helicopper

I go back to my original question: was this dispatched as a CO emergency or simply a medical emergency? Did the officers know that the car was running in the garage all night when they got there? What they knew and didn't know at the time is a big factor in reviewing this call. "Keyboard experts"? Just a lot of questions and discussion. What's the problem with that? Sadly they treated an off-duty, out of district FF as a hero and gave him awards for jumping off the TZ Bridge after witnessing a woman attempt suicide. He was battered and unconscious and needed to be rescued himself but he was still treated like a hero. Personally, I think he should have gotten a 72 hour evaluation at the Behavioral Health Center but that's just me. We very often pat people on the back and say good job even when it wasn't.

Is that how it was reported or did it simply come in as an aided case?

As it should be!

It's never been on a weekend. Playland is too busy for that and most of the people there work day tours during the week (DPW, Fleet Management, Highway, PD admin, etc.) Try calling the number on the "flyer" for more info. Generally starts around 0900 or so.

The role of the safety officer is far more than simply accountability. In fact, the Safety Officer has little to do with accountability when you really do ICS right. The resource unit accounts for all operating resources and the operations element (Division, Group, Task Force, Strike Team, Unit) where they are working monitors conditions to insure things are going according to plan. That said, this pre-supposes that you have a resource unit, that you have a safety officer, and that you organize resources and don't just have all the bosses at the ICP while all the troops are "gettin' dirty". This is a short list of some of the Safety Officer Responsibilities (from FEMA): Identify and mitigate hazardous situations.Ensure safety messages and briefings are made.Exercise emergency authority to stop and prevent unsafe acts.Review the Incident Action Plan for safety implications.Assign assistants qualified to evaluate special hazards.Initiate preliminary investigation of accidents within the incident area.Review and approve the Medical Plan.Participate in planning meetings.Here's more from the FIRESCOPE Field Operations Guide (420-1, 2007 edition) Only in the NWCG Firescope FOG does it discuss the safety officer having anything to do with accountability; and that's to initiate the program not necessarily DO IT him(her)self. Now, I'm not saying that anyone is wrong if they do it this way. I'd just like you to consider if the Safety Officer is doing accountability, who's doing all the rest of the stuff on the above list? We need to start looking at the big picture and stop narrowly applying just parts of the process to how we do business. We'd probably surprise ourselves if we did that.

Right now the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) is the subject of intense debate. Several states have or are passing legislation that would ban their use, even (especially) for public safety purposes, citing privacy concerns. One bill in Missouri is written so broadly that it will even ground law enforcement helicopters except for use in "life and death" situations. Existing case law on the subject has created "reasonable" altitudes for "searches" to be considered "not intrusive" and almost all UAV's fly below these altitudes creating a whole new issue to be resolved. If you think the issue of guns and car stops and bullets is a gray area, you ain't seen nothin' yet. The FAA is also still wrestling with how they are to be integrated into the system so I don't think they're going to be popping up in a lot of places soon. For more info: http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/uas/ http://www.auvsi.org/Home/ http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/?newsId=68004 http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/05/07/anti-drone-bill-could-ground-st-louis-county-air-support/ http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/remote-controlled-aerial-photo-industry-encountering-political-turbulence-b9918687z1-209288541.html http://www.capitalpress.com/content/SE-drones-052413 http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/statewide/archive/2013/05/grand-forks-drones-getting-international-attention.shtml http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/05/privacy_vs_security_when_does_the_use_of_drones_cross_the_line.html http://www.komu.com/news/aerial-surveillance-by-police-could-face-restrictions/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/28/va-delegate-seeks-curbs-on-use-of-drones-in-state/

But you better not have more than seven rounds in your gun when you use it!

Why didn't he just set fire to the lawn? Sorry, couldn't resist. The guy should be incarcerated for a LONG time.

Being the eternal cynic, I'm surprised that I'm actually saying this but... most people inherently DO the right thing, or at least try to. There are always exceptions and there are always the dregs of society (like criminals and politicians or is that redundant) who garner much of the media attention but the vast majority of people strive to do the right thing. Back to the topic at hand, I'm confused now. You said in one post (emphatically) that Texas had no codes and now you're saying that they do. I'm not sure what the distinction is between building codes, municipal codes and the codes you're saying don't exist. Are there no state fire codes because they already exist in other legislation or at other levels of government? Bulk storage of hazardous materials and petroleum products has always existed and there is always the potential for a disaster. Would inspections and other safeguards have prevented this? Do we know with any certainty what the cause was? I don't know the answers so I'm not rushing to judgment. Seems to me there are investigations ongoing into this possibly being an intentional act. Inspections wouldn't prevent that if it is indeed true.

It shouldn't take legislation for people to do the right thing. And considering the quality of knee jerk reactionary legislation we've seen recently, I hope they DON'T rush to pass something because of the West disaster. Ther must be some codes in Texas because everywhere I've been there are fire doors, sprinklers, fire zones, evacuation plans, fire escapes, and so on. They're not just doing that because it's the right thing to do so it must be codified somewhere.

24 whole hours? Wow! I think the discussion started out so actively because it is VERY unusual for the state to take such definitive action against an agency. In the past 25 years, I can count on one hand the number of times such action was taken. THAT was "news". Congratulations to them for getting things straightened out and being ALS again. And if you've spent any time in this forum you know that even the most contentious discussions peter out after time. Big deal.

One of the funadmental problems with this argument is that nobody is saying there should be career departments instead of volunteer departments. The argument as I see it is that there should be just one standard for training for firefighter. If you're a volunteer and can't take it full-time during the week that's OK but you should still have to meet the same training objectives as a career guy to be designated a firefighter. The problem with your statement above is that there is no guarantee that you're getting a qualfied and trained FF in many volunteer departments. However a career department is obligated to follow the mandated training so you are getting a qualified and trained firefighter. Now, before anyone reads this as a smack to the vollie side, there there are plenty of properly trained guys on the volunteer side. But you can't say, with any degree of certainty, that they'll be the ones showing up at your fire. One training standard impiemented statewide (like they are for cop and EMT and paramedic) would go a long way to bridge this philosopical divide between career and volunteer firefighters. Here endeth the rant.

Not a problem. Not that many people go to their games anymore anyway.

Visors only work when they're DOWN though.

The LifeProof case for iPhone has served me well but it is pretty large/bulky. Being water, shock, and dust/dirt proof though does have its advantages. Comes with a belt clip that allows it to be worn at any angle.

HELP trucks only operate from 0600-1000 and 1500-1900 so they weren't out there when this happened.

My point is that if you look at the detours on I-78 or I-80 or even the TSP up in Putnam County, there are posted detour signs providing alternate route guidance. THAT's a detour. All that was done here was a road closure. If you want to make it a detour because all these truck drivers take that hill too damn fast and this happens too often, petition DOT to post signs and map out the alternate routes. I'm not suggesting someone going to Rockland follow someone going to Danbury. All I would suggest is that people know where they're going and how to get there. That isn't too much to ask, is it?

Now now, I never said anyone is not smart. I said they drive like morons!!!

How is this different than any of the other departments that pick and choose who comes to their sandbox?

Going by the pictures, it was E119 blocking the road. Not the PD!!! (before anyone loses their mind and takes me seriously this was a JOKE!)

Another distinction... The PD didn't establish "detours". They closed a road. There IS a difference. A detour implies a designated route to avoid a trouble spot (like the traffic plan devised when the gas tanker blew up under I-87 in Yonkers years ago). In that case, the route was identified, posted, and communicated to travelers. This was a simple road closure. Motorists could choose whatever route they wanted to circumvent the accident scene.

Most agencies in CA operate black and whites. Even the sheriff departments. Very sharp and very easily recognized. LAPD even started painting their helicopters in the same black and white color scheme because they want a standard fleet.

Information WAS pushed out to the public. It was on the radio, NY-Alert, the internet, etc. Unfortunately you can't MAKE people listen to the radio, read the VMS, or take responsibility for their own driving.

Agreed. No need to apologize. This thread, like so many others, went off on a little bit of a tangent. But because of the kind of response about the PD most members are reluctant (or under orders) to post details about strategies and tactics here because of the criticism. Instead of treating it like an opportunity to learn how someone else handled a serious job, it almost always devolves into antagonistic banter.

Yes, it is part of the job. Unfortunately the reality is that we are all still human and can get frustrated, too. I don't know if that's the case here but it contributes. As it does in other services where I've heard "screw 'em, let 'em wait in traffic" and "I can close the road so I'm gonna close the road F@(*$% 'em". But that's a discussion for another thread. Traffic direction and control does not equal information booth and the traffic would be worse if every car stopped to ask for their own personal set of directions. Follow everyone else and you can probably figure it out. Almost everyone has a cell phone/smart phone/GPS/map and can obtain their own directions. Laziness and stupidity are not excuses. An unoccupied police car blocking the road probably indicated that the officer was needed elsewhere on the scene for something else. Not much you can do about that when you have limited resources available to you. Any officer sitting in his car may be writing a report or performing some other duties that you're not aware of. I often ask questions and post comments in fire or EMS topics. That's very different than specifically bashing an agency here (which IS a violation of the forum rules by the way) for their conduct at a job. When I comment in a topic, I seldom tell people how to do their job whereas many here think that it is perfectly fine to do so about law enforcement. There IS an anti-law enforcement sentiment on this site and many have complained about it in the past. I'm not dismissing any members "complaint". I made a comment equally obnoxious though not directed at any one agency. Mind you that I'm not the complaint department for any agency. If the member has a "complaint" there are official channels to lodge it and EMTBravo ain't it. Now, if you don't think that drivers education is virtually non-existent today and that people drive like morons (that is different than calling everyone a moron) I don't know where you drive.