Pelham EMS 38-M-1

[PFDR45 0]

OSWEGOWID: Those are all valid points, I hope one day ambulance companies, get together and get funding that is so desperiatly needed. pay parity with private hospitals, so people wouldn't have to work three jobs, and travel all over to do it. Sufficent units so that meals can be eaten would be great to! Maybe it's time to start lobbying for the cause to Albany, or the Feds? As for the R45..Yeah it doesn't have water, but the Eng is right behind it, so water is on the way!

Dknob17: In no way am I blaming the BLS unit, it's the system. There was no direct communication with units in the field, and units on a job(except for now-Medic has radio and Nexel)...This now gives a unit access to the info they need, to better serve the patient.

[Guest]

Just to clarify, R-45 is based at the Pelham Village FH on 5th Ave. while 38-M-1, since last Thursday, is based at the Pelham Manor FD. It will use a garage space under the PMFD Volunteer Quarters which is undergoing painting and electrical work. As it stands, while they're at base we provide the Medic on duty with bathroom and rest space at our Quarters.

The Town of Pelham, which includes the Village and the Manor made the decision as to where and when the post locations would be. Right now, it's at the Pelham train station for the AM commute, at Glover Field for school sports events and at the base station in the Manor.

On a personal note, I have been impressed by the Empress medics I've met so far and I thank them for all the info they've shared about the vehicle. Just don't look at the LEDs if you suffer from seizures..............

[fac911 33]

Why dont they post the fire dept @ the train station in the AM? There a good chance for a fire there. IT MAKES NO SENSE

[Guest]

Village layout is such that Pelham's firehouse is 5/6 blocks away from train station. Response time to a fire at the station would be, at most, 2 minutes (FH is staffed 24/7).

Not my decision but, maybe a medic at the station has a better chance of getting busy with a victim onboard train coming from Larchmont or New Rochelle (en route), either local or the express passing the station to GC. There are 4 MN tracks at Pelham, 2 local + 2 express.

[x635 4,066]

The truth is, Pelham and Pelham Manor are both paying for this Medic truck. Since they are the ones paying for the Medic truck, they do have the right, within reason, to dictate what the medic does. It would be better if the Medic was a town employee, but thats a whole other can of worms for the town, including getting a CON and REMAC certifications.

Maybe the Medic is at the train station temporarily as a first step, to let the residents know (a majority of the Pelham residents use the train station)that they have a dedicated paramedic for the town. Maybe having a medic at the train station in the AM was used to justify to the town for funding.

It may sound ridiculous, but if somebody doesn't like to do that kind of stuff, then maybe they shouldn't work in that system.

And maybe the flycar is hopefully just the first step in this program.......this type of "First Response ALS" is used in many other systems as well.....but Pelham needs a bus as well, and I hope Pelham FD will fill that role.

I don't agree with the Medic having to sit on post all day and night......but I don't think thats the case.......I thought that a station was being built at Pelham DPW????????

[jnb1335 0]

Good point, Hoss.

Pelham is a bedroom community. One of the reasons people live there is because of it's proximity to NYC via train, and I would suspect that during the morning and evening rush, a large percentage of the population is passing through the Pelham train station. Add to that the 200+ passengers per train that stop at Pelham coming from or going to somewhere else, and you have a very large potential patient base. I don't think it is such a bad idea. Let' remeber that we are talking about something that has been in place for only a few days. Let's give it some time, and see the numbers in black and white. If there isn't a definite need for medics at the train station once the call volumes are analyzed, then by all means I hope the Pelham politicos and Empress management can sit down and find a better utilization of resources. But again, let's give it some time.

[Guest]

I don't agree with the Medic having to sit on post all day and night......but I don't think thats the case.......I thought that a station was being built at Pelham DPW????????

x635, to answer your question, the Pelham Manor municipal complex at Penfield Place includes Village Hall, PMFD FH and Quarters, PM Volunteer Co. quarters, DPW, Police Dept., Antique Apparatus garage+workshop and, storage + vehicle garage space.

When you go into the "yard", everything is there and yes the DPW trucks sit right behind the FH. So, from 38M1 garage/station to DPW is about 150 yds. The garage space was there and is being fixed-up for the flycar.

[jps385 0]

I can't imagine many residents of pelham give a damn about whether they have a fly car or and ambulance until they need one. Most people are ignorant about EMS (and fire for that matter) and just expect that the powers that be have provided for their safety.

This is all about money and Empress being able to have another BLS unit to do jobs in MV and Yonkers while having a fly car to "stop th clock" in pelham. The really sad part is the empress medic is running around putting on a dog and pony show for the town making crap money (oh wait the union solved that, LOL) while the FD guys who probably make twice as much are back at the fire house.

I know I am stating the obvious but why doesn't Pelham hire a few medics, send them to basic school and stick them on an ambulance with the Fire Figher from R45. If a fire comes in you've got an extra FF, and if the ambulance is on a call you have the manor send an engine to replace the company pelham would be down. You've just increased your Fd staffing as well as eliminated the nonsense of waiting for a bus.

The Pelhams aren't the busiest area around but for the amount of money they pay in taxes they deserve decent coverage and not the nickle and diming that goes on there.

[jnb1335 0]

I'm not sure that I agree that the medics are putting on a dog and pony show for the Town. Yes, they are being posted in high profile locations, but these locations seem to have been determined by thinking about potential trouble spots where EMS may be needed (i.e. athletic events, the train station). Also to say that the FD doesn't do this isn't fair - how often are the members at schools speaking to the kids about fire safety, fire prevention, etc? How often are the Cub Scouts visiting the firehouse and learning about the fire department? Interacting with the public is a good thing for everyone involved. It lets the taxpayer know what services are available in the town, and may lead people to push for more, i.e an actual bus. It's also good for the medics beacause it makes people aware of what services they provide as well as what they are NOT there to do.

Just my opinion.....

[fac911 33]

" but these locations seem to have been determined by thinking about potential trouble spots where EMS may be needed"

Maybe they should post a fire truck @ every home in pelham too, you never know when a fire may break out! Come on this makes NO SENSE

[Pudge3311 5]

I believe that the posts are not going to be permanent, but are more to make the service known, and by posting the fly car in these locations, they are highly visable to many of the residents of the town.

As far as adding an ambulance and firefighters to pelham, that is a great idea, but it is not realistic at this point. Pelham Manor FD does not go on medical calls, therefore you would be relying on a Pelham Firefighter to respond with the Medic and ambulance to any medical call in Pelham Manor. While this problem can be solved on fire calls with an automatic response of an engine to any alarms in Pelham while this firefighter is on a medical call, what happens if there is a second medical call, this one in Pelham? The residence of Pelham are paying for this firefighter to be on the Rescue, and to respond to them. How are they going to feel when the help they need has been sent to Pelham Manor, and now there is no one there to care for them?

A great idea, that could possibly be solved with adding manpower so that there would be more people per shift in Pelham, therefore being able to accomidate this situation, but then you have to go back to the bigger picture, MONEY. You would need at least 4 more firefighters, which means salaries, benifits, and down the road pensions, as well as purchasing an ambulance, equiping that ambulance with both Medical and Fire supplies, as well as having to file all of the paperwork to obtain an agency call and everything else.

[Skooter92 7]

fac911-

Actually, posting EMS where there is a more than likely chance of having a call due to volume of people, concentration in one spot, etc, DOES make sense. EMS calls do show historical trends according to time-dependent factors such as these, and posting the car at the station for the reasons stated in the post about volume, # of passengers-not a terrible bit of thinking. As for your comment about posting fire apparatus at every residence-there is a lesser incidence of fire calls, and they don't tend to trend as well as EMS calls do (besides the increase in tree/light/candle related calls around the holidays) so fixed geographic posting of fire apparatus with an eye towards response time within district overall makes more sense.

Skoot.