MGMedic

"badges? we don' need no stinkin badges!"

They are being issued starting today. They are not to be worn on duty at any time. Off duty only. You also can't keep them once you leave the service. They must be returned with your ID card. Although I have seen them, i wouldn't know how to describe them. Someone said that they look like the Fire Marshall shields. They are supposed to be a moral booster (are you kidding me!?!?!) and yes......there are lots of better things to spend money on. Check out www.fdnyinsider.org

The list of priorities is simple......Me, my partner, our patient, patients' family.

Congratulations to all who made the newly published EMS Lieutenants List. Word has it the first class of 50 will start sometime in the beggining of March. =D>

Go to www.uemso.com It's the website of the Uniformed EMS Officers. You will find a link on the left side.

This topic has not been visited in a while, however.....NYC Remsco, against the wishes of many seasoned medics and dr's, has agreed to let FDNY*EMS run a "pilot" study staffing a paramedic with an EMT. Details to follow.....

I guess you aren't too familiar with EMS's roll in the FDNY, haztac or otherwise. We get no priority. We are at the very bottom of a very looooong list. When it comes to sending us "away" for training, it never happens.

scroll up 7-8 posts ago

somedic... 1. Currently we are in the same ambulance as the rest of the FDNY EMS units. There is talk on new HazTac ambulances with a compartment between the cab and pt. compartment for storage of suits and scott packs. 2. different units keep the SCBA's in different places, although if you know the layout of a FDNY bus there isn't much to choose from. On my unit, we have black canvas (i think) gym bag-like from SCOTT that we keep them in. we make sure they are easily accessible from the outside. 3. All non-traditional meds are stored in a sealed "antidote kit". 4. Best case scenario, we are sent to a 5 day refresher every year at the EMS academy. They do an outsanding job there with the minimal resources they are given.

All the HazTac ambulances carry a RadAlert 50, always on the dashboard. That measures alpha, beta, gamma. re: the KI pills. They are very cheap and sold OTC.

As far as FDNY EMS HazTac....No specialized airway equipment. As far as meds, just the usual.....amyl nitrite, sodium thiosulfate, sodium nitrite, KI pills, Mark I kits.

*holding my breath* the mayor's office still has 30 days to appeal.....

The class is 80 hours, broken up approximately 60/40 lectures/skills. Some of the topics covered are what you'd guess: toxicology, radiation,research (use of ERG, NIOSH Pocket Guide, Chemtrek, etc.) decon, medical monitoring (obviously emphasized), WMD/NBC/CBIRF, etc. The book we used last year was "Emergency Medical Response to Haz Mat Incidents" by Stilp & Bevelacqua, Delmar publishers. We use 60 minute Scott bottles with the new LED/CBIRFN facepieces. The suits are level A, level B's non-encap made by Dupont Tychem. If i remember correctly the course meets the requirements for NFPA 473-Standard for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Haz Mat Incidents. I was only a student, not an instructor, but i thought they did an excellent job. A great deal of time was spent on toxicology and chemistry (oh no, not the Krebs Cycle!!!). I remember the IC saying the course was same as the HazMat-Technician course, except they replaced the mitigation module with the medical monitoring module. I hope this was of some help.

Condition bosses (patrol lieutenants) do it every day without anyone watching their backs....PD sergeants get a partner riding with them (not to mention the various firearms)

I haven't heard anything regarding putting EMT's with CFR's, but.................one never knows.

The decision by NYC REMSCO was thet they weren't yet "comfortable" with this change. I believe they are waiting to be presented with data that shows this would actually be beneficial to the general population. They have allowed for the splitting up of medics in an instance of a disaster. Dr. Gonzalez said he would do that regardless in a disaster without asking first (you gotta love him. right to the point) What constitutes a disaster/emergency?......well, it was supposed to snow 1-3 inches today. Sometimes that becomes a OEM Level A (i believe) emergency. I'm sure eventually the "brass" will convince themselves if that is enough to mandate and enforce one-for-one relief, then it is "emergent" enough to split us up.

dknob 17......you would definitely win that bet. I'd bet that percentage SHARPLY decreases for employees with 4+ years.

I work as a medic for FDNY. If "the stated goal for FDNY is to have 90% of ALS assignments receive an ALS ambulance on-scene under 10 minutes", there are other things they could be considering, although i doubt they are. A lot of us believe there are too many ALS units in parts of the city. Sometimes we sit within site of each other. They just aren't being utilized efficiently. The triage system is frustrating. A lot of times the reason BLS is sent to ALS jobs is because all the ALS is tied up doing what are very obvious BLS calls (i know it happens everywhere, not just in NYC). Altough i'm not familiar with it, i am willing to bet my (very small) paycheck that they aren't using the most up-to-date triage system. To even bother discussing the salary issue and how it affects recruiting is just beating a dead horse. How do you attract medics when you offer 34K to start and top out at 47K after 5 years? FDNY EMS Chief Peruggia is going in front of REMSCO Tuesday to propose the changes. It looks like the beginning of a looong battle...........

"The Chief Leader" comes out every Tuesday. I know the 7-11 in Tarrytown used to sell it, so it should be available elsewhere in Westchester (it's 75 cents). You can also get a subscription. I will pick it up this Tuesday and post the info (phone #, adress, etc)

Medics from the Haz Tac units have been accepted to the FEMA team, although i have no clue how many. I believe the idea is to eventually have 2 teams, the deployable team, NYTF-1, and a non-deployable team dedicated to the city operating in the 5 boros only. A question for you...I live in tarrytown and read somewhere on this site about a Westchester technical rescue team. What can you tell me about it? many thanks

FDNY is also bringing 49Z (Queens) and 15Z (Bronx) into the mix and make them USAR as well, therefore having one in each borough. I work 12Z now and we still haven't been fully trained, although ourselves and 35Z are already in the matrix for any kind of rescue job (collapse, trench, high-angle, etc)