WAS967

I'm still a long way from purchasing an SLR. I have seen and played with x635's Digital Rebel and it is quite nice. The best part about SLR Digital is the lack of delay when taking pictures, a problem that drives me nuts sometimes with my current digital. I have an older Sony Cybershot DSC-s30 and it works fine for doing web page work. In fact, the quality of the pictures it takes [for a 1.3mp] is quite excellent, but I doubt I'll be able to print larger than 4x6 with any decency.)

Sure. Why not? If there are no human patients that need to be cared for but there are animal patients that need tending to, I doubt you will be held liable for treating a pet. In fact, several cases in the past of EMTs treating pets from fires, etc have been seen by the public, and recieved very favorable results. I recall a few years ago Bill Rothchild (This Year's EMT-P of the year) was treating a pet from a fire with oxygen. The newspaper was there and took an award winning photo of him. Now if there are multiple patients along with animals in need of care, you have to treat the humans first. Only if there are resources available to spare, can you start dealing with the animals. The only exception that might apply would be to K9 Officers who are considered officers of the law, and may need to be treated equally, but I'm not sure.

Hey, how come fire departments dont use tankers the likes of milk trucks?

mike: I still have several 5.25" disk drives (albiet they are in storage but they still work). Of course you wont fit much on them since they typically hold 360k or 720k depending on the format. Now the real challenge would be to find a drive for the old 8 inch disks. Fry's in California still sells the media, not sure about the drive however. :-> The nice thing about digital media is it's very easy to duplicate, copy, transfer etc., and done at little to no cost. 5.25" disks obsolete? No problem: convert to 3.5" or ZIP disk or CD. Duplicating negatives is a bit of a hastle, costs a lot, and you loose some of the quality of the original. And negatives melt a lot easier than some of the digital media I've seen.

A little small tho....I think I'd need more room.

Another resource that is often overlooked is the CISD (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing) teams. All too often the macho mentality comes out and people would rather bottle it up than to talk things over. Or worse, go drown thier stress in a bar somewhere. We all work in a very tressful field, and the only way to keep from becomming overwhelmed is to control that which seeks to control us.

Is PCVAC still the busiest VAC in the county? Or did Mohegan finally surpass them in the numbers?

Took me a while to think of a decent prank since I haven't had much time to pull any lately. One of my favorites is the following. Long before the days of 9/11 we'd always be neurotic about locking our rigs where I used to work. When we got to a hospital for a transport and another on of our rigs were there, we'd check the doors to see if they were open. If they were, we'd do the following. We'd grab the long orange "BLS" bag from the back (the type with the oxygen and all the supplies in it) and wrap it in the bright yellow turnout coats that we would carry. We would stand that up onright in the drivers seat and tape the arms of the turnout coat around the steering wheel. We would them ball up a blanket for the head and put the helmet on the top of the "body". Usually a particulate respirator with a smiley face on it would finish off the "driver" and we'd run away snickering. I've gotten quite a few interesting looks from both lay passers by and from the crews we pulled the prank on. It's been a while since I've done that. Maybe I'll have to do some sneaking in the near future. (Even more effective would be to use a rescue randy for the dummy in the driver's seat. That would really freak out unsuspecting passersby. :-D)

I just attended the open house for North Salem VAC's (Nis-VAC as the members call it) this past saturday. I've had the pleasure of seeing the inside before the open house. All I can say is, WOW. This place has something like 5 full bathrooms, two bedrooms, offices, a small meeting room for the VAC meetings, a nice size meeting room for gatherings and parties. The VAC is willing to rent out use of the building for various events (they already have several scheduled) so if you are looking for a nice place for a party, keep 'em in mind. The bays are 2 wide and 2 deep for future expansion (they have two Brauns for now, but you never know what the future holds). I'll send some pictures for seth to post.

The Siren was also modified so that "yelp" "wail" and "phaser" were replaced with "banjo" "bluegrass" and "git outta ma way!"

Rapidly growing EMS organzation is seeking experienced and motivated EMS professionals to serve as supervisors. This is an entry level management postion with promotional opportunity. Hours will be long and challenging. NYS EMT/Paramedic or ability to secure within 3 months, ACLS, PALS, 5 years ALS experience, B.S. preferred, previous supervisory experience required, instructor credentials a plus. Position will be open until filled. If interested, please send resume to: Garrett T. Doering, M.S., EMT-P Director, Emergency Services gdoering@stellarishealth.org

My question is: did the tanker have anything in it? Judging by the gash in the side of it, I'd say it did have a full load, that the fire engine would have been sitting in a huge puddle of bad stuff making for a very dangerous extrication.

I've had the opportunity to work with many of the winners and they are all very deserving. Charlie should get Volunteer of the Century. It should be noted that while Bill works for Empress, he is also very involved and active with Somers Fire Department both in the EMS and Fire side of things. Jeff Meade is an awesome instructor and I would highly recommend his lectures/classes to anyone interested in broadening thier knowledge. He injects each lecture with a bright sense of humor and makes even the dullest of topics interesting. Todd Spota has lead Sleepy Hollow VAC for several years now , through tough times that most other VACs would have folded under. Congrats to him. Both Doctors Scott and DeRobertis are very active and supportive of EMS and it's good to have them on our side. I just wish the docotrs I worked with on a regular basis were as supportive as they are. And as for the nay-sayers to the MKVAC award, I say let them whine about it. They're just jealous. MKVAC deserves it. They've been around the longest, they do the best they can with what they have (for the longest time they were answering calls in probably the oldest operating ambulance in the area) and they have come a long way. If people don't have anything positive to offer they should just shut thier yappers.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/05/04/hybrid....s.ap/index.html

Why drive so far? We can go and "borrow" the LCD projector from Hudson Valley and head over to the side of a large building that is painted white (Shoprite pops into mind) and project a movie from someone's laptop. :-k

Mount Kisco VAC (Westchester's Oldest) is Agency of the Year. Any word on any of the other awards? (Educator, Dispatcher, Citizen, Nurse, Doctor, etc)

The drive may be awesome but the ride in the back is horrible. I really wish they had opted for the smoother suspension, but hey, thats in the past. I'm just glad to hear you guys are getting another PL Custom Type III. Nice rig, better ride, easier to work in, and you don't need a shuttle to get to the stuff in the far cabinets. :mrhappy:

I thought NYS EMTs could work in Jersey without reciprocity?

That carvel is closed as well. Sad times indeed. I didn't live up here when the drive in was open, but I recall seeing the old screen sitting on the edge of the parking lot way back when. Also, next door there was the remains of an old park, complete with inground pool, handball courts, and a few other items. If you drive by now they have built a golf course there, but you can still see an old stone "mini gazebo" sitting on the edge of the road. Anyone have more details on what used to be there? I'm a bit of a local history buff.

I see they've redone thier website. I like the picture of the rig, flycar and LifeGuard hovering in the background.

Boy, first the tanker in Croton, then the VFD fire boat. Sounds like the gremlins are headed north.

I think right now the problem that we have with crews and dispatchers trading less than friendly comments is caused by weak communications systems. As I have mentioned earlier, it HAS gotten a LITTLE better with the recent surge in department crossband repeaters, but many areas still need help. Before you jump down a dispatcher's throat (or before you dispatchers get snippy with the crews), think about where the real problem lies.

Okay. I'm not a firefighter but, doesn't is seem like 140 guys for four handlines is a bit overkill? You'd think with that much manpower there would be more lines going at once. OR am I missing something.

I hope they catch whomever is responsible. And if I had to guess about the FD returning to the scene, it would be for a fluid spill cleanup.

But if the repeater "wanders" to a channel that the station is not licensed to transmit on, you could end up with problems from the FCC. That is if someone like a sleep deprived dispatcher at 40 Control, complains about it. :->