sympathomedic

I live in Somers. I am an FD member. I own my home. I pay about $10,000 in property taxes a year. About $500 are fire and EMS taxes (it says "fire and EMS" on my tax bill).
My home is made out of wood and there are no hydrants in my immediate neighborhood, though a recent water project put one in about 1800 feet away. At age 45 I have never had a fire in my home. I have never been in a structure that caught fire. (other than going as a fireman) No one in my family (brother, sister, mom, dad) has either. I have never met anyone that has been rescued from a fire. I have absolutely no expectation that under currant conditions a fire in my home would be extinguished in a manor that would save anything of value. We in Somers do not use the F.I.T. devices that allow 1 man to knock down a fire.
I do not want anyone risking their lives to save my house. It is insured. I have no ability to pay yearly taxes to fund a crew of firemen that may or may not be available (due to calls) to come and successfully/unsuccessfully save my home. I am told that the "loaded cost" of 1 fireman is about $140,000 per year (salary, pension, workers comp, OT for vacation/training, days off, sick time etc) So a small ( 4 guys- gotta have 2 in 2 out, right?)crew will cost me about 1/2 million dollars a year. Our Somers Town Budget is about $11 million dollars/year. The SFD budget is about 2.8 million, though they have managed to save over 4 million in various special accounts. (I have heard of tax and spend, but the SFD taxes and puts it in the bank!) So $500,000 every year in costs for the small daytime crew represent about a 20% increase in spending for the District. That is about $250,000 PER FIRE for the roughly 2 working fires we average a year. Yes it will be sad if my home burns. Even sadder if I and/or my family is home when it does. I have 7 smoke detectors ($7 each) and about as many extinguishers. For $500,000, I will step out the window into fresh air, walk across the kitchen bump-out roof, and jump the 9 feet, hopefully into deep soft snow (most fires are in winter). Since I am a 10 minute firetruck drive from the main station, I would probably have to do that anyway.
I am really sorry. I would love to see everyone get a great job as a paid fireman. I would love to have a standing army of highly trained and well equipped first responders in our four stations staffing 2 ladders, 5 engines a heavy rescue and a tanker. May as well throw in the scuba truck and ATV thingy too. I simply don't have the money it would cost to do that. As the "buyer" in this transaction, I am afraid I can't afford it. I will be careful to not overload any wires. I will keep the chimney clean. I will hope for the best. At 45 years old, I will be moving into assisted living in another 30 years or so. Hopefully I'll make it, house intact, then they can hire as many firemen as they want.

I live in Somers. I am an FD member. I own my home. I pay about $10,000 in property taxes a year. About $500 are fire and EMS taxes (it says "fire and EMS" on my tax bill).
My home is made out of wood and there are no hydrants in my immediate neighborhood, though a recent water project put one in about 1800 feet away. At age 45 I have never had a fire in my home. I have never been in a structure that caught fire. (other than going as a fireman) No one in my family (brother, sister, mom, dad) has either. I have never met anyone that has been rescued from a fire. I have absolutely no expectation that under currant conditions a fire in my home would be extinguished in a manor that would save anything of value. We in Somers do not use the F.I.T. devices that allow 1 man to knock down a fire.
I do not want anyone risking their lives to save my house. It is insured. I have no ability to pay yearly taxes to fund a crew of firemen that may or may not be available (due to calls) to come and successfully/unsuccessfully save my home. I am told that the "loaded cost" of 1 fireman is about $140,000 per year (salary, pension, workers comp, OT for vacation/training, days off, sick time etc) So a small ( 4 guys- gotta have 2 in 2 out, right?)crew will cost me about 1/2 million dollars a year. Our Somers Town Budget is about $11 million dollars/year. The SFD budget is about 2.8 million, though they have managed to save over 4 million in various special accounts. (I have heard of tax and spend, but the SFD taxes and puts it in the bank!) So $500,000 every year in costs for the small daytime crew represent about a 20% increase in spending for the District. That is about $250,000 PER FIRE for the roughly 2 working fires we average a year. Yes it will be sad if my home burns. Even sadder if I and/or my family is home when it does. I have 7 smoke detectors ($7 each) and about as many extinguishers. For $500,000, I will step out the window into fresh air, walk across the kitchen bump-out roof, and jump the 9 feet, hopefully into deep soft snow (most fires are in winter). Since I am a 10 minute firetruck drive from the main station, I would probably have to do that anyway.
I am really sorry. I would love to see everyone get a great job as a paid fireman. I would love to have a standing army of highly trained and well equipped first responders in our four stations staffing 2 ladders, 5 engines a heavy rescue and a tanker. May as well throw in the scuba truck and ATV thingy too. I simply don't have the money it would cost to do that. As the "buyer" in this transaction, I am afraid I can't afford it. I will be careful to not overload any wires. I will keep the chimney clean. I will hope for the best. At 45 years old, I will be moving into assisted living in another 30 years or so. Hopefully I'll make it, house intact, then they can hire as many firemen as they want.

How much would you save to remove the inhouse dispatchers, the inhouse mechanic, the paid administrative personnel for the district, and switch that funding over to career firemen?
You're already double taxing your district for services that are already provided by the county....
I understand the dispatchers cost us about $170,000/year. We have 5 part timers in the office that run about $15-$20,000/year each. So that comes out to about $270,000 total. I do not know of any paid firemen that also do the work of mechanics, so I assume that either the mechanic would need to stay, OR a similar amount would have to be spent on outsourced repairs, so no savings there. The other 5 office staff have titles like Clerk, Treasurer, Secretary, Purchasing agent and computer services. We also have a paid training officer, ironically a paid fireman working a second job. I am pretty sure most paid/combo departments have some type of civilain office staff. I believe Eastchester does, as does Mohegan, to cite two examples- and they are full timers, so lets just say that 1 full timer= 2 part timers, but full timers get BENEFITS that SFD part timers do not, and benefits = pension, medical etc and that is pricey, so lets say that ONE FT = 3 PT's. So now you are only saving the dispatch money ($170,000 and TWO PT office staff = about $36,000/year, totaling $206,000/ a year that at todays rate gets you about 1 3/4 firemen.
If those 1 and 3/4 guys are willing to do tires, brakes, belts, oil changes, batteries, maintain the 4 house generators, fix burned out lights, schedule warrenty work, mount brackets for new equipment, do minor wiring, maintain the 2 dozen portable motorized pumps, saws, generators and fans and drive the trucks (out of town by the way) to a larger garage for repairs too big to handle, then maybe the mechanic would be eliminated, saving another $30,000, which of course the Union would immediately demand in compensation for their members doing all that stuff (I am a shop steward and I would do the same thing for my guys).
If they are willing to go to 4 firehouses and sweep, mop, clean the bathrooms, refill the soap and toilet paper, take out the trash,(the two larger stations get a LOT of traffic) then another $14,000 might be found, but you know where that will go (see above).
If the proposed new firemen would do construction projects and building maintenance on the 4 stations- change light bulbs, fix broken plumbing fixtures, unclog drains indoor and outdoors, fix broken windows, doors and gutters, build and install fixtures like bulletin boards, shelving and hose racks, battery chargers and lights, do minor electric work and painting, change AC and furnace filters and change the exhaust system filters, build or tear down the occasional wall and do interior remodeling, then the part time maintenence guy could go, freeing up about $20,000. I know some paid firemen do some of that stuff, but I don't think they do all of it. If not, then someone will need to stay on the payroll to do it.
BTW: in terms of double taxing, its about to get worse! The SFD is in the process of a HUGE radio upgrade with several remote radio sites and coordinated receivers and transmitting ability from the 4 stations. All while the County radios sit idle in our rigs and dispatch desk. So: taxes bought the big county system which Somers opts not to use, and taxes are buying the Somers system, for the paid dispatchers to use. THIS IN A TOWN THE SIZE OF MANHATAN THAT HAS A SINGLE STAFFED POLICE CAR IN IT FROM 0000-0500. Getting back to my original post, I feel my tax $ is better off in my pocket, but second best spent on cops. I know LOTS of crime victims.
I pay about $1200 a year in total home insurance. The policy defies my ability to understand it. It talks about how much they will pay to fix it, rebuild it etc, but they do NOT say how much of that $12,000 is for fire protection. One thing I do know: I get a 2% surcharge on my insurance to fund my VFD benevolent association!! They do buy me dinner once a year, and the way I eat, I come out ahead on that one. I know a (VERY) little about ISO. would 4 guys, M-F days really get me a %10 drop in insurance? Coming from a station 10 minutes away to an area with out hydrants or ponds?
I cannot defend the office staff. I work part time at a VAC and the 1 person office staff they have could do our office work standing on her head.
The mechanic maintians a LOT: 2 ladders, 1 with a pump. 5 engines, a tanker, heavy rescue, 3 ambulances, 4 chief cars (gotta have a spare!), rehab bus, scuba truck, fire police truck, mini attack, mini van (in case a bunch of soccer moms join) two other utility trucks, 3 trailers, 1 boat with an outboard, 4 station power generators, a very large number of small engines. As you can guess, ambulance and Chief car work take a lot of time- cuz thats where the mileage is. But all those trucks with their various systems need a fair amount of looking after. I believe he is a part timer on paper, but ends up doing closer to full time hours. He will come in on a weekend if they call him if a rig goes OOS.
When our District Commissioners were asked that question in August 2010 at a Town Board meeting, they said that Somers call volume was too high, and its dispatching need to complex to be handles by the county. I was there myself to hear it. They said that Somers follows a set of protcols that have been established and adjusted over years, and the County would not work with them. Nothing that $170,000 won't fix.

I live in Somers. I am an FD member. I own my home. I pay about $10,000 in property taxes a year. About $500 are fire and EMS taxes (it says "fire and EMS" on my tax bill).
My home is made out of wood and there are no hydrants in my immediate neighborhood, though a recent water project put one in about 1800 feet away. At age 45 I have never had a fire in my home. I have never been in a structure that caught fire. (other than going as a fireman) No one in my family (brother, sister, mom, dad) has either. I have never met anyone that has been rescued from a fire. I have absolutely no expectation that under currant conditions a fire in my home would be extinguished in a manor that would save anything of value. We in Somers do not use the F.I.T. devices that allow 1 man to knock down a fire.
I do not want anyone risking their lives to save my house. It is insured. I have no ability to pay yearly taxes to fund a crew of firemen that may or may not be available (due to calls) to come and successfully/unsuccessfully save my home. I am told that the "loaded cost" of 1 fireman is about $140,000 per year (salary, pension, workers comp, OT for vacation/training, days off, sick time etc) So a small ( 4 guys- gotta have 2 in 2 out, right?)crew will cost me about 1/2 million dollars a year. Our Somers Town Budget is about $11 million dollars/year. The SFD budget is about 2.8 million, though they have managed to save over 4 million in various special accounts. (I have heard of tax and spend, but the SFD taxes and puts it in the bank!) So $500,000 every year in costs for the small daytime crew represent about a 20% increase in spending for the District. That is about $250,000 PER FIRE for the roughly 2 working fires we average a year. Yes it will be sad if my home burns. Even sadder if I and/or my family is home when it does. I have 7 smoke detectors ($7 each) and about as many extinguishers. For $500,000, I will step out the window into fresh air, walk across the kitchen bump-out roof, and jump the 9 feet, hopefully into deep soft snow (most fires are in winter). Since I am a 10 minute firetruck drive from the main station, I would probably have to do that anyway.
I am really sorry. I would love to see everyone get a great job as a paid fireman. I would love to have a standing army of highly trained and well equipped first responders in our four stations staffing 2 ladders, 5 engines a heavy rescue and a tanker. May as well throw in the scuba truck and ATV thingy too. I simply don't have the money it would cost to do that. As the "buyer" in this transaction, I am afraid I can't afford it. I will be careful to not overload any wires. I will keep the chimney clean. I will hope for the best. At 45 years old, I will be moving into assisted living in another 30 years or so. Hopefully I'll make it, house intact, then they can hire as many firemen as they want.

How much would you save to remove the inhouse dispatchers, the inhouse mechanic, the paid administrative personnel for the district, and switch that funding over to career firemen?
You're already double taxing your district for services that are already provided by the county....
I understand the dispatchers cost us about $170,000/year. We have 5 part timers in the office that run about $15-$20,000/year each. So that comes out to about $270,000 total. I do not know of any paid firemen that also do the work of mechanics, so I assume that either the mechanic would need to stay, OR a similar amount would have to be spent on outsourced repairs, so no savings there. The other 5 office staff have titles like Clerk, Treasurer, Secretary, Purchasing agent and computer services. We also have a paid training officer, ironically a paid fireman working a second job. I am pretty sure most paid/combo departments have some type of civilain office staff. I believe Eastchester does, as does Mohegan, to cite two examples- and they are full timers, so lets just say that 1 full timer= 2 part timers, but full timers get BENEFITS that SFD part timers do not, and benefits = pension, medical etc and that is pricey, so lets say that ONE FT = 3 PT's. So now you are only saving the dispatch money ($170,000 and TWO PT office staff = about $36,000/year, totaling $206,000/ a year that at todays rate gets you about 1 3/4 firemen.
If those 1 and 3/4 guys are willing to do tires, brakes, belts, oil changes, batteries, maintain the 4 house generators, fix burned out lights, schedule warrenty work, mount brackets for new equipment, do minor wiring, maintain the 2 dozen portable motorized pumps, saws, generators and fans and drive the trucks (out of town by the way) to a larger garage for repairs too big to handle, then maybe the mechanic would be eliminated, saving another $30,000, which of course the Union would immediately demand in compensation for their members doing all that stuff (I am a shop steward and I would do the same thing for my guys).
If they are willing to go to 4 firehouses and sweep, mop, clean the bathrooms, refill the soap and toilet paper, take out the trash,(the two larger stations get a LOT of traffic) then another $14,000 might be found, but you know where that will go (see above).
If the proposed new firemen would do construction projects and building maintenance on the 4 stations- change light bulbs, fix broken plumbing fixtures, unclog drains indoor and outdoors, fix broken windows, doors and gutters, build and install fixtures like bulletin boards, shelving and hose racks, battery chargers and lights, do minor electric work and painting, change AC and furnace filters and change the exhaust system filters, build or tear down the occasional wall and do interior remodeling, then the part time maintenence guy could go, freeing up about $20,000. I know some paid firemen do some of that stuff, but I don't think they do all of it. If not, then someone will need to stay on the payroll to do it.
BTW: in terms of double taxing, its about to get worse! The SFD is in the process of a HUGE radio upgrade with several remote radio sites and coordinated receivers and transmitting ability from the 4 stations. All while the County radios sit idle in our rigs and dispatch desk. So: taxes bought the big county system which Somers opts not to use, and taxes are buying the Somers system, for the paid dispatchers to use. THIS IN A TOWN THE SIZE OF MANHATAN THAT HAS A SINGLE STAFFED POLICE CAR IN IT FROM 0000-0500. Getting back to my original post, I feel my tax $ is better off in my pocket, but second best spent on cops. I know LOTS of crime victims.
I pay about $1200 a year in total home insurance. The policy defies my ability to understand it. It talks about how much they will pay to fix it, rebuild it etc, but they do NOT say how much of that $12,000 is for fire protection. One thing I do know: I get a 2% surcharge on my insurance to fund my VFD benevolent association!! They do buy me dinner once a year, and the way I eat, I come out ahead on that one. I know a (VERY) little about ISO. would 4 guys, M-F days really get me a %10 drop in insurance? Coming from a station 10 minutes away to an area with out hydrants or ponds?
I cannot defend the office staff. I work part time at a VAC and the 1 person office staff they have could do our office work standing on her head.
The mechanic maintians a LOT: 2 ladders, 1 with a pump. 5 engines, a tanker, heavy rescue, 3 ambulances, 4 chief cars (gotta have a spare!), rehab bus, scuba truck, fire police truck, mini attack, mini van (in case a bunch of soccer moms join) two other utility trucks, 3 trailers, 1 boat with an outboard, 4 station power generators, a very large number of small engines. As you can guess, ambulance and Chief car work take a lot of time- cuz thats where the mileage is. But all those trucks with their various systems need a fair amount of looking after. I believe he is a part timer on paper, but ends up doing closer to full time hours. He will come in on a weekend if they call him if a rig goes OOS.
When our District Commissioners were asked that question in August 2010 at a Town Board meeting, they said that Somers call volume was too high, and its dispatching need to complex to be handles by the county. I was there myself to hear it. They said that Somers follows a set of protcols that have been established and adjusted over years, and the County would not work with them. Nothing that $170,000 won't fix.

I live in Somers. I am an FD member. I own my home. I pay about $10,000 in property taxes a year. About $500 are fire and EMS taxes (it says "fire and EMS" on my tax bill).
My home is made out of wood and there are no hydrants in my immediate neighborhood, though a recent water project put one in about 1800 feet away. At age 45 I have never had a fire in my home. I have never been in a structure that caught fire. (other than going as a fireman) No one in my family (brother, sister, mom, dad) has either. I have never met anyone that has been rescued from a fire. I have absolutely no expectation that under currant conditions a fire in my home would be extinguished in a manor that would save anything of value. We in Somers do not use the F.I.T. devices that allow 1 man to knock down a fire.
I do not want anyone risking their lives to save my house. It is insured. I have no ability to pay yearly taxes to fund a crew of firemen that may or may not be available (due to calls) to come and successfully/unsuccessfully save my home. I am told that the "loaded cost" of 1 fireman is about $140,000 per year (salary, pension, workers comp, OT for vacation/training, days off, sick time etc) So a small ( 4 guys- gotta have 2 in 2 out, right?)crew will cost me about 1/2 million dollars a year. Our Somers Town Budget is about $11 million dollars/year. The SFD budget is about 2.8 million, though they have managed to save over 4 million in various special accounts. (I have heard of tax and spend, but the SFD taxes and puts it in the bank!) So $500,000 every year in costs for the small daytime crew represent about a 20% increase in spending for the District. That is about $250,000 PER FIRE for the roughly 2 working fires we average a year. Yes it will be sad if my home burns. Even sadder if I and/or my family is home when it does. I have 7 smoke detectors ($7 each) and about as many extinguishers. For $500,000, I will step out the window into fresh air, walk across the kitchen bump-out roof, and jump the 9 feet, hopefully into deep soft snow (most fires are in winter). Since I am a 10 minute firetruck drive from the main station, I would probably have to do that anyway.
I am really sorry. I would love to see everyone get a great job as a paid fireman. I would love to have a standing army of highly trained and well equipped first responders in our four stations staffing 2 ladders, 5 engines a heavy rescue and a tanker. May as well throw in the scuba truck and ATV thingy too. I simply don't have the money it would cost to do that. As the "buyer" in this transaction, I am afraid I can't afford it. I will be careful to not overload any wires. I will keep the chimney clean. I will hope for the best. At 45 years old, I will be moving into assisted living in another 30 years or so. Hopefully I'll make it, house intact, then they can hire as many firemen as they want.

I live in Somers. I am an FD member. I own my home. I pay about $10,000 in property taxes a year. About $500 are fire and EMS taxes (it says "fire and EMS" on my tax bill).
My home is made out of wood and there are no hydrants in my immediate neighborhood, though a recent water project put one in about 1800 feet away. At age 45 I have never had a fire in my home. I have never been in a structure that caught fire. (other than going as a fireman) No one in my family (brother, sister, mom, dad) has either. I have never met anyone that has been rescued from a fire. I have absolutely no expectation that under currant conditions a fire in my home would be extinguished in a manor that would save anything of value. We in Somers do not use the F.I.T. devices that allow 1 man to knock down a fire.
I do not want anyone risking their lives to save my house. It is insured. I have no ability to pay yearly taxes to fund a crew of firemen that may or may not be available (due to calls) to come and successfully/unsuccessfully save my home. I am told that the "loaded cost" of 1 fireman is about $140,000 per year (salary, pension, workers comp, OT for vacation/training, days off, sick time etc) So a small ( 4 guys- gotta have 2 in 2 out, right?)crew will cost me about 1/2 million dollars a year. Our Somers Town Budget is about $11 million dollars/year. The SFD budget is about 2.8 million, though they have managed to save over 4 million in various special accounts. (I have heard of tax and spend, but the SFD taxes and puts it in the bank!) So $500,000 every year in costs for the small daytime crew represent about a 20% increase in spending for the District. That is about $250,000 PER FIRE for the roughly 2 working fires we average a year. Yes it will be sad if my home burns. Even sadder if I and/or my family is home when it does. I have 7 smoke detectors ($7 each) and about as many extinguishers. For $500,000, I will step out the window into fresh air, walk across the kitchen bump-out roof, and jump the 9 feet, hopefully into deep soft snow (most fires are in winter). Since I am a 10 minute firetruck drive from the main station, I would probably have to do that anyway.
I am really sorry. I would love to see everyone get a great job as a paid fireman. I would love to have a standing army of highly trained and well equipped first responders in our four stations staffing 2 ladders, 5 engines a heavy rescue and a tanker. May as well throw in the scuba truck and ATV thingy too. I simply don't have the money it would cost to do that. As the "buyer" in this transaction, I am afraid I can't afford it. I will be careful to not overload any wires. I will keep the chimney clean. I will hope for the best. At 45 years old, I will be moving into assisted living in another 30 years or so. Hopefully I'll make it, house intact, then they can hire as many firemen as they want.

I live in Somers. I am an FD member. I own my home. I pay about $10,000 in property taxes a year. About $500 are fire and EMS taxes (it says "fire and EMS" on my tax bill).
My home is made out of wood and there are no hydrants in my immediate neighborhood, though a recent water project put one in about 1800 feet away. At age 45 I have never had a fire in my home. I have never been in a structure that caught fire. (other than going as a fireman) No one in my family (brother, sister, mom, dad) has either. I have never met anyone that has been rescued from a fire. I have absolutely no expectation that under currant conditions a fire in my home would be extinguished in a manor that would save anything of value. We in Somers do not use the F.I.T. devices that allow 1 man to knock down a fire.
I do not want anyone risking their lives to save my house. It is insured. I have no ability to pay yearly taxes to fund a crew of firemen that may or may not be available (due to calls) to come and successfully/unsuccessfully save my home. I am told that the "loaded cost" of 1 fireman is about $140,000 per year (salary, pension, workers comp, OT for vacation/training, days off, sick time etc) So a small ( 4 guys- gotta have 2 in 2 out, right?)crew will cost me about 1/2 million dollars a year. Our Somers Town Budget is about $11 million dollars/year. The SFD budget is about 2.8 million, though they have managed to save over 4 million in various special accounts. (I have heard of tax and spend, but the SFD taxes and puts it in the bank!) So $500,000 every year in costs for the small daytime crew represent about a 20% increase in spending for the District. That is about $250,000 PER FIRE for the roughly 2 working fires we average a year. Yes it will be sad if my home burns. Even sadder if I and/or my family is home when it does. I have 7 smoke detectors ($7 each) and about as many extinguishers. For $500,000, I will step out the window into fresh air, walk across the kitchen bump-out roof, and jump the 9 feet, hopefully into deep soft snow (most fires are in winter). Since I am a 10 minute firetruck drive from the main station, I would probably have to do that anyway.
I am really sorry. I would love to see everyone get a great job as a paid fireman. I would love to have a standing army of highly trained and well equipped first responders in our four stations staffing 2 ladders, 5 engines a heavy rescue and a tanker. May as well throw in the scuba truck and ATV thingy too. I simply don't have the money it would cost to do that. As the "buyer" in this transaction, I am afraid I can't afford it. I will be careful to not overload any wires. I will keep the chimney clean. I will hope for the best. At 45 years old, I will be moving into assisted living in another 30 years or so. Hopefully I'll make it, house intact, then they can hire as many firemen as they want.

I live in Somers. I am an FD member. I own my home. I pay about $10,000 in property taxes a year. About $500 are fire and EMS taxes (it says "fire and EMS" on my tax bill).
My home is made out of wood and there are no hydrants in my immediate neighborhood, though a recent water project put one in about 1800 feet away. At age 45 I have never had a fire in my home. I have never been in a structure that caught fire. (other than going as a fireman) No one in my family (brother, sister, mom, dad) has either. I have never met anyone that has been rescued from a fire. I have absolutely no expectation that under currant conditions a fire in my home would be extinguished in a manor that would save anything of value. We in Somers do not use the F.I.T. devices that allow 1 man to knock down a fire.
I do not want anyone risking their lives to save my house. It is insured. I have no ability to pay yearly taxes to fund a crew of firemen that may or may not be available (due to calls) to come and successfully/unsuccessfully save my home. I am told that the "loaded cost" of 1 fireman is about $140,000 per year (salary, pension, workers comp, OT for vacation/training, days off, sick time etc) So a small ( 4 guys- gotta have 2 in 2 out, right?)crew will cost me about 1/2 million dollars a year. Our Somers Town Budget is about $11 million dollars/year. The SFD budget is about 2.8 million, though they have managed to save over 4 million in various special accounts. (I have heard of tax and spend, but the SFD taxes and puts it in the bank!) So $500,000 every year in costs for the small daytime crew represent about a 20% increase in spending for the District. That is about $250,000 PER FIRE for the roughly 2 working fires we average a year. Yes it will be sad if my home burns. Even sadder if I and/or my family is home when it does. I have 7 smoke detectors ($7 each) and about as many extinguishers. For $500,000, I will step out the window into fresh air, walk across the kitchen bump-out roof, and jump the 9 feet, hopefully into deep soft snow (most fires are in winter). Since I am a 10 minute firetruck drive from the main station, I would probably have to do that anyway.
I am really sorry. I would love to see everyone get a great job as a paid fireman. I would love to have a standing army of highly trained and well equipped first responders in our four stations staffing 2 ladders, 5 engines a heavy rescue and a tanker. May as well throw in the scuba truck and ATV thingy too. I simply don't have the money it would cost to do that. As the "buyer" in this transaction, I am afraid I can't afford it. I will be careful to not overload any wires. I will keep the chimney clean. I will hope for the best. At 45 years old, I will be moving into assisted living in another 30 years or so. Hopefully I'll make it, house intact, then they can hire as many firemen as they want.

Holy Wheelbase!!
Some thoughts: When it goes down for service, it is like two units being down.
How does the Pt feel being moved sideways? Hard stops will throw the Pt sideways off the board/cot, not into it like a traditional ambulance and a sitting up Pt. I would like to take a long stretcher ride it it over curves hills and bumps. After all, we work for the person on the bed.

OK, here we go....

Happy day, Dan. YO and 3033 not the same.
Bill

This is one of the saddest things I have seen in 30 years in the ES community. I wish Tony the best and hope his replacement can fill his shoes.
Bill
PS: Tony, you can always re-apply at you-know-where!

A union is NOT an energy source, it is an energy FOCUSER (is focuser a word?). Use it to turn a bunch of stray beams into a laser. Remember years back UPS went on strike? #1 on the news every night, The President got involved. When they voted on the strike-ending contract, they had a 90% turn out. HUGE deal, major employer, no paycheck, and one out of 10 guys didn't bother to vote!!! It can be frustrating. Be attentive. Keep records. A union is like a tree- it needs to be fed, watered, fertilized, and once in while; pruned. Bill

Seems to me the County runs a fine PD, a good trauma center, solid waste and sewer districts, a DES, a good parks department... An EMS agency is well within their capabilites and sorely needed. I think local governments can seee that this would be best handled at the County level, just like the stuff I mentioned above. We could do it Like Nassau's County PD: Jump in at the start or you are on your own. Run it up the flag pole and see who salutes.
PS: I worked at and continue to love Playland.

I have heard that 1/3 to 1/4 of SFD EMS runs are into Heritage, and that number sounds right. More in summer, less in winter. Heritage has a contracted security service, Command Security. They take the EMS part of their work very seriously, and most if not all of their staff are EMT's. Before Somers stopped staffing their own first rig, we would frequently use HH security as an EMT on the SFD bus. Sometimes they even got 'tech-knapped' into doing a call on the way back home. In some cases the WEMS medic confirmed an ALS call and teched the bus with a SFD driver. That kind of thing is gone now: two emt's on the first bus now.
HH residents already pay for EMS two times: once in their fire taxes, and once with their medicare taxes. I don't think they would take well to paying a 3rd time to hire a WEMS standby bus- BUT if they did and set it up that at the end of the year, whatever funds that bus generated from insurance billing was subtracted off the annual cost, that would work because that crew would do several insured runs a day... but wait! That's kind of what I am proposing for a Town-wide system, and boy do the powers that be seem peeved about it, saying it'll never work. Course, they said that about horse driven rigs and steam powered pumps too.
Bill

OK folks, I am the Bill in the article and here is the thinking on this:
Our idea is for the TOWN to establish an Ambulance Department. Unfortunately it will the name "SAD" Somers Ambulance Dept.
It is legal for the Fire tax district to transfer ALL of its EMS stuff to the Town. A NYS Supreme Court judge needs to sign off on it. So there goes a big chunk of start-up costs. The Fire tax district would need to transfer the operating license to the SAD.
Meanwhile, 80% of EMS calls in Somers are being done by WEMS EMT's, using the SFD ambulances. So the new SAD would have to pay WEMS, taking over as the contractee for WEMS. That is about $400,000 per year for two EMT's 24X7.
Then the folks who want to volunteer will need to incorporate a VAC Inc. The SVAC would manage the SAD, and staff it as much as possible. Our survey of the SVFD members indicated that under a VAC we could staff in house crews 50% of the time. Even if that is 50% off, we could still staff 25%, saving $100,000 per year.
Somers also pays WEMS $200,000 a year for dispatch. That's right, they pay for what 60 does for free. The SAD would use 60. The Fire Tax District also has 5 (FIVE) people staffing the office 0900 to 1300 daily- a secretary a clerk a treasurer a purchasing agent and a computer servics guy. That last guy is a former Fire Tax District Commissioner who we worked very hard to get voted out. They made up a job for him, never posted it, and hired him. He now gets paid to set up the new multi site SFD repeater system that is 100% reduntant to the 60 trunking system the taxpayer already bought.
The Somers VFD staffs and manages the fire and EMS efforts of the Fire Tax District. There is no reason a VAC could not manage the EMS effort of a Town Department. We could do it cheaper and more effectivley and possibley with fewer paid tours. We would also collect the $400,000 annual insurance reimbursement that the SFD nows turns down every year.
I urge my EMT Bravo brothers to weigh in on this. Right now, Somers taxpayers shell out about $1 million dollars for EMS a year, and all they are promised for that is ONE BLS crew. No promise of ALS availibility (I did a BLS arrest less than a year ago- she lived) and no certainty of a 2nd BLS crew. (that $$ is for WEMS medics, WEMS EMT's WEMS dispatchers, a new HUGE bus every two years, gear, fuel, repairs, service contracts etc). All this while the insurance companies get a 'get out of paying free' card on every call Somers does.

OK folks, I am the Bill in the article and here is the thinking on this:
Our idea is for the TOWN to establish an Ambulance Department. Unfortunately it will the name "SAD" Somers Ambulance Dept.
It is legal for the Fire tax district to transfer ALL of its EMS stuff to the Town. A NYS Supreme Court judge needs to sign off on it. So there goes a big chunk of start-up costs. The Fire tax district would need to transfer the operating license to the SAD.
Meanwhile, 80% of EMS calls in Somers are being done by WEMS EMT's, using the SFD ambulances. So the new SAD would have to pay WEMS, taking over as the contractee for WEMS. That is about $400,000 per year for two EMT's 24X7.
Then the folks who want to volunteer will need to incorporate a VAC Inc. The SVAC would manage the SAD, and staff it as much as possible. Our survey of the SVFD members indicated that under a VAC we could staff in house crews 50% of the time. Even if that is 50% off, we could still staff 25%, saving $100,000 per year.
Somers also pays WEMS $200,000 a year for dispatch. That's right, they pay for what 60 does for free. The SAD would use 60. The Fire Tax District also has 5 (FIVE) people staffing the office 0900 to 1300 daily- a secretary a clerk a treasurer a purchasing agent and a computer servics guy. That last guy is a former Fire Tax District Commissioner who we worked very hard to get voted out. They made up a job for him, never posted it, and hired him. He now gets paid to set up the new multi site SFD repeater system that is 100% reduntant to the 60 trunking system the taxpayer already bought.
The Somers VFD staffs and manages the fire and EMS efforts of the Fire Tax District. There is no reason a VAC could not manage the EMS effort of a Town Department. We could do it cheaper and more effectivley and possibley with fewer paid tours. We would also collect the $400,000 annual insurance reimbursement that the SFD nows turns down every year.
I urge my EMT Bravo brothers to weigh in on this. Right now, Somers taxpayers shell out about $1 million dollars for EMS a year, and all they are promised for that is ONE BLS crew. No promise of ALS availibility (I did a BLS arrest less than a year ago- she lived) and no certainty of a 2nd BLS crew. (that $$ is for WEMS medics, WEMS EMT's WEMS dispatchers, a new HUGE bus every two years, gear, fuel, repairs, service contracts etc). All this while the insurance companies get a 'get out of paying free' card on every call Somers does.

There are parts of this issue I have never fully understood:
In many (not all) systems in Westchester that send FD units on EMS runs, this arrangement was begun in the last 20 years or so, and was done, again in many but not all cases, at the FD's request. If the FD wants to stop running on calls they feel are beneath them, simply get yourselves deleted from the EMS response protocol. Un-due what you did.
I have read in data gathered from the Emergency Care information Center in Escondido Ca (sorry no link) that about 35% of EMS calls are serious enough to need ALS. About 3% of EMS calls are "life and death". In my personal experience, less than 1% of fire alarms are working fires. (hose, hydrants, air-packs). The fire service never complains about the smoking dryer belts, steam from the shower, furnace burps, light ballast, forgot to open the fireplace flu type of work that makes up many of their alarms.
It is no ones fault but ours that we over-respond. I have heard a bloody nose on the Sprain get 1 BLS bus, 1 ALS car, GPD, NYSP and I think 4 large fire units from two departments. It is US that make the decisions about what to send. It is the public that pays. In my job as a paid EMS guy, I was once called to a town bordering our primary area for some minor complaint. I asked them why they called us, not their own 911 agency? They said they had done so in the past and were ovewhelmed with the 2 EMS 2 PD and 2 FD units that came. In Massachusetts the Governor at the time(Romney I believe) issued an executive order allowing nursing homes to call private EMS agencies for emergencies. That was done at the NH industry's request, as they did not like the multiple lights, loud radios, idling deisel and whatever else a large response brings to a quiet home. In response, the Mass State FF union sued him to get the order recinded. I read all this in an article about the Boston FD LT killed when the brakes on his ladder truck failed returning from an EMS run. I do no know the outcome of the lawsuit.
Not trying to anger anyone here. If you feel EMS work is not good enough for you, I would appreciate it if you found a way not to do it. The patient and I would appreciate it.
Bill

There are parts of this issue I have never fully understood:
In many (not all) systems in Westchester that send FD units on EMS runs, this arrangement was begun in the last 20 years or so, and was done, again in many but not all cases, at the FD's request. If the FD wants to stop running on calls they feel are beneath them, simply get yourselves deleted from the EMS response protocol. Un-due what you did.
I have read in data gathered from the Emergency Care information Center in Escondido Ca (sorry no link) that about 35% of EMS calls are serious enough to need ALS. About 3% of EMS calls are "life and death". In my personal experience, less than 1% of fire alarms are working fires. (hose, hydrants, air-packs). The fire service never complains about the smoking dryer belts, steam from the shower, furnace burps, light ballast, forgot to open the fireplace flu type of work that makes up many of their alarms.
It is no ones fault but ours that we over-respond. I have heard a bloody nose on the Sprain get 1 BLS bus, 1 ALS car, GPD, NYSP and I think 4 large fire units from two departments. It is US that make the decisions about what to send. It is the public that pays. In my job as a paid EMS guy, I was once called to a town bordering our primary area for some minor complaint. I asked them why they called us, not their own 911 agency? They said they had done so in the past and were ovewhelmed with the 2 EMS 2 PD and 2 FD units that came. In Massachusetts the Governor at the time(Romney I believe) issued an executive order allowing nursing homes to call private EMS agencies for emergencies. That was done at the NH industry's request, as they did not like the multiple lights, loud radios, idling deisel and whatever else a large response brings to a quiet home. In response, the Mass State FF union sued him to get the order recinded. I read all this in an article about the Boston FD LT killed when the brakes on his ladder truck failed returning from an EMS run. I do no know the outcome of the lawsuit.
Not trying to anger anyone here. If you feel EMS work is not good enough for you, I would appreciate it if you found a way not to do it. The patient and I would appreciate it.
Bill

There are parts of this issue I have never fully understood:
In many (not all) systems in Westchester that send FD units on EMS runs, this arrangement was begun in the last 20 years or so, and was done, again in many but not all cases, at the FD's request. If the FD wants to stop running on calls they feel are beneath them, simply get yourselves deleted from the EMS response protocol. Un-due what you did.
I have read in data gathered from the Emergency Care information Center in Escondido Ca (sorry no link) that about 35% of EMS calls are serious enough to need ALS. About 3% of EMS calls are "life and death". In my personal experience, less than 1% of fire alarms are working fires. (hose, hydrants, air-packs). The fire service never complains about the smoking dryer belts, steam from the shower, furnace burps, light ballast, forgot to open the fireplace flu type of work that makes up many of their alarms.
It is no ones fault but ours that we over-respond. I have heard a bloody nose on the Sprain get 1 BLS bus, 1 ALS car, GPD, NYSP and I think 4 large fire units from two departments. It is US that make the decisions about what to send. It is the public that pays. In my job as a paid EMS guy, I was once called to a town bordering our primary area for some minor complaint. I asked them why they called us, not their own 911 agency? They said they had done so in the past and were ovewhelmed with the 2 EMS 2 PD and 2 FD units that came. In Massachusetts the Governor at the time(Romney I believe) issued an executive order allowing nursing homes to call private EMS agencies for emergencies. That was done at the NH industry's request, as they did not like the multiple lights, loud radios, idling deisel and whatever else a large response brings to a quiet home. In response, the Mass State FF union sued him to get the order recinded. I read all this in an article about the Boston FD LT killed when the brakes on his ladder truck failed returning from an EMS run. I do no know the outcome of the lawsuit.
Not trying to anger anyone here. If you feel EMS work is not good enough for you, I would appreciate it if you found a way not to do it. The patient and I would appreciate it.
Bill

I am nobody's expert on burning stuff, but these come to mind: large portable batteries of various chemical make-ups, burning reacting drugs if it was an ALS unit, water hitting the main electric panel, the spare tire blowing (ambulances keep them in odd spots), aerosol spray can blowing, head-up strut on the stretcher...
When I worked in Ma, they had a brand new diesel burn- 1st model year diesel. Guess what did it? Driver adjusted his set and let the seat-adjust release snap into place -(remember the old ones slid left, not up like today's). When it snapped back, the rigid wire piece that pulled the teeth out of the gears on the other track of the seat popped out of its hole and hung down- right across the under-seat battery switch terminals!! It got hot and melted and fell into the carpeting under the driver seat. Total loss of unit.

The general mood out there is the public wants a smaller government, run on the cheap. Don't expect someone else to fund our expensive public education campaigns or even make signs. Though that one on the W/B 287 for the DOT guy with the imitation grave and the "Give 'em a brake" sign makes me slow and shiver every time.
We (can) do public education: demos, fire prevention month, EMS week, Trauma awareness month (May), Police week, open houses, annual parades... the venues and opportunities to teach the public are plenty and should never be wasted. If we don't do it, no one will do it for us and it simply won't get done. I can tell you that I will add this law to my shpeal at public events from now on. Wouldn't hurt to ask your state officials (if they are not in jail yet) to ask the NYS DMV to add a question or two about this law to the learners permit exam. Kids study that book. As they become drivers the law will be known more widely. I will send an e-mail. We all should.

I have been at Empress for my whole career, 22 years. We had a union that was bad. We got rid of it and were non-union for quite a while. We rejected 1199 at one point. Then we organized with IAEP. I was VERY opposed to any union. I feared it would keep us from firing people who needed to be fired, and we all know who those folks are. That has happened one or two times. BUT we also saved some folks who needed a break. I was afraid the union would insist on dumb work rules (ever seen the guys who still operate automatic elevators in the city?) That has not happened, and in fact we have some good rules that keep our folks from being made to do stuff they really should not be doing.
It is work. A local needs to be fed, watered, fertilized and on occasion; prunned. Many folks use EMS as a holding pattern to get jobs with PD, FD RN etc. Because they are visitors and not residents, they don't invest in fixing the place up, so it doesn't happen. It takes a lot of time to run our local, and I am very thankful for our union officers- we are lucky to have them. As our benefits improve- they have steadily with each new contract- ($100 contribution to flex-beneifit plan, higher % match for 401K, more extra pay for nights/weekends, $75 annually for uniforms above and beyond the uniforms themselves.
This is a topic that is ripe for discussion. It can be a very emotional issue. When we rejected 1199, some very good friends did not show up for my wedding because of my position against it. I hope this thread continues, and good information gets out.
Oh, and thanks for that "quality gig" comment. I am going to fantasize that I get some credit for that rep!
Bill