apologize if this has been addressed but my mind started going at 2am when this took place and I could not recall seeing this on the board.

I almost wish I caught that clip before it was taken down. I was a member of the before mentioned department for 12 years and am still an honorary member there. I might've been able to get some answers as to what went on and what repercussions there were. It's tough for me to ask when I don't know what was on the net, but I will ask the Chief anyway when I see him tomorrow. I never really understood the whole drinking and FD thing. Our Dept. has an unwritten (of course) policy of two drinks and you can't ride but to me that makes no sense. If you've had a drink, stay off the rig. I know people say that a member will have a drink at home and then come out for an alarm but I don't think that thats any better. Drinking and firefighting don't mix.

It seems these people will hold just about any civil service arena responsible for a variety of things: http://www.trutestnw.com/investigation.htm

Sorry, read my original post, I was up at 2AM thinking of this. Anyhow, a lot of good conversation has been stirred up so I can deal with my typo. I too would like to know of any examples or case history where an FD was held liable for not responding to an alarm in a timely manner.

How many departments even have 36 truly active members that you can count on be it day or night? How many departments would you need to mutual aid to cover the 36, and these are minimums we are talking about. Chiefs that don't want to drive the rigs, minimal staffing, ten minutes until mutual aid is requested .. I need to check on my house insurance.

First, I appreciate those who responded and gave me answers to my original post. Second, the post went off course, but that is a good thing. I haven't seen one person post that the system isn't broken and everything is peachy. So my next question is, is it really going to take someone dying to begin to address this? Is this the commissioner's responsibility, the Chief's or the municipality's? Who is it going to take to make changes? I am not asking this hypothetically, who is it really going to be that needs to take the bull by the horns. I am not a career FF, I've been a volley for about 17 years and proud of that, BUT the system is broken in so many ways. We have manning problems (the trucks don't get out in a timely manner or manned properly), duplication of services (does every FD really need a rescue truck or that addition pumper especially if we can't get them out), budgetary issues (I won't even go there), departments that do not work well together (do we even need three departments in one town), etc. etc. We all know the issues but who is willing to address them?

I appreciate the responses. Being in Putnam, I feel that 10 minutes before requesting mutual aid is too long. This is part of why I started the thread. I was also curious as to who sets these protocols, etc. No one has really touched the liability side of my question. I imagine that the fire departments have some sort of duty to act (for lack of a better term) and can be held liable for a failure to respond but I could be wrong. The solutions thread has been up before. I personally feel a combination of consolidation and paying personnel may be the way to go but it is going to take someone with some real gumption to begin those wheels in motion. There is a whole lot of duplication of equipment up here and no one to roll it.

All tones went out properly because their base was manned but they couldn't get a truck out. They are a smaller dept., not too busy and this was a C/O call. My questioning was not because of this specific call but because this is becoming all too common an occurrence for ALL types of calls. You have a situation like this and a new member gets on the base and could be faced with this situation and have no idea what they are doing. Also, listen to your radios and listen sometimes to how long it takes for mutual aid to be requested, whether it be due to pride or a "nuisance" call. Either way it is disheartening and DANGEROUS and I was curious as to who has and makes procedures concerning the questions in my original post and what they are. I think the hiring paid of people, which I am in favor of (just my opinion), is a subject for another thread which has been discussed. I am merely looking for answers pertaining to this situation. Thanks 420. One more question for you. If the base signs on, does that mean that the member on the radio assumes all responsibility for requesting mutual aid and it is out of the dispatchers hands? Like I stated above, a lot of times, the newest member will be on the radio and may not have a clue what to do when faced with this. As a homeowner in Putnam, I feel that 12 minutes is a long time to wait just to REQUEST mutual aid.

In Carmel, the first out apparatus rolls with a driver, officer and two interior firefighters. Unless the IC orders otherwise, the apparatus will not roll without this manpower. Exterior firefighters are only allowed to ride on apparatus other than the first out the door and even then will wait for the same manpower as the first out again unless the IC requests otherwise. Responding to the scene is frowned upon and pretty useless considering all gear is stored in Quarters. If no Chiefs are on the road, sometimes a line officer will respond directly to the scene. The only other exception to that is if you have to drive through an auto accident scene to get to the firehouse.

My old company, I was still in my LI dept. then, operated at a 10-75 in Queens but it wasn't a multiple alarm. I am sure several depts. also did this but I don't remember hearing of any multiple alarmers.

Having driven a hearse in many a procession, regardless of what the law says, I never violated any traffic safety device for one simple reason, liability. If anyone following me was ever involved in an accident, I am sure the lawsuit would include my name in it and it's just not worth it. As far as I know, any lights on a funeral vehicle are courtesy lights only but I am not in law enforcement and do not know the VTL. Never expected this type of question on this site. On a separate note, if there are an Yonkers PD members on here, keep an eye out for one stolen limo, stolen from the front of my family's funeral home. Black Lincoln, no joke.

Maybe a system like Nassau County uses, which sounds very similar to Greenburg, would work. The ambulances operate as a bureau under the Nassau County PD. A/EMTs (we would use medics) are civilian employees of the PD and operate the ambulances alone. Normally two patrol cars are dispatched on an aided unless they are busy and the PO of one of those units becomes the driver of the ambulance to the hospital. Vollie EMS fits into the system depending on agency. Most vollies act as a back up to the PD buses and will respond as a second, third, fourth, etc. resource as the PD buses get tied up. Some agencies respond primary or piggy backed with the PD. There is always a PD car assigned to aided cases. Vollies NEVER are assigned to "mental aided" cases even if it means taking a PD ambulance from far away. Ambulances are assigned 2 or 3 per precinct depending on call volume. I have been out of Nassau for a while, but I am pretty sure this is still how it runs. Modify this to the Putnam County Sheriff's office and keep the vollies responding as they do now and maybe it would work with some other modifications. Revenue would offset some of the cost and it would still be county run. Just a thought.

I will try not to make this sound too confusing. The new pumper is replacing 12-2-3 but will be numbered 12-2-2. The pumper we bought 2 years ago replaced 12-2-2 but was numbered 12-2-1 which had previously not been used in a number of years. The new pumper is a rescue pumper and can be seen at : http://piercemfg.com/new_deliveries/new_de...amp;Type=pumper If anyone has any questions about it, feel free to ask me.

Since I joined in the days when I was young and gung-ho, I joined the Rescue Company since they went out on every alarm, acted as the 3rd truck company (since I love truck work) and handled all Haz-Mat, extrications, specialized calls, etc.

One aspect of the competitions that I like (at least the ones I have participated in) is that teams are penalized for performing "unsafe actions" thereby promoting operating safely as well as quickly. I know having been on the receiving end of such a penalty that I am much less likely to perform that unsafe action again because it sticks in your mind. Plus, as was said before, you often pick up a technique or two to put into your repertoire.

I have a BBRY 7520 with Nextel service that I use for work. The cellular coverage is typical Nextel service. The internet service is slow for my liking. The phone itself is a little big and bulky but it does take a beating. I am by no means gentle on my phone and it has held up very well. Bluetooth works well and it links up nicely with Microsoft Outlook as far as using it for calendar appointments, contacts, etc.

Wow, I thought NYC OCME paid poorly.

I saw that same car going L&S NB on 684 around 10 AM this morning. Must have been a forthwith for a wild boar or something.

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dl.../703130330/1206