ckroll

The tornadoes were all from one or two cells out of all of the severe thunderstorms that came through yesterday. The cell for the most part basically followed the path of the Mass Pike.
It went all the way from Westfield & Greater Springfield area to finishing off in Millbury. Inbetween those two areas, there are at least a dozen towns that have sustained damage.
The town of Southbridge got hit hard, and they actually had the tornado cross the I-84/I-90 Toll Plaza. Rt. 20 in that town is also impassible, although they are starting to finally clear away most of the damage. Oxford, 2 towns south of Worcester, got hit hard. Millbury, getting the tail end, just got the finishing touches of the storm. From my friends that are MFD's explorer post, they've had only a handful of storm related calls, which, considering the NWS was tracking a tornado through Millbury, is damn good.
A friend from another forum I'm on, caught the following on the Webster Rescue online live feed: "Didn't catch the town, 'Roof is off Police HQ & EOC'"
From a friend that's still on an ambulance task force (that got mobilized, around 17:30 yesterday) in Brimfield, he says that the area is basically destroyed.
Springfield Fire & Police issued an all-staff recall yesterday. Unsure if that's still in effect.
While a fire task force was responding to Palmer, another town hit hard, Worcester's Engine 16 was either on the Mass Pike or US 20, and had the tornado right in front of them while they were responding as part of the task force.
Another friend, who's on a fire task force that came up from Connecticut, he said last night to the effect that the statement "It's pretty bad" is the understatement of the year.
The Massachusetts FEMA USAR Task Force 1 has been mobilized and set up in Springfield.
State of Emergency has been declared by the governor.
For those that want to listen in to the scanners about the latest, here's 2 links to online scanner feeds.
Webster Rescue Feed: www.websterrescue.com/live/shtml
Hampden County Fire/PD feed: Radio Reference feed
Mike

Here's another suggestion. Keep doing it until we get it right. When my high angle team trained, we did a scenario, got reamed out, changed up the players and ran it again. We never made the same mistakes twice, we made brand new ones and about the 4th time we ran it, it was fast and pretty.
My beef with every MCI drill I've been a part of is that the planners set up something way too complicated, it goes to hell in a basket and in wrap up we say, well, we learned something. How about smaller incidents and plan on working the scenario start to finish until we see what getting it right looks like?

Here's another suggestion. Keep doing it until we get it right. When my high angle team trained, we did a scenario, got reamed out, changed up the players and ran it again. We never made the same mistakes twice, we made brand new ones and about the 4th time we ran it, it was fast and pretty.
My beef with every MCI drill I've been a part of is that the planners set up something way too complicated, it goes to hell in a basket and in wrap up we say, well, we learned something. How about smaller incidents and plan on working the scenario start to finish until we see what getting it right looks like?

Its that time of the year again, time to leave your district with little or no coverage to make people in another district( sometimes far enough away to be in a different area code/county/state) think that you have a full fledged state of the art firefighting force. Little do they know that what they see is usually all you have, and as for for coverage back home there may as well be a few cows wandering around the empty bays in your firehouse. Don't jump on me right away, I have seen things like this go on in a few different departments. My question to all of you who are so eager to share parade dates and shine each others brass is; when you go out of district, what apparatus do you take, who do you take, what rigs do you leave behind, who stays in the district, and what percentage of your those people who stay behind are interior firefighters? Just curious.

I had an opportunity to be a BLS 'provider' this last week that may be worth sharing. It happened way out of town at the graveside service for the father of a dear friend. As we were leaving the cemetery, an older gentleman walking with me appeared to lose his balance and slide to the ground. After a few tense moments, that included being shoved by a poorly mannered physician who then did nothing, I made patient contact, sat him up in my lap to keep him off the cold ground. I told him who I was, did a quick check of vitals, a stroke test and established he had no significant history, and then we just chatted and tried to stay warm.
By the time an ALS ambulance arrived his color was improved, pulses were strong and he and his family made the decision to refuse immediate care. ALS found nothing wrong with him, we stood him up and he walked back to a waiting car. At the gathering that followed I saw him and his family, and I urged him to tell his physician what had happened when he returned home. He smiled broadly, nodded to his son and said "He knows." The patient, it turns out, also had been a physician and was still teaching at a medical school. After we had a good laugh over the physician who made such a fuss at the cemetery, he hugged me and thanked me for my help. I said, "I didn't actually do anything." To which he replied, "Yes, but you did it well."
The message here is that field work, both ALS and BLS has as much to do with people skills as it does with medicine. Just as ALS has as its foundation good BLS, good BLS is built on providers' ability to connect with the patient, to develop a sense for what is going on and to meet the needs of the patient.
Part of what has happened to EMS, not just BLS, is that we have let clip boards and toughbooks,--even oxygen tanks and blood pressure cuffs--get between us and our patients. This week I had the chance to be nobody doing nothing, and I had forgotten how much fun that was.

Do you really think the problem is on PD?? Cracking down on the users doesn't have any affect on this crap. All it does is tie up cops, courts and jails while someone else is out there getting high. Look at how completely ineffective the Rockefellar era drug laws were at detering drug use.

Then we don't help drunks, or fat people, or people who don't exercise, or who people drive on bald tires or text or pretty much ANYTHING that happens to a teenager. I guess we just deliver babies.... No wait, they did that to themselves, too.

By that argument, we can't RMA anyone eating a Big Mac. Letting someone die solves our problems, it does not solve the patient's problems. EMS absolutely must leave their personal prejudices at the station door. Our job is to improve outcomes, not to pass judgement. That's a different job that pays much more.
As it was described to me many years ago, anyone who has overdosed and has regained consciousness prior to intervention is a candidate for refusal if they so desire. Anyone who has had interventions needs to be seen in an ED. Are we not supposed to titrate the patient back to breathing and airway patency without making them mean and ugly?

Then we don't help drunks, or fat people, or people who don't exercise, or who people drive on bald tires or text or pretty much ANYTHING that happens to a teenager. I guess we just deliver babies.... No wait, they did that to themselves, too.

Then we don't help drunks, or fat people, or people who don't exercise, or who people drive on bald tires or text or pretty much ANYTHING that happens to a teenager. I guess we just deliver babies.... No wait, they did that to themselves, too.

This is a fine topic, that as far as I have read has not yet been answered. There are separate issues. What does the thoughtful provider do to provide the most help to the most people? And...all else being equal, does the call at hand take precedence over the call pending? It's not being chicken to want to know that.
Months ago, I was sent out of district for a PIAA for which dispatch had no additional information. Enroute, but also in that district, I came on a motorcycle into a guide rail, the rider unconscious. No fire, police, ems on scene. Dispatch couldn't tell me if they even knew about the motorcycle yet, they knew nothing about the call to which I was assigned, and when I asked if I should remain on scene or continue to the other PIAA the response was 'I can't tell you that, It's your decision.' [i stayed with the motorcycle on the grounds that whatever the other call was, it was going to be hard to top what I was looking at.]
That said, when, as a single provider, one does not know what units are assigned to either call or the severity, how does one make a good decision? Law should be clear at least on the starting point. Is the duty to act for the assigned call, or is the duty to act for the presenting call? We will hopefully all make the best decisions we can case by case, but we also ought to have a clearer basis from which to make that decision.

This is a fine topic, that as far as I have read has not yet been answered. There are separate issues. What does the thoughtful provider do to provide the most help to the most people? And...all else being equal, does the call at hand take precedence over the call pending? It's not being chicken to want to know that.
Months ago, I was sent out of district for a PIAA for which dispatch had no additional information. Enroute, but also in that district, I came on a motorcycle into a guide rail, the rider unconscious. No fire, police, ems on scene. Dispatch couldn't tell me if they even knew about the motorcycle yet, they knew nothing about the call to which I was assigned, and when I asked if I should remain on scene or continue to the other PIAA the response was 'I can't tell you that, It's your decision.' [i stayed with the motorcycle on the grounds that whatever the other call was, it was going to be hard to top what I was looking at.]
That said, when, as a single provider, one does not know what units are assigned to either call or the severity, how does one make a good decision? Law should be clear at least on the starting point. Is the duty to act for the assigned call, or is the duty to act for the presenting call? We will hopefully all make the best decisions we can case by case, but we also ought to have a clearer basis from which to make that decision.

Oh, you sweet young thing. A good day is when you have at least one option. EMS is remarkably different from the fire service. Every fire has one and frequently multiple officers actively engaged in the response. In EMS, officers are rarely at a scene unless they are crew. For standard calls the crew chief alone is responsible for the response and managing a scene. Even if an officer is on location, he or she does not direct patient care.
I've been a captain and can tell you that getting paperwork filed, keeping records up to date, ordering supplies, figuring out why there is oil all over the floor and settling the cat fights does not require extensive training on the uses of a cravat. As one of our finest past captains said, "The corps doesn't need a captain, it needs a mommy."
As organizations struggle to provide services, it is often for lack of management, not lack of medical expertise. With so many agencies working with dwindling pools from which to choose members and officers, I think agencies are missing opportunities if we pass over the individuals who may bring needed skills and enthusiasm to the organization.

Oh, you sweet young thing. A good day is when you have at least one option. EMS is remarkably different from the fire service. Every fire has one and frequently multiple officers actively engaged in the response. In EMS, officers are rarely at a scene unless they are crew. For standard calls the crew chief alone is responsible for the response and managing a scene. Even if an officer is on location, he or she does not direct patient care.
I've been a captain and can tell you that getting paperwork filed, keeping records up to date, ordering supplies, figuring out why there is oil all over the floor and settling the cat fights does not require extensive training on the uses of a cravat. As one of our finest past captains said, "The corps doesn't need a captain, it needs a mommy."
As organizations struggle to provide services, it is often for lack of management, not lack of medical expertise. With so many agencies working with dwindling pools from which to choose members and officers, I think agencies are missing opportunities if we pass over the individuals who may bring needed skills and enthusiasm to the organization.

Perhaps there are two questions here. Should a line officer of an EMS organization have medical training? Yes, they should. Should agencies mandate that their officers be medically trained? I think the answer to that is No.
If faced with the choice between a good EMT who is a poor manager and a good manager who was not an EMT, I think I would choose the better manager. It is an option that should be left available to organizations and judged on a case by case basis..... a.k.a. an election. If individuals feel it is that important, they can vote that way, but agencies should not preclude the option by fiat.

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1. Not many.
2.What the average person does not know about foreign is staggering. The US is a warrior culture. We don't do anything that is not of immediate benefit to us. There are 3 reasons why any country gets aid from us. 1. the country has geographical significance. 2. the country is sitting on vast natural resources we do not have and that we need, or need to control. 3. We want them to buy our stuff.
Genocide in Rwanda..... barely makes the news because all they have is dirt and they weren't going to buy our stuff anyway. Iraq invades Kuwait..... now that's a humanitarian tragedy. We send foreign aid so that developing countries will develop in such a way as to buy the things we make. Foreign aid dollars come back many fold in the form of goods and services bought with the money we send.
It isn't bleeding hearts who want a TV in every hut in Pongo Pongo...it's US manufacturers.

1 percent of the federal budget goes to foreign aid, compared with 20% for social security and 20% for defense. Large parts of that go to 'developing nations' like Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel. Compared to other world powers, only Japan spends less as a percent of GDP.
Right now, our commitment to 'developing nations' is nothing short of embarrassing and in fact, a majority of AMERICANS
think foreign aid should be 'cut back' to 10% of our budget, which is about 10 times as much as we currently spend.
Out of pocket it's something like $50 per household. Am I willing to give up one dinner out a year so some third worlders can have clean water and a school for their kids? I wish I were giving up one dinner a month.

1 percent of the federal budget goes to foreign aid, compared with 20% for social security and 20% for defense. Large parts of that go to 'developing nations' like Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel. Compared to other world powers, only Japan spends less as a percent of GDP.
Right now, our commitment to 'developing nations' is nothing short of embarrassing and in fact, a majority of AMERICANS
think foreign aid should be 'cut back' to 10% of our budget, which is about 10 times as much as we currently spend.
Out of pocket it's something like $50 per household. Am I willing to give up one dinner out a year so some third worlders can have clean water and a school for their kids? I wish I were giving up one dinner a month.

Congratulations. New EMT's deserve a point. It's only the beginning. Certification is the piece of paper that lets you turn lessons into a craft. Never stop learning and never stop asking questions. Keep an open heart and an open mind. Best wishes on the beginning of a spectacular experience. Make us proud.

Congratulations. New EMT's deserve a point. It's only the beginning. Certification is the piece of paper that lets you turn lessons into a craft. Never stop learning and never stop asking questions. Keep an open heart and an open mind. Best wishes on the beginning of a spectacular experience. Make us proud.

Congratulations. New EMT's deserve a point. It's only the beginning. Certification is the piece of paper that lets you turn lessons into a craft. Never stop learning and never stop asking questions. Keep an open heart and an open mind. Best wishes on the beginning of a spectacular experience. Make us proud.

Congratulations. New EMT's deserve a point. It's only the beginning. Certification is the piece of paper that lets you turn lessons into a craft. Never stop learning and never stop asking questions. Keep an open heart and an open mind. Best wishes on the beginning of a spectacular experience. Make us proud.

thanks for the help all...got them today and yes i passed!!!
thanks again
Ken

Accuweather has it at 3.4 inches, and no offense boys, but this girl isn't going to get excited over 3 inches.

Accuweather has it at 3.4 inches, and no offense boys, but this girl isn't going to get excited over 3 inches.