PEMO3

I actually see that as a valid question and not a statement that 60 is in someway incapable of doing the job. A YFD dispatch would probably be better familiar with streets, locations, unit assignment and problems that crop up in certain areas with calls. Based on this valuable added resource a YFD would be a great asset.

I actually see that as a valid question and not a statement that 60 is in someway incapable of doing the job. A YFD dispatch would probably be better familiar with streets, locations, unit assignment and problems that crop up in certain areas with calls. Based on this valuable added resource a YFD would be a great asset.

Based solely on media (we know how that goes) sounds like SCHOOL buses would be fine for this case. Since we are not talking about elderly or othewise compromised folks.
Even better, a TAXI to bring a doc and two nurses and a registrar with a laptop to the school, out of the hot/warm zone. Treat and release in place.

As a fire instructor I had to again notice the push back from the chief who stated he only had to take a 60 hr course, and now it is 112 hrs. "Who wants to drive 2x a week to Carmel". It is thinking like that NY State is on the lower
end of FF-1 course hours. And that always leads to the Career vs Volunteer debate. The last class of recruits traveled 5x a week, 8 hrs a day, for 16 weeks. That is 640 Hrs. With the constant threat of failing out due to poor grades, or not being able to pass CPAT. 19 out of 20 that started finished. It isn't a game, it isn't about how many members your
dept has, it is about giving the customer the service that is expected from a group of people that raised their right hand a swore to protect to the best of their ability the life and property of the residents of their community. If we do nothing the fire will still go out. The ends don't justify the means. TRAINING TRAINING TRAINING AND DEDICATED MEMBERS.

Positive publicity for the fire service and this turns into a heated battle?!!!! What the Funck!!!
And who cares if you're volley or paid. You're either a fireman or you're not! You either get it or you don't!

CONGRATS Buchanan FD (Westchester County)
Buchanan Engine Company No. 1 won BEST OVERALL at the
Hudson Valley Volunteer Fireman's Association Convention Parade in
Lake George on Saturday June 21, 2014
Maroon Platoon!

Why are you Monday morning quarterbacking the decision the brothers made ? It was a serverly stressful situation when your brother gets injuried that serverly. They made that decision based on what they thought was best. Nypd escorted the bus to Bellevue where he got the best care you can for this type of injury.
If you are so concerned with the decision they made and are questioning it, why don't you call over there and tell them how they made the wrong decision and tell them how you would of done it
Hope for a speedy recovery for this brother

Honestly I don't see the problem with this, it's not like they are trying to mitigate the situation or take down the gunman. Sure doors can be breached, but most gunman aren't carrying around forcible entry tools with them just multiple weapons and ammo. These sickos are trying to inflict maximum damage in minimal time because they know sooner than later there will be armed response, something like this that slows them down could make them move on to try and find another target or buy precious time while law enforcement is en route in order to save lives. It's not like these people think they have found a solution to school shootings. Plenty of times in these instances you hear about teachers and students barricading themselves inside classrooms, this is just another method to accomplish just that. Why bash it if it could save lives? If your child was stuck in that room would you prefer if the teacher was just trying to hold the door shut from the inside or if they actually had a device like this to better accomplish the same task?
On top of all this, when is the national news media going to stop plastering these killers faces all over the place granting them their fifteen minutes of fame? It only further emboldens others to commit similar acts. Knowing they will achieve some infamy and exposure as they escape their own perceived notions of insignificance is a lot of what drives these lunatics. The media is more concerned with selling papers than they are with common sense and the safety of the public.

Not going to question your opinion but would you please elaborate with some details for everyone why you feel that the information is not accurate. Do you have any addition incident details, observations or information that you can share?

Not going to question your opinion but would you please elaborate with some details for everyone why you feel that the information is not accurate. Do you have any addition incident details, observations or information that you can share?

Not going to question your opinion but would you please elaborate with some details for everyone why you feel that the information is not accurate. Do you have any addition incident details, observations or information that you can share?

Not going to question your opinion but would you please elaborate with some details for everyone why you feel that the information is not accurate. Do you have any addition incident details, observations or information that you can share?

Danbury is 15 minutes away, Westchester is at least 40 if not more. In Albany County they had a system where each dept if they had the desire could be a part of a specialized team. Luckily here our soil is not very sandy so its fairly stable. This was operator error, not a result of a true trench collapse. Realistically a cache of shoring should be kept somewhere other than at Home Depot in case $hits on. Basic building construction and knowing about loads and how to transfer them is not as common as it once was. New guys text and are on playstation all day and not out building a tree fort like they used to.

The Westchester Special Operations Task Force(WSOTF) is a mutual aid group consisting of 11 Career FD's. The departments are divided into squad companies. Every squad is trained in Hazmat/WMD, Trench, Building Collapse, Confined Space & Rope Rescue. Each Squad is equipped with Hazmat/WMD equipment (except Yonkers handles it outside the squad). Greenville, New Rochelle & Yonkers squads have collapse rescue units in addition (which carry Trench, Building Collapse, Confined Space & Rope Rescue equipment). White Plains Squad also has collapse (but I am not sure if they carry trench).
The squads are assigned as follows:
Squad # 1 Yonkers
Squad # 2 New Rochelle (with Larchmont & Pelham Manor recently being added)
Squad # 3 Mt Vernon
Squad # 4 White Plains
Squad # 5 Eastchester / Scarsdale
Squad # 6 Fairview / Greenville / Hartsdale
Each squad must respond with a minimum of 5ff's & 1 Off. But some respond with more.
Yonkers Squad Responds with a Collapse Unit. Their USAR Trailer responds with the Rescue and a USAR Task force to support the squads.
Both Greenville & White Plains have collapse units.
New Rochelle Responds with either hazmat/WMD support unit or Heavy Rescue and Collapse Rescue unit. New Rochelle was also designated for swift water rescue, has been equipped and officers have been trained as instructors. Members will be training this summer.
The system is set up so that their are approximately 54 trained/certified responders on duty in the different depts. available to respond.
Many of the squads have responded as far as Delaware County. NRFD has responded as far as Canada.
We can be requested via 60 Control. Dispatch times are generally under 5 minutes to get sent out of district.
When a tornado hit California Closets in Hawthorne (17 miles from NRFD Sta. #1) 60 Control Requested us immediately and YFD, GFD & NRFD had 50+ responders and equipment on-scene in under 25 minutes.

I don't know if a Higher Power put me in this particular situation or not, but I doubt it was a test for me to enter the Big Firehouse in the sky.
I do know, however, that we all get 15 minutes of fame in our lifetime and some of you people are using mine up with bullpoop

You forgot to mention that he is a NAVY veteran. Who rescued someone on Memorial Day. Coincidence? I think not.
Also recently received the Chesapeake VA Outstanding Citizen of the Year award.

EEEEasy, there big fella. That's how things get blown out of proportion. First, let's get that "Heroic" off the marquee. Heroic means that you put yourself in great danger to save a life. That was not the case. Like most rescues the rescuer happens to be at the right place at the right time.
All we did was make a pickup that just involved some maneuvering to get to them. Granted they were on the brink of drowning, but it was just a pickup by a boat with 2 firefighters aboard. We just did what we always do, even on our day off. Not heroic at all.
Let's make some use out of this thread and make it a training session on marine rescue of persons in the water and in distress operating from a private vessel from a private boat.
People who are on the brink of drowning usually do not call for help. They are silent with a look of panic. If they show these signs, they are going down very soon.
SOP
1. Call Mayday... get help on way
2. Never lose sight of victim. Point your arm in vic.s direction for your boat's driver to aim
3 When close enough throw PFD's or anything that floats DO NOT enter the water
4 Throw rope if needed DO NOT enter the water
5 Once vic is alongside ensure motor is off so there are no prop injuries
6 Haul vic at the lowest point , usually it's the stern. DO NOT ENTER WATER
7 DO NOT ENTER WATER (Are you getting the point?)
"Heroic" is a pretty heavy word. Don't use it lightly

I think another issue here is how many vessels does it take to transfer 1 patient. FDNY, NYPD, Coast Guard, etc. Simply put, too many cooks in the kitchen. If FDNY with the EMS crew onboard was dispatched for the medical call then why was NYPD jockeying for position. Seems like the same old turf wars just this time in boats.

I agree that the ultimate responsibility lies with the parents and that more parents should take a more active role in their children's lives. This does not mean, however, that the school system and the FD do not have a responsibility to the student. We entrust the schools with teaching and caring for our children, if we aren't educators ourselves I don't think we really have the right to second guess every one of their opinions on what is best for a student to function properly. Wouldn't you want the school to take an interest and say something if your child was falling asleep in school all the time? It shows that they are actually invested in the child's future, isn't that a good thing? As far as the FD, we often take members 16 or 17 years of age who still have a year or two of high school left, that schooling should be their main priority, it's going to serve them in whatever they do for the rest of their lives whether it be firefighting or not. 16 and 17 year old children shouldn't be the backbone of our firefighting service, in fact they shouldn't even be interior members. The immaturity, inexperience, and feeling of invincibility that all children have is something that needs to be monitored closely. I'm not saying that some of these kids won't go on to be great firemen, I'm saying that they need a proper education and careful mentoring from those above them in the fire service.
P.S. If anyone takes issue with me referring to 16 and 17 year olds as children, let me say first, I get it, I didn't want to be considered a child then either, it took years for me to realize what a jackass I actually was. Second I will paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut who once said that in this country boys and girls do not become men and women until they have either served in a war or graduated college and entered the real world.

Not just for promotions. Most civil service positions now require college credits at the ENTRY LEVEL. Getting a good job with nothing more than a HS diploma is fast becoming a thing of the past.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head!
PARENTS! Not the school, not the FD, not the government.
Good for you!!!

One of the more ridiculous posts I've seen on here in a long time. Many others have beaten the horse to death- if you are relying on a bunch of high school kids for your first alarm assignment, you have big problems. I started back in the day as an 18 year old with 6 months of high school left to go. My department had no "junior" members and therefore no special rules. Small town, everyone knew me for many years, it was left to my discretion, my parents didn't put any limitations on me, and I graduated with high honors from high school. Fast forward 35+ years, I have my own son who is a 17 year old junior member where we live now. Just finishing FF1 this week. Given the chance, he'd be running on every call he could grab. I as his father have placed limitations on what he is allowed to respond to, and that generally means he goes to NOTHING on school nights once he goes toes up in bed (I still go, but without him). No one in previous posts has mentioned the parental element in this discussion. As a parent of a minor, I make the decisions for my son, not the fire district and not the school when it comes to this topic. He can make all the weekend calls he wants, but if I find out he left school for an alarm, or took his pager to school, that's the end of it.

I think another issue here is how many vessels does it take to transfer 1 patient. FDNY, NYPD, Coast Guard, etc. Simply put, too many cooks in the kitchen. If FDNY with the EMS crew onboard was dispatched for the medical call then why was NYPD jockeying for position. Seems like the same old turf wars just this time in boats.

I think another issue here is how many vessels does it take to transfer 1 patient. FDNY, NYPD, Coast Guard, etc. Simply put, too many cooks in the kitchen. If FDNY with the EMS crew onboard was dispatched for the medical call then why was NYPD jockeying for position. Seems like the same old turf wars just this time in boats.

I don't want to hijack Andrew's thread by reposting anything else that he may have shot but I don't belive he shot these while we were out and about.




999th post!