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Congrats Chris!! You'll have a great time down there and learn a bunch!

I wonder why they chose Ford Explorers. Personally, I feel the Ford Exlplorer is a tad too small for an ALS Flycar, because of the weight carried by the vehicle. Is it the best choice to carry the weight of a rear console plus all the ALS gear. I feel the suspension on the Explorer is inadequate for ALS Flycar use, as well as the typical FE engine. In addition, you'd think you'd want the wider footprint of the vehicle for manuvering-stability, as well as the crash protection a larger vehicle can afford.

Add Route 100 @ Moseman Ave in Somers to my list as well.....very busy, dangerous, poorly marked and controled intersection. Seems like almost every 7-15 tour I work up in Somers there is an MVA there during rush hour.

I've been to several firehouses, mainly outside of Westchester, that still practice drying hose. Example: Hose is layed and used at a fire. After the fire, the hose is taken back to the firehouse, where it is cleaned and/or placed on drying racks. The hosebed is refilled with the hose that is dry and ready to go. (Alternate hose). Some departments swear that hose needs to be cleaned and dried before being reused. My question is: with modern day materials that hose is constructed from, is this technique still neccesary??

What a horrible situation :sad: That photo from the top of the mudslide is amazing. Really shows the whole incident. The photos, and the presentation, is awesome. Very nice work by the photogs. The composition, subjects,POV, everything is very nicely done.

These systems are also good for hearing protection from sirens.

As far as the roadways with the most potential for danger Route 9A entire stretch Yonkers-Peekskill, Route 139 in Somers, the Saw Mill River Parkway Executive Blvd-Route 119, the Bronx River Parkway Sprain Split-NYC line, Taconic from Route 202 on up, Route 117 Thornwood-Mount Kisco

We're not, but we are still a very important and very populous portion of it. We are basically the gateway to the rest of the state from NYC. NYS is spending a lot of wasted dollars statewide, in very rural counties in this state, for questionable road improvments/upgrades, yet it seems the little yet core roadways of our county are neglected year after year....my main beef is that the NYS*DOT doesnt even keep up with routine maintainence or standard safety improvments!! As with the Saw Mill....from Executive Blvd. to 119 that road is falling apart! Sure, they paved it last year, but the median, shoulders, drainage, lighting and other critical infastructure is all substandard and falling apart. Not to mention the forestry, which is quickly encroaching on the roadway, except for in Hastings where the state's subcontractors did a disgusting job clearing the forest away.....talk about stripping! That was a preventative measure for the lawsuit regarding the couple that was tragically killed.....but they didn't do anything to improve the aesthetics or safety of the road by doing the kill everything job they did there. Speaking of which, New York City and LI suck an enormous amount of our tax dollars away.

I hate both the III and IIII (I use them at work). Very easy to knock the knobs out of position, very unreliable audio quality, and I generally don't like the design anf layout. I'd like to see Kenwood come out with a competitor for the Minitor, that's both rugged and easy to use, maybe also intergrates an alpha numeric system into it as well.

Has anyone heard anything about this event this year? Nothing is on their website?

Unfortunetly, this is just talk. The State and the County Of Westchester have done NOTHING to even initiate interim improvments in the safety of the roadway. NOTHING has or is being done anytime soon to improve the safety of this narrow, heavily congested, hard-to-enforce, dangerous roadway. No increased signage, barriers, or pavement markings, no clearing of heavy brush and debris that encroaches heavily on the road, no maintainence of roadbed surface,guardrail, barriers, and drainage systems, no improved lighting, etc etc etc. No contract with County PD for a full time patrol of this road, and commercial vehicle enforcment. I'm estimating it would take NYS at least another 7-10 years, and several more lives, before the first shovel hits the dirt. Even then, I'll be shocked if/when it even happens. Look at the Saw Mill River Parkway. Every rainstorm we have basically, it floods. The state has said it will be several years before they do something. Absolutely disgusting. I feel bad for everybody that has to use that roadway. NYS doesn't care. I'd love to know where are taxes are going.

A rough idea of how GPD*EMS works, as I posted in another thread..... 75 is the villages flycar medic, responding from Dobbs Ferry Hospital. 70 is the BLS Ambulance for the town and is floated townwide on patrol, usually on the Central Ave corridor. (Staffed by single PO-EMT). 79 is the ALS Ambulance for the town, and backup to the villages (staffed by single medic) and is usually located in the area around Fairview Station 2 on Dobbs Ferry Road. 77 is the spare ambulance for the town, and is occasionally staffed by an extra PO-EMT. 71,72,and 73 are the Police Paramedic Flycars and patrol certain sectors. They are staffed by a Police officer Paramedic, and there are usually only 1-2 of those on the road at a time. (on a side note, 71 is one of the nicest flycars in the fleet, and is usually staffed by one/same officer-medic who loves that truck,lol) The flycar medics usually meet up with the single staffed ambulances and transport, or the single staffed ambulances have to rely on taking a patrol police officer or firefighter out of service to drive to the hospital. On the flip side, the town often loses its police force and patrol coverage to EMS calls. ALL AMBULANCES IN GREENBURGH have only ONE person assigned to them. There is no such thing as a fully staffed ambulance in Greenburgh. Civilian medics do not pull cars over. But the GPD Civilian Medics cars and ambulances look exactly like the GPD cars, and so does their uniforms.

ALS, any room in your suitcase for me, lol? I will fit, I fold nicely. I'd also love to know how (or who you know) to get your tix! As for the Super Bowl, you can count on the Patriots being there......and winning.

Congratulations go out to Chief Scott Ruxton (2441), of Somers Fire-Rescue, on his recent retirment and move up to Dutchess County. Best Of Luck, FF Ruxton LOL! Congrats to the new Car 2441, Chief Edwin Byrnes , and the new 2242, Bobby Totten. The appointment to Car 2443 is still pending. (The numbers have not changed yet, I think they are waiting until swearing in can be completed) Congratulations to Chief William Hecker (2261), of Lake Mohegan Fire-Rescue, on his recent retirment. Best of luck in your new found time! Congrats to the new Car 2261, Ray Stretz, AKA 622, and the new Car 2262, George Keesler. The appointment to Car 2263 is still pending. I wish all of them luck in their new positions and endeavors!!

Hello Everybody! Just a quick note to let you know my status here: Flew Jetblue out Monday morning as scheduled. Flew on “Mystic Blue” a 1 year old Airbus 320. Between the funny, friendly, and doting cabin crew and pilots, the leather seats and live personal DirecTV really make flying fun and comfortable. We did however, have to stop in Albequque at a Gas Station and Mini mart. The pilot wanted to have enough fuel in the plane in case we got held from landing in San Diego due to the weather conditions. Which was cool because we got to have another takeoff, and I got to can say I've been to Albequrque...sort of, We were about two hours late on landing. Weather is partly cloudy, but you could tell it had been raining heavily. Overall, the flight was awesome, just a little tainted by the cold I was starting to develop coupled with the severe lack of sleep I had in the past week. More about that in a minute. Went to get my rental car, and when outside discussing what kind of standard size car I wanted with the Enterprise sales rep, I asked how I could get the pretty Dodge Magnum that was sitting there. And I did…..for the same price as what I would’ve paid anyways!! That made me VERY happy! It’s only got the V-6 though, no Hemi, but it is still an awesome car. So after landing in San Diego yesterday, and getting the car, and wanting some rest, I headed up to Long Beach and my hotel. I’m staying at the Holiday Inn Long Beach Downtown, and it’s an awesome hotel. Feeling pretty miserable when I got here, so I took some Nyquil, which relieved my symptoms a little but kept me wide awake until about 530 am. So I get up at 0630 am to go take the test..and I feel 10 times worse then I did the day before. Took some Dayquil, which helped, but still felt wiped out. Stupid forced schedule I have to work, and figures it has to take its toll now. Went and took the test, with about 5000 other people that were there. There are 3 other dates with 5000 people each this week. I am confident I did well on the test, and will obtain my dream at some point. Anyways, go back to the hotel. Sun is starting to come out. I feel like crap still. I like my hotel, and really don’t feel like moving today down to a hotel in San Diego as originally planned. But I still wanna do my traditional Sunset Strip beginning-end driv this afternoon e and get some In-N-Out, so I manage to get that done. Still feeling miserable, but still managed to get a couple decent shots and have a good time. And as luck would have it, EVERY LA City Engine I saw was pulled onto the apron IFO for a bath. Guess it was a procedure after a rainstorm or something, or maybe just a routine afternoon activity? Watched the sun set at Venice Beach and headed back to the hotel. So here I am, back in my hotel. I’m going to bed now, or at least I’m gonna try, so I can get up early and get down to San Diego to explore in the AM. Hopefully I will be feeling better and up to the task. I will be flying back to NY tomorrow night, and arriving early in the AM. If I’m still feeling lousy, I may take an earlier flight. Funny thing though. It was like 49 degrees out here this afternoon, and some people were bundled up like it was Alaska. Rain has been crazy, it is like a major event. People here aren’t experienced driving in the rain, and flooding is a problem, although their drainage systems are far more advanced the in WC. Tiny canals that are empty beds in the summertime are raging rivers. Everything is so green and lush. I'll take LA rain any day over a NY winter, lol!! I love LA for so many different reasons! I only got to see San Diego briefly yesterday, and from what I saw so far, San Diego is awesome as well and I can’t wait for my visit tomorrow BTW, I submitted a photo of one of the rigs I got today, it should be the feature photo on the main page. Hows the weather back home? And did I mention I have a Dodge Magnum as a rental car and I am in SoCal!?!? How cool is that!!!!!!!!!!!

That would be the death of you. Forget about passing any agilities, you'd be too busy getting a cath.

Photos are now posted, www.emtbravo.com Not a lot of fire apparatus, but I still hope you guys enjoy some photos of what made for a great time for me.

Not always. I've worked in and with many EXCELLENT double medic systems (Boston, Worcester, UMDNJ,etc) , both in states where it's reuqired (MA and NJ) and I think having a double-medic system can be quite a benefit. First, in critical patients, many interventions can be delivered considerably quicker. It's nice to have an ALS level partner who can interview the family while you assess the patient. It's nice to have a partner that's on the same level as you, both for professional discussion and to bounce things off of when your not quite sure. It's nice to have a double medic on a busy ALS truck whether transfer or 911 to share the call load with. It's nice to have an partner who can restock you appropritely. It's nice to have that partner to assist with difficult tubes or lines. It's nice to have a partner that is a professional equal in terms of education. In single-medic systems, a lot of the time "weaker employees with crappy skills" can just plain hide period. In double-medic systems, everyone knows who these medics are, and often it is better having them as partners then having a weak BLS partner. (Although a strong EMT at select times can be much better than a crappy medic, lol). And a lot of the times, these medics skill can improve greatly by working with other medics. Just because "most of the country" rides EMT/Medic does not neccarily mean it's right. I feel 99% of the reason behind EMT/Medic combos is cost. If there were to be more Medic/Medic systems, I beleive quality of care and the strength of individual medics would go up. Again, "weaker employees with crappy skills" can hide comment. Firefighters work as a team and rarely alone, don't they? They must be able to function as a team first and foremost, but individually too?

LMAO!

OK, so I spent Wednesday in San Diego......I really didn't get to do all that I wanted to do,including taking pictures of firetrucks, I need at least a week for that city to do everything I want and I will be going back soon I hope. I spent the morning at the San Diego Zoo, which was awesome.....and what was supposed to be a quick trip to the beach turned into a very relaxing afternoon chilling and people watching on Mission Beach in San Diego. Mission Beach is awesome, the beach was very active, it's kinda like a year round "Seaside NJ" in a few good ways, but without all the guitos and everything that comes with them, lol. Very young and nice area. Had a lot of fun. And before I knew it, it was time to catch my flight. Flight back was cool, arrival was scary came in through a storm, lots of turbulence, couldn't really see the runway until we were right on top of it. San Diego is awesome! Photos will be up soon

http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/other...%20Monmouth.htm That's a BIG Pierce.....I hear a similar rig will be replacing WC HM1, lol.

Those commercials are 50% of the ad time on overnight TV. The other half is "Girls Gone Wild" ads. I am convinced the Jamster commercials and ringtones have a subliminal message in them. Could this be the new front of terrorism????

You know what they need to open in Mt Kisco and Mohegan......a Quizno's! That would do so well! MStrang, maybe you should open a "Firehouse Subs" franchise? And I can validate MStrang1 can cook. I didn't say he could do it succesfully, but he can,lol!

Wonder what kind of train this will put on EMS, and the surrounding Hospitals that will have to pick up the slack? (Greenwich, Sound Shore, and the overburdended White Plains? I guess PRCVAC's turnaround times will be going up as well. Also, does anybody know which medical transportation ambulance company has the contract for United?

Where are the new places going to be? Outback is great addition to Mohegan and will do quite well....Charlie Browns Steakhouse on Route 6 in the CVS plaza is pretty good