smwells

I have seen first hand items growing legs, I have transported pt to hospital on a board, come back 2 hrs later with another pt and it was MIA. WMC I think still ships the boards back, blocks and straps FORGET ABOUT IT, if you don't get them while on the call, you wont see them again. On occasion I have found boards that dont belong to my dept, and I make a point to put them on the duty rig, so they get backto the hospital, but some of the boards I have seen have some serious miles, I had one that belonged in Frost Valley (no clue where that is..)

For those outside Putnam, the County Executive has been using the fund balance to have ZERO tax increases in the county for the past few years (not sure of the number). Now the well has dried up and no one is left but the taxpayers to foot this outrageous increase.. If I am not wrong ALS is a COUNTY PROVIDED SERVICE. It is is not an issue of who provides the service, it is the cost of doing business.. Fuel cost alone are a signifigant part of any contract and cetainly are not decreasing.. I was glad to hear at the EMS council meeting on Sunday that at least one of the legilators has gotten out of thier seat and started to look at this issue first hand. From what I understand the accident certainly opened her eyes to the service provided. 2 Down only 6 more to go.. I think ALL of the Legilators should do a ride along with the medics, it will certainly clear up the BLS/ALS debate of skills. In the long term Putnam needs to own the ALS system in the county.

Latest Laugh!! I heard from someone that spoke with Mr Oliverio last night at the Putnam Valley Town Board, the Legislature is looking at extending the contract through the end of the year, and putting the ALS issue up for referendum before then.. (Basically they are dropping this issue in the taxpayers laps, with even less knowledge of the issue than they had). This will release them and the County Exec from any resposibility on the issue.. So when the ill informed residents of the county vote against it (because they have no information), it is thier own fault. Go Figure...

I think the PC Legislature is nuts making this decision, but being an election year no one up in carmel wants thier name assoicated with spending any more taxpayer money, than the County Exec alreeady did with his latest tax increase.. Remember the contract ends on 10/1 and we have to decide to vote for many of these legislators on 11/6. And I think the County Exec is up this year also... Make your voice heard, tell your legislator what you really think of thier decision From PutnamcountyNY.com webpage Phone: 845-225-8690 E-mail: putcoleg@putnamcountyny.com Sam Oliverio, Jr. - 914-414-5768 Terry N. Intrary - Mary F. Conklin - (845)406-1002 - PCDist4@aol.com Mary Ellen Odell - Tony Hay - 845-278-6747 Dan Birmingham - Robert McGuigan, Jr. - Putnamcounty8@RCN.com Regina Morini

Why it isn't no where else can you have a driver bank a left on a red light from the right lane across 5 lanes into a shopping center with an an ambulance going lights and siren behind them.. (it happened to me !! going to the hospital near the cortlandt town center)

POS !!! that puts it best.. I have had Nextel for many years, late last year I had the I95c and had increased amount of dropped calls and poor reception in Putnam Valley after complaining (before they started dropping clients), they said go with the NEW ic502 hybrid (sprint voice/Nextel 2-way), "It will fix your issue, since I had an out of date phone and that new towers were designed for the newer equipment." Well it hasn't fixed much, I still drop calls (While standing still 5 bars to ZERO, beep!! lost call, 2 seconds later 5 bars again?). Nextel was a premium provider before merging with the worst choice for voice Sprint.. Now I can be standing next to someone and cant reach them on the 2-way. I am about to either take the hit for dropping the contract or call them so they void the contract.. My wife has had verizon for 4+ years without any signifigant issue, the service has not failed.. and the cost is almost 1/2 for the same airtime allowance. The hassle and cost to keep Nextel is exceeding the usefullness of the 2-way

I believe the NYSDOH policy indicated that not only do they need to be an EMT and meet the same criteria as a 'Fly Car' for equipment and lettering, but the department they represent must also authorize the Redlights and siren, as it introduces a liability for them. Multiple times since I joined Put Valley, the discussion of Redlights/Siren on POV has come up.. It has been shot down by both the Board of Directors and the Captain each time. Our current captain has NO lights on his POV. The biggest reason I see the idea of Red Lights on a POV is people are trained to move out of the way of vehicles with red lights.. Blue and Green are "courtesy" lights, but people have no idea what to do when they see them.. At least if they knew what they were they could make an educated decision to let them pass (when safe). I had one person do 10 miles under the posted limit with my green light on behind him, and followed them right up his driveway. He appoligized the entire time we were on scene that he was sorry he delayed my arrival to help his relative.

Are we going to delay transport to play 20 questions? Are we going to wait to launch the helicopter until we are on scene?? Can the patient truly judge if the helicopter will provide better care, or the EMS personel? I agree the that it is over used, but I would rather get them in the air and cancel them, than need them and delay required care. I recently worked a motorcycle accident on the tsp (no surprise), the helicopter was launched prior to the ambulance arrival at the direction of the FD on scene, once the patient was evaluated by BLS/ALS a ground trip would have been fine, but statflight was on the ground already. In many cases the launching of the helicopter is based upon the dispatch information, and MOI.

Did I miss something?? Tourists are still avoiding NYC after 9/11.. Now Mayor Bloomberg is adding another reason to avoid the city.. :angry: I would love to see NYPD pull over the open top tour buses, and issue summons to 100 tourists for taking pictures going down 42nd street.. Then we can see how quick the tour companies are his face as well. Or does Mr Bloomberg plan to supliment the NYC revenue stream by selling permits as part of a package to take the tour? My 2 cents, the terrorists already have enough 8x10's since the attack in '93, another example of fixing something that was not broken. But I am sure we can waste a couple of million dollars on spinning our wheels AGAIN!

First let me say I am not a Fire Fighter. I remember reading someplace probably here, that these types of structures are supposed to have signs or placards indicating the use of Light Truss construction, so the arriving emergency services adjusts thier attack into or onto the structure.. I think it came as a result of the Walbaums fire in Brooklyn. May those lost, rest in peace...

Chris, 40 in the left lane isn't a problem.. people are driving 90 around them and never look back. How about instructions to use the left, right, and/or rearview mirror.. they cant get out of the way unless they realize you are behind them... I drove in my POV to a call, and can honestly say the person in front of me never used any of the mirrors and judging from the condition of their car, they weren't looking out the windows much either...

Close- the Ecto's were a 59 or 60.. And yes I have heard the ghostbusters theme many times when I drove the 62 cadillac..

I'm interested to know why you went away from Wheeled Coach, like the last 2-3 ambulance Mohegan bought? Since Put Valley's 2006 WC purchase was influenced by thier recommendations.

A topic I can speak about personally: The '62 is currently undergoing restoration, at AutoMar in Cold Spring. Being that we had such a mild winter, they are far ahead of the expected 18 month estimate. While I don't expect it to be done for 2007 parade season, it should definitely be done for 2008. We have set aside funds over the past few years, and are working on getting donations to finish the project. As anyone who has restored a classic vehicle knows, you won't know how much it will be until it is complete. We can see the dim light at the end of the tunnel. It is the only antique ambulance I have seen or heard about in the area. So it will be a show piece at parades. I will try to get the 'work in process' pictures online soon. x635, hopefully you will be in a position to take your own pics when it returns.

Both of Putnam Valley's Ambulances have AirHorns. The 2001 Horton has Grover 18" Horns on the cab roof, and the 2006 Wheeled Coach are short horns mounted under the lightbar (was spec'd for same horns and location as 2001, but arrived this way ). center mounted lanyard in both rige so either driver or co-pilot can activate them. Trust me they leave the 200 watt siren in the dust when it comes to clearing an intersection . Pics can be seen on http://www.putnamvalleyambulance.org

No I think they were up a river without the oars, not that they it would have helped in that mess..

I ride to NYC daily, I dont go flaunting my badge but most of the crews that I see regularly know I am EMT and have been asked to assist during an emergency on a train until it can get to a station that outside EMS can board. I "pay my way", I certainly wouldn't argue if the MTA or MNRR wanted to give me a break on my commute. It doesnt have to be free, paying less than my current 213.00 a month would be nice. Especially now that the Village of Croton has decided on the 11% increase in parking fees starting June 2007, with no increase in services.

You would think they might want to finish the roadway project before finishing a bridge to nowhere !!! Minor items like Final layer of pavement, Lines on road,etc.. There are numerous places that trails cross major roads and no bridge or signs are provided.. I personally have had to dodge hikers walking on the palasades parkway following the applilachian trail. The county/state in there fine use of our tax dollars installed a bridge that has no trail on either end in the hopes that the trailway project will get completed somewhere in our lifetime..

When I renewed Putnam Valley Vac's FCC License a few years back 2001 I think, I asked McMahon and Cuomo a simple question. "What is the counties 5 yr and 10 yr plan for communications?" in a hope to see where we were heading, and so I could avoid redoing all the paperwork a 2nd time. The only answer I got was "We don't have a plan" As was mentioned in a previous post the UHF/Low and UHF/VHF crossovers have been on Tinker Hill tower for almost 10 yrs now. They were put in by Put Valley Fire and Put Valley Ambulance to avoid the use of tielines and facilitate a reliable means to get our pagers to go off in an emergency (Putnam 911 still relies on tie-lines for most of thier links to the towers around the county), every time a phone pole gets hit near a tower, you risk knocking out all communications from Put911. hence the RF links don't have the issues.. Talk of replacing those lines was in the works last time I spoke to them, but the completion date was TBD.

I have been caught like most of us by the lack information regarding the scene being safe. Dispatch is only as good as the information they recieve (in many cases 2nd hand or relayed info from other locations). When in doubt, size up the scene before leaving your vehicle (Fire, EMS, POV) if you aren't comfortable with what you see or hear then DON'T STOP!! Make sure you have correct / adaquate resources before proceeding into a scene. You are no help if you become a victim.

Hey Homer J. I will let you know when Put Valley VAC's 1962 Cadillac gets back from restoration (mid 2007?) so you can go for a ride.. 40+ years old and still rides like a cadillac. All 7200 lbs of it !! Stuart

It is funny... Oy does he deliver the Hanukah bush for you... or do I need to schlep over to your place to get one!! I am Jewish and I didn't take offense by it.. Stuart

The new design looks good, but currently I am getting horizontal scroll bars, since i am using 1024x768.. maybe adjust it so people with older systems can see all the text properly.. Stuart

What you are describing is not unheard of.. the newer pagers Minitor III, IV and V are not as forgiving for the tones or audio being sightly off pitch or frequency like the older crystal based Minitor I and II units.. The atmosphere and landscape of an area can distort the signal enough that it may not trip your pager. In Put Valley we have tested them side by side in members houses and sometimes they work and sometimes not.. I carry a Minitor III and have not recv'd calls in our own headquarters! I heard the call over the scanner in the building..

I have heard about the existence of this train and the platform under the Waldorf for years. What has changed?? Was the train hidden in a sealed tunnel? Has no one thought about the 'rumor' to actually take a walk down there?? The elevator is plainly visible on the street, next to the parking garage entrance.. I have walked past it over the years, and it is kept highly polished.