robert benz

ok not to get into a pissing match I HAVE SEEN AND BEEN INVOLVED WITH PD SCREAMING AT OFFICERS TO MOVE APPARATUS WHEN ONLY ONE LANE OF 3 WAS BLOCKED. HOW THE HELL DO YOU SAFELY BACKBOARD A PATIENT FROM THE DRIVERS SIDE WHILE ON THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD WITHOUT BLOCKING THE RIGHT LANE WITH EMS AND FD PERSONAL PERFORMING EXTRICATION? IF KEEPING TRAFFIC FLOWING IS SO DAMN IMPORTANT THEN WHY CAN THE ROAD BE SHUTDOWN FOR INVESTIGATIONS???? AND I KNOW THE ANSWER I FIND IT IRONIC THATS ALL. FOR ALL THE CLOSECALLS AND WORKERS STRUCK PD SHOULD BE DEMANDING INSTEAD OF FIGHTING ABOUT CLOSING SOMETHING DOWN. AND I ALSO KNOW IT IS A SMALL AMOUNT OF PD THAT CAUSE THE PROBLEM. AND AS A SIDE NOTE EXCEPT FOR A COUPLE OF INCIDENTS THAT REQUIRED MEETINGS WITH SUPERVISIORS THE NEXT DAY, MOST INCIDENTS WHERE HANDLED ON SCENE WHERE THE COP COOLED DOWN AND ADMITTED HE OVER REACTED. I HAVE 2 FIREFIGHTERS WHO GOT HIT BY A CAB AND SUFFERED NUMEROUS INJURIES AND NEVER CAME BACK TO DUTY. I WILL NEVER MOVE AN APPARATUS THAT IN MY OPINION IS PROTECTING THE SCENE

yes the FASTEAM should be there until any operation for which they were called is declared under control and units are picking up. if the fasteam is called for m/a it isnt your fire anyway, and you might not have been called to the scene. so stop thinking that the host fire dept owes you something for showing up. do your job, do it right , and go home hopefully happy that nothing went wrong where you had to be deployed.

ok new curveball for all the ems folks, you are going on a baby not breathing call and come across the same mva,? or it is YOUR FAMILY MEMBER NOT BREATHING. please tell me in your oath to the ems gods that you will let your family member wait for the next ems unit which can take how long? MVA which by the way does not mean there is always a life hazaerd could be just someone stuck in the car, just like you guys are saying about every fire doesnt mean someone is trapped. i had to add a twist

not to be picky but in a residential with 8 ft ceilings how do you use an 8 foot hook?

this is a good topic for sure, i was and still am under the impression, you dont get to pick and choose your calls, you go where you are assigned, we are talking about a working fire we were assigned to, how can you be negligent for continuing your response? of course you notify dispatch and your chief, and if the chief redirects you, you go were you are told, now the ball is in his court. we need legal advice for this one, not a firehouse lawyer, but a real lawyer who deals with this stuff.

you are both most likely right, i thought one thing and typed another, thats what happens when you get old

the rescue is relettered already, not sure about the tractor trailer, and it is inside on the apparatus floor @ the training center

here's my 2 cents for the dog thru the ice call, there is no more risk to your personal if you are trained and ready to respond, than if it were a person thru the ice. either you have the equipment and training or you dont. what great PR you will usually get for saving someones pet, it is nothing less than a chance to use your training and skills for ice rescue. we have been to numerous calls for pets and wild animals in need and for the most part we were able to help, with no injuries to our members.

in New Rochelle, all firefighters have been thru the survival course, probies have been issued bailout rope since 1998, and we just gave EVERY member a new bailout kit so all our members have the same system, and my hope is they never use it.

I have a couple of questions, is the ambulance part of the fd? what are the dispatch procedures for ems / fd response to highways? my point being that just because pd only requested ems, if fd is automatic on the response, fd has a duty to protect those working the scene. Otherwise how did they even know there was a call, did the self dispatch? in my fd dept we have had several incidents with troopers on I-95.

it is true there is a study going on right now thru Pace, on paper it has been shown where combining several of the smaller combo depts with fully staffed personal, closing houses, relocating apparatus, would increase the manpower arriving on a first alarm. vol are still included in the study. MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION, is this wont happen with Vol depts due to the fact chiefs positions will be lost, fire commissioner positions will be lost, and as proven in Long island, POWER IS EVERYTHING. THERE IS MORE APPARATUS IN LONG ISLAND THAN FDNY AND LAFD COMBINED. THAT IS DUE TO THE ALMIGHTY POWER KICK IN THE VOL FIRE SERVICE. until someone (westchester government) has the balls to make policy based on whats best for the public, and not what gets the most votes, taxpayer $$$ will continue to be wasted on duplicate services that are minimal at best. we have poorly manned paid and vol depts. that need to be addressed, without always yelling mutual aid for a fire you should be able to handle yourself. Having a county fire dept isnt that far fetched in this day and age. AGAIN THIS IS MY OPINION. GO AHEAD FIRE AWAY

firefighter survival is not part of ff-1 it is up to the instructor (if he is cert to teach the course) to ADD the extra 9 hours (3 classes) onto the FF-1 course. I think it s a great idea and should be part of FF-1 not an add on, maybe in the near future it will be. I hope i am just reading into it wrong, but when you say you HAVE to take an extra 2 classes to get survival, you should be HAVING or better yet WANTING to take more classes before you step foot inside a structure fire. ff-1 is the minimum req. to be considered by your dept to go interior. When I go to see a doctor I hope he has more than just the min qualifications.

there are plenty of options, we issue every ff 50' of kevlar webbing, with a carabiner stored in a small bag custom made for us. it fits nicely in our pants pocket, and being in a bag it stays cleaner. Also we have training kits to use so the one you carry is always "brand new"

this thread is about the training for ff-1, the instructors have no control over the content, it is set by the state. As for specialized training in FF-1 what is it? As for a guy who is only going to see a couple of fires, how many does it take to injure or kill you? As an officer, you should be the one stressing training, not saying there is too much. I do agree with you that time is very limited and precious, but if you cant do it you should step down until you can. That goes for any position / rank. you put your comments out there for the rest of us to read, you made it our business when you posted.

you are 100% correct, Vol chiefs assos. put a stop to xtra hours in FF-1 In NY saying it was excessive and that they would lose members because of the length of the course. A career academy lasts at least 12 weeks, which is 480 hours as opposed to 78 for a FF-1. Many states have raised the min hours of a FF-1 course, as they understand there isnt enough time the way it is layed out right now. This is not to start a career vs vol issue.

USE YOUR HEAD FOR SOMETHING BESIDES STICKING A HELMET ON IT AND MAYBE JUST MAYBE YOU WILL BE HEALTHY ENOUGH TO TELL YOUR GRANDCHILDREN ABOUT HOW BEING A FIREFIGHTER WAS THE GREATEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE

THANKS SETH!!!

yes Yonkers did specify 1 officer and 3 firefighters thats what they send and expect it back. down side to that where we used to send 1 engine and 1 truck with 3 members on each now they get only one apparatus

most vol depts in westchester dispatch a mutal aid fast team on a "10-75" it cuts down on lag time, and frees up your own manpower to fight the fire. Manpower what it is all the way around, most vol depts have the same aggresive interior firefighters also fast certified, and you cant be in 2 places at once. so it makes sense to have auto mutual aid for fast. Now you have members from another dept that have nothing to do with the firefight and can dedicate themselves to the one job that they are assigned to do. look how many jobs we have had where the fast engine got put to work and never replaced, who was watching our back? and as Hudson states in his reply look who may be your life saver standing in the street?

I am going to be as diplomatic as i can, there are vast differences between getting in an accident going on a Santa Run and and going to get fuel. AND THAT IS NOT WHAT MUTUAL AID IS FOR. i hope you read how firefighters are injured and killed each year. MANY OF THE INJURIES AND DEATHS WERE VERY PREVENTABLE, it isnt just "things happen for a reason". Bad judgement and carelessness are not just a reason. and yes firefighting is dangerous, but lets not make it any worse than it has to be. I have been a firefighter for a long time, I see in your bio you are 18 yrs old. Please talk to some of your senior firefighters and be careful what you wish for, you might just get it. I hope you have a long and healthy career, thats why this years safety theme was EVERYONE GOES HOME

I know it is a little thing, but when i hear a dispatcher say"proceed with caution" what the hell were we doing before that? those words to a lawyer are money in the bank, thats why we went to 10-20 in new ro. I would think a change in that term will help, we all know what is meant by it.

I have a question? In NY STATE can you hold 2 union cards and work for 2 unions? ok maybe thats 2 questions

Scott, they are picking it up by running over the middle of the hose, as was mentioned, it is safer to go foreword then back up to pick it up. it isnt to often that you have that much room to work so it goes on which ever way is easiest at the time To me it is just one more thing on the rig to break down, and i talked to a rep, he stated if it does, you have to crank it back into place, AFTER YOU REMOVE ALL THE HOSE FROM IT !!

8 new probies, doing it in new rochelle, and old list

we have 8 new recruits and we are doing it in house for the most part