Medic137

I've been doing this EMS thing for over 20 years now. I've worked in busy, nasty urban areas, sleepy rural areas and pretty much everything in between. The poster who claims that we need to be armed, and he'd put someone down who was gonna hurt him...wow. Just, wow. With a mindset like that, EMS is NOT for you, pal. If you showed up to work with me, and started with that attitude, I'd drop you off at the next corner and wish you well.
I am a STRONG supporter of the 2nd amendment, and I want no part of having to carry weapons at work. Have I been in fights? Yup. Hairy situations? A few. But looking back, they were mostly avoidable and walking away (or running for that matter) will get you out of trouble you probably never should have been part of in the first place.
Quite frankly, you scare me more than the EDP's do. Put down an EDP? Beacuse they threatened your life? Do you know how many times in a busy urban area EMT's get threatened each year? We both can't count that high.
A few other points: Concealed carry won't stop an assault. They dont know you have it, so it's not a deterent.
Additionally, cops carry a number of tools to repsond to threats of force, or force. They have rules of engagement, force must be met with force. They don't just draw down and waste every person that threatens them. Please, please rethink your approach to EMS.

I have to agree. I hate being told that police on scene request that you expedite your response. Hey I'm already doing 60 mph on country roads and you want me to expedite??? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the old addage is still being taught. Priority 1 is your own safety, 2nd is your partner, 3rd is by-standers, and 4th is the patient. The newspaper headline would read...EMS responder killed en route to call, police report excessive speed as the primary cause. This would be followed up by a story line of how EMS responders think they are aove the law.

What it really means is this.
There is nothing I can do, but people are watching, so I will say something meaningless into my radio so that the public thinks I am in complete command and control of the situation.

A related topic for this discussion is this: Many squads (Somers and Mohegan come to mind) that have hired paid folks refuse to send them out mutual aid. The arguments I have heard are, "they are too valuable to our community to send out" and "we paid for them, we won't share them with agencies that didn't".
So here is squad A that was having day-long coverage gaps, and now suddenly they hire a crew and they won't let them help someone in squad B land for an hour, a decision that could be truly life- threatening. Also, squad A in theory may have a volunteer crew for their own town- they are a Volunteer service after all.
And you can bet the FD in Town A will happily send the Towns only ladder truck, at about $800,000, to another town- with NO backfill!! $800,000 buys a LOT of $15/hour EMT's. Oh, and I bet the Town A PD sends cars to Town B when they ask. Suddenly the service that no one seems to care about is too valuable to share!
A suggestion: MANY squads get little gifts of my tax money to buy stuff- Larchmont got an bay exhaust system, other squads get CPR machines, building expansions, ambulances etc. How about this: before our government officials borrow money from China to buy the support of local service members, they do some freaking research to see if those agencies are performing, or failing to perform their moral responsibilities, versus protecting turf. And have the balls to say, "NO". Just sayin', but for the record: "As If!"

I think it would be a larger waste of time waiting for Clean Waters to send another team or cleanup unit. If such a small isolated incident as this one I believe it would be smarter to isolate and mitigate as the Hazmat did in this scenario. SInce the Hazmat quickly isolated the issue now all units can be released and the Park and Ride can be reopened. Its not even a waste since Clean Waters can be billed for the equipment used at a Hazmat scene which was caused by their own company.
I would agree to have them respond if a larger incident took place where you would need be deploying larger resources. They would be an asset to have on scene and would provide better knowledge of their chemical storage. But to have them respond to a BS leak like this one in BH seems silly. You will only keep responders on scene longer, area shutdown longer then need be, and waisting time as a result.

That only works with a wild animal. Hazmat you have to out run the chemical and it does not stop at the 1st victim

Recall about 20 years ago, a 'scumbag drug dealer' tried to run over and kill a Mt Vernon cop, and was shot and handcuffed and left in the road. EMS arrived and either directed themselves or were directed by PD to the officer with the knee injury. The dirt bag dealer eventually arrived at the ED, cuffed. Per tesitmony, there were (I have forgotten the #. 12?) cops in the ED and none responded to the MD's request to remove the handcuffs to allow treatment. Thank god the cop-attempted murdering dirtbag bled to death.
WRONG
Turns out he was a West Med Center neonatal surgeon trying to visit his girlfriend and he made a wrong turn off the BRP. His stopping and U-turning on a deserted commercial street attracted the attention of two narcs, in a cadilace and with much facial hair (Point being, the thinking is he did not think they were cops). They tried to stop him and he fled, striking the knee-injured officer. The Doctor was promptly shot to death. The upshot is that the inevitalbe suit was filed and won by the plaintiff. MV I believe actually had to borrow $$ to pay as it exceeded their city insurance max payout.
I appologize to the one member of the EMS crew I know is still doin' the job for dredging this incident up. But I thought it was appropriate for this discussion that no matter how clear the picture is at the time, things are not what they may appear to be. I especially want to express respect for the job of the LEO, and mean no ill intent in bringing up what is surely a painful memory for them.
We are not robots with no feelings and emotions. The job is not always easy. Treat every patient as a human being or don't treat human beings.
After over 25 years of 2000 calls a year and I am not in the unfortunate mindset of the poster above. Please, when my sister, the fully employed 20+ year tax paying paralegal and occasional heroin user OD's, please send another care-giver.

Barry:
I don't want to steer this away from its original intent- which was to discuss the changes brought about by the expiration of the kkk specs.
I find the NFPA to be a massive failure, an example of what occurs when an industry is allowed to self regulate. America has a terrible fire loss rate compared to the other developed counties in the world.(Sweden is best) We have a horrible firefighter death rate in the same comparison. Developments like the FIT device and fire retardant paint have come alongshowing great promise, and the NFPA seems to kind of ho-hum them. We build 1000's of residential homes a day with no sprinklers and no inspections despite that most fireman who die, die in home fires. So I see little proof of the NFPA being effective at its mission of reducing fire loss and loss of firemen's lives. I see it as one disfunctional agency taking the lead from another.
I also doubt that 80% stat. FD's may be on 80% of 911 EMS calls, but I don't think that 80% of peopel transported in ambulances are transported by "firefighters". NYC is a prime and local example. Of course, that has no bearing on the thread, but just saying.

Perhaps your attitude toward the Ambulance Corps is why they only want you on scene when it is absolutely necessary.

It was a tough old 3 story building and one FAST was "activated" when a pass alarm malfunctioned on the third floor area (would not shut off until batteries were removed) thankfully the FF was okay..the truck work was unbelievable due to the masonry construction inside and outside of the building...fire was in the walls and ceilings on all three floors and up to 5 layers of plaster, old tough wire lath, masonite sheets and plywood over plaster on walls "renovated" over time..ate saw blades/chains...many doors were difficult to open with irons with heavy inside smoke banked down to lower levels but no visible fire until roof was vented ..making a lot of truckie work...and some reported smelling smoke for hours prior to dispatch...tough job...but good job by all on scene... so multiple FAST teams are "angels on our shoulders" with so much going on..good call if you ask me...

Back to the original question ... EMT classes talk about radio communication. As far as a practical skills lab with practicing calling in the the "Hospital", that would be instructor specific due to course time constraints most probably. As many have mentioned, each area or each hospital has their own requirements for a radio report ... so the agencies need to train their members in the proper procedures for the hospitals they transport to.

But the focus is on the pot found in the car of the woman she hit!!! Go figure?? Intoxicated driving, wrong way on the highway hits a young woman heading home and the focus is on how she is the victim. Please give me a break.

There's a lot of well spent money. I'm sure that's going to get used often.

If we could predict when crashes will occur, the response time would be zero.

Irene Gremmert ....

I take a few things away from this article :
1) New Yorkers have let their lawmakers trample their rights.
2) Don't drive when your license is suspended.
3) Don't drive your suspended licensed self around in a car with broken stuff on it.
4) When breaking two laws, try to avoid interacting with the police.
5) When breaking laws, don't be carrying a handgun and be shocked when the police ask to hold on to it for a minute.
6) Here in NY, don't be a test case for the SAFE Act, especially when numbers 2 thru 5 apply to you.

More grist from the ED doc at Phelps: Per him, the BLS cannot do RX, like epi-pen, albuterol and ASA. But they can do plain BLS work. Which is what we all did before the damn medics with their tubes and needles and wires came along.

I came across this article today. It seems to have some similarities to the Yonkers situation, but is not identical. For those on the thread that suggested a YFD EMS system- here is the story of Philadelphia FD, who does run the EMS system, and how things do not seem to be workking too well.
http://www.emsworld.com/news/10849885/philly-short-on-medics-overloaded-with-firefighters

Basically it is designed to hold 700 cadets and take them on yearly cruises for sea term, which lasts around 3 months. There are classrooms and several berthing areas. I was on sea term when the earthquake hit Haiti, and the ship was activated and was going to be sent down to act as an area to house rescuers. This never happened, as we were de activated before we reached Florida ( to offload us cadets) and the USS BAATAN was closer and able to get there faster. As for its use in NYC, I would imagine it could be housing people or it could provide power to the shore using its steam plant. It could also be loading and bringing supplies down using the cargo holds.

The track is going to change every 6 hours with every update from the forecasters and models. Then every meterologist will add their interpretation to impress their viewers so this thread will be as long as the Stamford merger thread if we post every update.
I figure we will either get rain or we won't. :-)

Good luck PVAC. Nice looking rig.

Best of luck to a great organization with their new rig!!!

"Hypothetical". No. But I do know* that maxillofacial and mandible trauma will (likely) go to WCMC, even if you take the pt to St. Francis first.They do not handle that there as a specialty. I also know* that they (St Francis) don't have neuro in house after hours and on weekends. As a level 2 trauma center, they are not required to.
* My "knowledge" is not "hypothetical understanding" but based on personal and professional experiance. Disclaimer: Some of the services offered by various hospitals may have changed since my last involvement with EMS and hospital based patient care.

I will take paying the incentive compared to paying millions in cost over runs.

This is why I can't take this site some times God forbid someone used different tactics. There are a million different things to consider and from a video you can't see, hear or already know what's there before it catches fire. Why cut them down you don't know you can't know what's going on from a six minute video. You may see all these fire fighters but I didn't see all the packs everyone here Idk the first to say we need 4 trucks and 7 engines before we fight a trash can fire and don't forget the fast team and a rit backup. For this small snapshot in time the attack they used seemed to work. But what do I know progression is never a good thing.