velcroMedic1987

Ever heard the phrase "lead by example"? Well what I'd like to know is, if this coverage is supposed to be so great for all why aren't Congress and the Prez lining up to be the first in line to sign on to it instead of making themselves exempt? What the hell kind of leadership is that? Which leads to another appropriate axiom..."actions speak louder than words"...I think it's pretty loud and clear what their actions are saying in this case and it speaks volumes.

If the Feds pay that means all of us that work pay...that's where the Feds get all the money they waste, our tax dollars. Unless of course they're giong to just borrow more from China and mortgage away more of our children's futures. Either way we're screwed.
And if anyone thinks the insurance companies are going to take the hit to their bottom line, well I'm sorry that's nothing more than wishful thinking at best. Business, especially big corporate business, is in business to make a profit for the corporation and it's shareholders, not to help the needy or do the right thing...and with one of the most powerful lobby's in D.C. to protect that profit, well it's a sure thing that the profits will go nowhere but up.

I'm conflicted on this, I do feel there is a huge need, and am certain we cannot/should not let people suffer, but I don't think you can call this "equal". much like every government program, there are people exempted from the provisions, and forcing those who work the hardest for their money (middleclass) to pay the most (percentagewise) for those who contribute less and use services more (those who don't work) seems to serve to drag more people down toward the poverty level. I know that in the past 4-6 years our meager salary increases have been outpaced by rising costs of requisite items and services (heating oil, gas, food, insurance). So while I'm not against the concept, I'm very skeptical especially when I hear that plans like the one my work offers will become even more expensive and likely we'll lose it to a lesser plan. And of course forcing us into anything that costs more or reduces benefits is not met with open arms.

Good luck with that.
Remember Obamacare was brought to you by the people that said, "we will find out what is in it after we pass it".
Well guess what we just found out.

Play the video backwards...it will look like the fire is going out.

A Snotty quote from that Pelham Manor job; "A FDNY third alarm assignment, marching up Boston Post Road with pike poles reminded him of the movie Sparticus.

We can't work together because of egos and attitudes. Budgets, call volume, and everything else notwithstanding, it all boils down to the fact that big egos won't let consolidation happen and lousy attitudes exist on both sides of the equation, including yours! Insulting Barry, one of the few people who has consistently lobbied for improvements in both fire and EMS in Westchester County is not only uncalled for (and a forum no-no), it's flat-out WRONG. For as long as I've been involved in Westchester, Barry has been more involved, teaching, consulting, mentoring, training, and stating the facts. He states the facts even when it wasn't in his department's best interest.
Barry is a great source of accurate information and has been used by many departments in the county to make improvements. He doesn't deserve your stupid snipe and his contributions to the emergency services in Westchester prove you wrong.

We can't work together because of egos and attitudes. Budgets, call volume, and everything else notwithstanding, it all boils down to the fact that big egos won't let consolidation happen and lousy attitudes exist on both sides of the equation, including yours! Insulting Barry, one of the few people who has consistently lobbied for improvements in both fire and EMS in Westchester County is not only uncalled for (and a forum no-no), it's flat-out WRONG. For as long as I've been involved in Westchester, Barry has been more involved, teaching, consulting, mentoring, training, and stating the facts. He states the facts even when it wasn't in his department's best interest.
Barry is a great source of accurate information and has been used by many departments in the county to make improvements. He doesn't deserve your stupid snipe and his contributions to the emergency services in Westchester prove you wrong.

The career fire service in NYS tried to get one standard and FASNY said NO. So they got a career standard and a volunteer standard and everytime OFPC has tried to add a few hours to it, its been shot down as it will be a death blow to the VFD's.
If the volunteers want the same standard all they have to do is accept it. ANy VFD can do that right now, they do not need the career service to do it for them. Why have they not already done it Or as you put it "is it against their DNA" to bring themselves up to the standard that most of the nation uses?
If we offered training by company (which is how we train) at the hours that we train (Monday - Friday) how would they cover their districts? Do you really think we would get a large interest, particularly when many depts can not even get a company on the road at those times for a call?

Since civil service in many cases does not and in some cases the federal courts will not allow "farm teams to feed the system" your analagy needs to be rethought.
How many of the county instructors at the FTC are career? Last I looked it was about 65-75%, Sounds like they are mentors and are trying to raise the standards in Westchester.

A moment of silence is generally a better way to show your respect and pray. Sirens are for parades.

A moment of silence is generally a better way to show your respect and pray. Sirens are for parades.

A moment of silence is generally a better way to show your respect and pray. Sirens are for parades.

Wow, I thought we were the only state with similar laws. In Maine a barber/beautician has more regulations than firefighters, EMT's, and contractors to name just a few. Of course our municipal government has grasped the same foolishness and agreed to a minimum staffing clause at the library that exceeds that of the FD!

It's because it's NY. The same state that decided that since they wanted to teach CPR in EMT class, they had to change the entire EMS system around from the national curriculum. The same state that has decided that if you own an out of state corporation but live in NY, you should pay corporation taxes in NY in addition to the other state's taxes.

Thanks. I was not aware of this.
I believe they all should be this way. Maybe turnout would improve

Hope things work out in a positive way for him. Remember this when someone says unions are not needed and part of the problem.

Its not the state that feels that way its the volunteer fire service.
The NYSPFFA (Unions) fought hard to get minimum standards for entry levelfirefighters AND for 1st line supervisors.
FASNY (the lobbying organization for volunteer fire) fought hard to prevent any standards, including career ones.
Albany comprimised and gave both sides what they asked for....2 standards.
Actually the volunteer fire service believes that their lives are more valuable. I base this statement on the lobbying efforts over the past 4 years to change the standards of who gets on the LODD memorial. NYSPFFA wants it to be true LODD (i.e. killed at an incident, returning from or responding to or in some cases training) with no volunteer or career status attached. FASNY has fought hard to include any activity, so a volunteer who is drunk & high and falls off a picnic table at a pancake breakfast and dies should be on the wall next to the 343 FDNY Heros who died on 9/11. Its not the same and everyone knows it.
If you die in the TRUE line of duty, you should be honored. Thats not a volunteer or career issue.

It's not just the training. There should also be a physical standard. Career firefighters I. Westchester have to pass a CPAT to get into the academy and another CPAT to get out. Why is it not the same for the volunteers? Has anyone noticed what I have? A simple pat on the back from the doctor does not mean your capable of fighting a fire or doing 90% of the other work we do as firefighters both career and volunteer. We do the same job why is it not treated the same? As a chief of a dept don't you want the best? Or do you want the kids that was sheltered by his parents playing video games and being told everyone gets a trophy during tball. If you don't make a change that's what your getting. Half of the new kids signing up have no idea that there life is on the line and the choice they made to become a firefighter can be tested at any moment and the may have to act with courage to save a life. They DONT get it and YOUR responsible!!!!

Sadly yes, in NYS the only mention of firefighter training relates to professional (paid) firefighters. A professional firefighter in an academy in NYS will receive 200+ hours of training, plus mandatory refresher training every year they are on the job. A volunteer firefighter will get around 90 hours in Firefighter I, with refresher training a bare minimum as required by OSHA (in NYS..PESH), with no requirement to train further. Some, like myself are grandfathered in, I took the old Basic Essentials of Firemanship, a grand total of 39 hours of training, with no requirement to take additional classes. I cant remember the exact numbers (or legal statutes off the top of my head) that mandate training.
In NYS, many volunteer fire departments are a taxing entity. They determine their budget, and tax rate, and submit to the town to collect it for them. Some towns/villages have no say in the fire department budget, either in the tax rate collected, or how the money is spent. Others are controlled by the town/village with input from the fire chiefs, or a board of commissioners (or trustees, whatever system the use). IN the lower part of NYS (Long Island, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam) it is not a lack of money or access to equipment that is causing problems.

Just another paid position on a rotten fish. Being paid is not always the answer. How about every volunteer on this board, or better yet in this area write a letter and make a copies. Send one to FASNY, and the others to your elected officials demanding the same training as our paid counterparts. Professional firefighter training (and yearly refresher training) is written into law, remove the professional (paid) label so that firefighter training for both volunteer and paid is the same. The state will have find additional funding in the budget to accomplish this. FASNY would also have to be persuaded to support this. I think a lot of the problems we see in this area would improve. Might put a dent in some of the recruitment efforts, but maybe the ones who complain about training are not the people we want joining.

How 'bout we get rid of Obamacare, stop giving planes and guns to people like the Egyptians, give welfare checks only to those to deserve them, end all the freebies that elected officials get, etc,etc. Then start up a National Fire Dept.

Agreed
Also if there was not a very strong lobbying group that claims to represent the intrests of the volunteer fire service

1) Just because they are doing 3rd party billing, and have the other sources, does not mean they are well funded. 3rd party billing generally only covers a percentage of the call. Once agencies start providing perdiem staff, if they pay them for 24 hours but only do 1 or 2 calls a day, they may be into negative numbers quickly.Thats the reason its better to cover a larger area,
2) maybe they are using the 3rd party billing of Irvington patients, just like Irvington does.

Do they provide different treatment for patients based on their initials or DOB? That really serves no purpose if they don't look them up in advance and how often do they do that?
Sometimes you do show up and hope they have a bed available. I bet if we put more patients into the waiting room like walk-ins they would eventually stop calling for non-emergencies.