x635

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=7281693

PLEASE SEND ALL NOMINATIONS TO ME VIA EMAIL AT seth@emtbravo.com AND I WILL PASS THEM ON. THANKS!

http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Firefighters-fed-up-with-rash-of-fires-at-365890.php

They are using a BRUSH TRUCK as a spare engine right now, and this is the concern!!!!

So, I opened a Firehouse Magazine from 1985 the other day (yes, I bought the one just in case it was from Mount Vernon), and there were several full and double page ads for cigarettes! How times have changed!

Nice. Who is the manufacturer? Must be a pain to get to the ground ladders though.

And, as a reminder, EMTBravo's Buy/Sell/Trade section isn't to be used as anyone's personal storefront. If you wish to advertise a legit business or service on EMTBravo, then contact me. Anyone deemed to be abusing the B/S/T section (i.e. frequently listing multiple items) will be banned from using that forum.

Question: can you FOIL a commercial service that provides 911 to a municpality? Also, are independent VAC'.s subject to the FOIL law if they don't recieve any municpal funding?

So, basically, there's no way for citizens to get data on response times or other actions performed by a commercial EMS provider, even though they are performing a service for the govermnent in some cases?

I know, after working several years in the city, that Mount Vernon was once a very middle class, and in some cases, affluent city. Seeing some of the houses and buildings shows there used to be much more life in the city. With that said, was there ever a time where Mount Vernon FD was properly led,staffed and well equipped? I remember hearing some things about how it used to be a volunteer department, and at the time one of the largest, but did that come before or coexist with the career department? If the fire department was ever comprable to Yonkers or New Rochelle, when did they hit the downward spiral, and what caused it? Also, how the heck is could the firehouse on Lincoln Ave ever be consider a firehouse? It looks like an old house with a garage built on later as an afterthought.

I had the oppurtunity to shoot Engine 902 again this morning in better sunlight...

I was wondering if any departments give their members free home subscriptions to Fire Engineering or similar to their members? Sure, copies are shared amongst some firehouses. But couldn't giving everyone a home subscription, and then a test at a weekly meeting or drill be a simple way to enhance training?

As screwed up as EMS in Westchester is, if there was a disaster, Westchester could pull it together and handle it.....textbook, maybe not but the job would get done. 60 Control dispatchers are excellent, and could coordinate the largest disaster if they had to. And, if we really needed it, god forbid, we would have more ambulances and providers then we knew what to do with. Every system could use improvement, and Westchester in my opinion has one of the worst operationally in the Country. However, to say that people would die in a disaster because of volunteers is a very arrogant and insulting remark to all those involved in EMS in Westchester.

Or because there was an young inexperienced "career" EMT with a huge ego who's not eager to learn from others that really didn't give a crap about the patient.

Have they commited to a plan to replace the bridge, or has the NYS economy squashed that?

1. Menacing Police Officers? What about Attempted Murder or Deadly Conduct? 2. Tasing someone with a gun? Did they capture this on the dash cam or mic? Headline should have read "Man Plays Quick Draw With Officers And Loses" But we have no idea what really happened out there, and the officers obviously made a good judgement.

Looks like White Plains FD has returned to Smeal for their engine bodies (after the last two being Pierce Contenders).

Excellent article that appeared in the Janaury 2010 issues of Fire Rescue Magazine that kind of applies here, esprcially since criticism is such a hot topic on here to some people. I strongly encourage everyone to read it at the link below. Take It Like A Firefighter--A 3 Step Process For Taking The Sting Out Of Criticism By Ray Gayke http://fire.epubxpress.com/link/FIRE/2010/jan/72?s=0 Don't forget to turn the page....article continues on next page of the online reader.

And all the volunteer manpower in Mohegan has to respond in their POV's from all over Mohegan (a very large district), with all the traffic in the area? Does Mohegan use any technology to determine how many interior qualified firefighters are responding and their ETA?

Does Ladder 35 respond with Engine 258?

They are "Travis County Emergency Service District 6". They are an independent FD, but are all career with a minimum of 4 per engine. EMS is provided by the county (Austin-Travis County EMS). They are dispatched by Austin FD. http://www.ltfr.org/public/ Crimson puts out a very highly customized and durable product at a reasonable cost, and are very popular here in Texas. Dallas FD's entire fleet is Crimson.

It has gone up TREMNEDOUSLY. In fact, Los Angeles CITY FD just placed an order for 23 of them, amongst many other departments nationwide.

Members, Recently, some of you have contacted me concerning some membership issues. One of the main complaints is members who are critical of incidents based on Incident Alerts, or like to disect issues. I'm not sure how to handle this one, so I'm turning to you....the members. Some of the members complained about make valid points, and are blunt about it, which can be mistaken. However, as I will mention in a moment, we believe some of these posts are to "break balls". However, many members get defensive, or these types of threads create tension amongst the membership, often turning members off from posting on this forum. Now, do we censor these members posts? Do we ban these members, or restrict their posting? I know these posts offend a lot of members, and some get very defensive and make accusations towards these forums, but at the same time, if a member is not violating any rules, how can squash a discussion? We want to be fair and objective, but there is a fine line between discussing an incident, and purposely "breaking balls". After talking with some upper level staff members, we don't feel it's fair for certain members to attack every volunteer job. We have a large membership of both career and volunteer firefighters, and want to breed a healthy atmosphere where things can be discussed in a positive, respectful, and constructive way. We want members to be able to discuss incidents in healthy ways, and not feel like they have to defend themselves. I feel the majority of people on here want to do the best job they can, and try to. Discussing larger issues that are often above the heads of most first responders at incidents really don't do anything on this forum, unless it's a major issues that directly affects first responders. Discussing tatics and lessons learned at incidents is what we want to see. This is creating an atmosphere on this forum that is full of tension, and some of it we believe is intentional. I believe we've lost some valuable mmembers because of this. For the record, we are not pro-career, pro-volunteer, anti-career, or anti-volunteer. We are here where everyone should be treated with respect and be able to discuss topics pertinent to emergency services, regardless of who provides them. We also don't want to allow proven, patterned "anti" agendas, nor do we want to allow members who seemingly intentionally incite conflict. Everyone is here because they have an interest in emergency services and like to know the latest news, tips, discussions, etc. But, again, there's a fine line. Granted, this board doesn't have to be a "happy" place, as some issues need to be discussed, but we want to foster an enviroment where people willingly share information, without being afraid of intentionally being picked apart. People are passionate about some issues, and even though some will say some need to have thicker skin and not take things personally, people do. So, I'm asking you guys- we don't want to censor members or topics, but how should be handle people who create a negative atmoshpere on this forum but don't technically violate any of our rules? Does any member have suggestion or wording for a new rule, or any ideas on how to handle this situation. Also, we don't want people to not submit photos because they are afraid that they'll be picked apart. Sorry for my rambling, as I'm in a rush to get ready for work, but need to deal with this issue that's concerning a lot of members. And when A LOT of members who've been active posting members of this forum complain, I am obligated to find a solution or look into it. Thanks in advance for your input Seth P.S. Don't forget to use the "Report Post" button to report posts that violate the forum rules.

For some reason, I can't remember what the benefits of a rear mount tower ladder is? (seriously). I saw one the other day and I couldn't figure out why a rear mount TL would be convienent. I would think having that bucket hanging over the front would obstruct visibilty and reduce turning clearances? And aren't midmounts easier to position? Also, getting into the bucket is a lot harder I would think. The pros of a rear mount......sets up like a regular rear mount? Shorter wheelbase?