Jybehofd

I'm not going after you! Sorry if it came out that way.

Who said anything about the airport? There are no exits off of 684 in Connecticut. Only a section of highway between exits 2 and 3.
My point was that the issue of an accident on an exit ramp is irrelevant to the discussion because the exits are all in NYS.

If you are a Critical Care Techncian in NYS (will Westchester be pushed into having them?) then the new protocols suit you well. Paramedics should take a hard, close look, compare them to the old protocols, and then come to a conclusion. You will be calling a doctor many, many, more times than you have in the past. ACLS? Dont bother...they dont follow the algorythms. They are great for the "I'm barely a medic" providers that live in the protocol book and cannot make an educated patient care decision on their own. Just my two cents.....

As has been noted before, an automatic ALS response would indicate that the Taser induces a need for ALS, which is counter to the statistics. Our personnel did the EMS Taser training, up to being Tased and utilizing one, and our units are only dispatched when a probe is stuck or when other circumstances indicate the need for EMS ie: excited delirium, profuse bleeding other other injury requiring attention. I would think a city would open themselves up to liability by automatically dispatching ALS to every Taser incident if they allow Taser use. This would indicate they themselves aren't certain that it's less than lethal force.

Can't spell problems without EMS!

rules are rules if he took the punishment because he knew he broke the rule. that is in black and white for them. would we have actually heard about this and start to hit the national new circuit? Real question is how many other people in the country have broken a rule like this and have taken the punishment because they knew they broke a rule and took the punishment that goes along with it?

According to a good source, WCPD aviation has placed an order for Airwolf.

Stellaris has not been dissolved, it is still in place as a shared services entity, rather than a parent corporation, for the four Stellaris hospitals. Westchester EMS remains one of those shared services. The four hospitals have committed to continue utilizing WEMS as their transport provider and transfer call center. That commitment will continue whether WEMS is part of Stellaris, or if it becomes a stand-alone company in the future.
WEMS is working with Somers FD on their transition to 60-Control and will continue to serve the FD and citizens of the Town of Somers as long as needed. WEMS will then move our dispatch operations to our headquarters in Mt. Kisco.
Scott T. Glaessgen, EMT-P
Operations Supervisor
Westchester EMS

Undercover beer truck, they have to sneak the booze in somehow

WOW I wonder how many people worked out the specs for the patient a medic plus 60lbs of als gear and a patient plus two or three ambulance crew... now thinking about it that adds up pretty fast. And now the new stretchers and auto lifts that weren't original on the ambulance is some additional weight on the chassis.
has anyone thought about that? i am sure the accident investigation team would??

Until an inter-municipal agreement is executed and all the procedures established it is just a rumor. They may be negotiating/discussing but until they reach an agreement all this does is get people fired up for nothing.

How many times have we heard rumors like this? County DPS is taking over DES, departments are merging, etc.etc.etc.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the communication system in Westchester sucks. Love the dispatchers (most of em anyway) but they are overwhelmingly busy and understaffed, the policies in place suck and bind their hands in many ways, and the radio "system" is a patchwork of stupidity. If Dutchess had a trunked radio system it would be my Nirvana. </rant>

Why worry about it, all you have to consider is which light pattern you want; Red, White, Blue. and the paint job........
Maybe that's why NFPA came out with a standard. There was a thread about that and why EMS should pay attention to it. It will be the document that is used against you in court.

WOW I wonder how many people worked out the specs for the patient a medic plus 60lbs of als gear and a patient plus two or three ambulance crew... now thinking about it that adds up pretty fast. And now the new stretchers and auto lifts that weren't original on the ambulance is some additional weight on the chassis.
has anyone thought about that? i am sure the accident investigation team would??

Rumors. Rumors. Rumors.

I hear that 60-Control is going to take over dispatching for the International Space Station too.

Oh that's simple it's the big voice that comes out of the radio.

Only the Italian ones!

We going to be able to get MDTs in the rig, and maybe a "rip and run" system?

Never heard of nebulized narcan and not sure my medical director would be happy with that, but don't doubt it works well.
Very simply, narcan is there to treat respiratory drive. If there is respiratory drive and the patient is unconscious, they're probably better off that way.
NYC has started BLS, PD, and substance abuse counselor IN narcan already with good results.

Just under went my protocol transition to allow Intranasal Narcan at the EMT level saturday. EMR will be allowed as well. New protocols go live 1/1/13.

which is better the ambulance getting hit or you in the car holding c-spine and ejected out of the car when it gets hit? the move over law is nice and so is the texting law but people still text and drive... I want to go home and punch out with ten fingers and ten toes and everything in the same way it was before i punched in. just like working on ships in the merchant marine.

 Your concern also has to be YOUR safety. If you have no protection and someone crashes into the crash, you're done. I'd rather be without a vehicle, alive and well at the side of the road then crushed between vehicles.
How often is EMS there first anyway? Looking at most EMS response times, someone else is going to be there first.

DOT is a great resource with alot of cones and barrels and other cool stuff to shut down a lane or road.. the only problem it takes time for a response at 9pm at night. Unless its snowing or something. But something useful are those HELP trucks they can shut down a lane pretty fast and there great they park at least 100 feet or so behind the accident so i can park in between them and the accident just to add that additional layer of protection and also some more cool flashy lights to slow it down... sometimes. lol

That's your opinion. If there is no other emergency vehicle on scene you're giving yourself absolutely no protection by parking in front of the crash. If you leave all your lights flashing from the front, you're very likely making the scene harder to see too.
I'll say this about your points, there are more ways than one to control traffic than a fire truck (25 tons or not). A properly positioned police car or EMS vehicle will provide you with more protection than you think. It takes a tremendous amount of force to move a stopped vehicle; it takes even more force to move it a substantial distance. If you're parking close enough for the engine heat to keep you warm while you work you're too damn close. If you're parked 50-60 feet away (depending on the speed of the road, you're giving yourself a bigger cushion.
Finally, the positioning of the vehicle is only one part of the control of traffic. Flares, cones, momentarily stopping traffic to create a back-up that will slow traffic, fire police, real police, DOT/Highway crews, are all resources that haven't been mentioned in this thread.

The storms over the past couple of years have highlighted some needs for us, and we have either received those or are in the process of securing them.
We lost our old, aluminum "Rescue Boat" during Irene. With the FEMA money we replaced it with a 14' Mercury RIB w/ 25 HP motor. We (prior to this) expanded our water rescue abilities with training and equipment, as well as dual-responses with neighboring Yorktown FD's Water Rescue Team. During Sandy, we were able to put this boat on the ready as well as our spare 12' inflatable.
Sandy knocked out power to our only firehouse without a generator. Although it is in the Capital Budget for next year, our village has approved to pursue a federal grant now to install it. Hopefully it works out.
The storms have sent us on dozens of calls that don't truly require the response of our larger apparatus, nor a ton of manpower. This year we were able to get the village to purchase us a Utility Truck, which we are in the process of getting ready to purchase and build.
This vehicle will be outfitted with extra saws, traffic barricades, trash pumps and the like for storm-related calls. It will also allow us to take specialized equipment from a rig going out of service and keep it on a vehicle so we don't lose it - something we've lacked for a long time.
Lastly, our "Radio Room" has seen some equipment additions and upgrades, and more on the way. This will give us a better place to set up and dispatch our units from during storms. A secondary communications system has been built and put on another firehouse - which is also our Village's backup EOC now.
I believe anytime we come up short on something, that should be the last time. If we don't learn from our mistakes, we are doing a disservice to everyone.