FD828

All equipment in Stamford(SFRD) carry a full compliment of EMS equipment including an AED. All members are trained to a minimum of CFR but the majority are at the EMT level.

Just a question to the more experienced or knowledgeable firefighters here..... Could there be any (not sure how to word this) issues with career staff speaking out against their boss's plan publicly on their own or as part of a group to undermine that plan other then the union? Could there be ramifications for that individual's career? All legalities aside because we all know how the real world works. Could it be considered insubordination?

Then why are not speaking or yelling out against this ridiculous plan that has come out of the mayors office? It is not integrating anything but the "volunteer" departments! All you say is this is the hand we were dealt blaa blaa blaa. All interested parties should be banning together against this plan.... unless it is exactly what you and the rest actually want to happen......

From what you say, maybe you did get shocked a few times and didn't realize it!! Are you insane? I understand that there are risks in EMS, but taking UNNECESSARY risks is just plain stupidity. I also believe that you are mistaken about the results of the CPR machines. (I will look for concrete data) Not to mention it makes the stopping CPR to carry down stairs or just move the patient a thing of the past. The machine performs compressions better then ANY EMT/Medic, and the best part is it doesn't get tired. Each and every compression is the correct depth and at the correct rate.

Now how do we get there?????? Maybe Bobby V has the answers!

It's too bad more people don't think this way. I do have to disagree, having a volunteer in the 4th or 5th seat would be anything but useless. The more hands the better. Especially at a fire. I don't think the rig swapping is a good idea either. For instance, when we come on shift, we put our own mask/regulator on an SCBA that we check, we hang our accountability tag, set up the remaining gear on the machine and of course check all equipment. If we were to swap machines for every call, we would have to get in, take out our tag, mask, personal equipment and then put it on another machine. Not to mention not being signed on to the CAD. Pretty time consuming getting out the door. Not to mention the possibility of forgetting something important. And this is just 1 reason not to jump rigs. Or maybe the career machines in North Stamford would be Quints? Then they could operate as either a truck or an engine depending on the call? Or the powers that be should decide what units will be staffed by the career staff and the volunteers man the other equipment. If they are there with a full crew, they go in service and are added to the CAD. When they leave they go out of service and are removed from the CAD. The volunteers could staff their equipment whenever they wanted. The career staff would remain 24/7, the volunteers would be an added bonus if you will. If they go into service with a truck, then they would be dispatched if they were the closest truck company. (not in addition to another truck) So there would be no "secondary" roles. They would be the 1st due truck on whatever the call is. I do agree that command is the main issue. On the scene the guys doing the work, do the work well and they do it together without issue for the most part.

IMO the best thing to happen to EMS in the recent future has been the new CPR machines. We have the LUCAS and I have to say it is awesome. The battery lasts for approximately 45 mins (according to the rep) and you hook it up and it does the work. The correct amount and rate of compressions every time. You can set it for 30:2 to allow for ventilations if the patient is not intubated or you can set it to continue compressions non stop. A very worthwhile purchase.

Maybe you just got lucky that you didn't feel it. I however am not risking my well being or that of any member of my crew. If you want to continue compressions while the monitor is charging that is cool with me, but after that, hands off. Deliver the shock and go back to work if necessary. Our safety is the #1 priority.

I think all parties involved would be willing to consolidate into 1 department except for 1 major sticking point...... who will be in charge. Volunteers don't want to give it up, career staff doesn't want to take orders from volunteers that may not be qualified for said position. No training records for any volunteer firefighters or chief officers have ever been turned over even though they have repeatedly been asked for. How do you blame the career staff for not wanting the volunteers to run a fire when you cannot even confirm if they are capable of doing so? In the same respect can't blame the volunteers for not wanting to change the way they have been doing things from the beginning of time, but we are talking about peoples lives.

Could be coming to North Stamford next!!!!

This whole thing has turned into the biggest joke in the whole emergency service community. People from Boston to Florida that I haven't spoken with in years wanted to know what the hell is happening to the fire service in Stamford. Sad statement to say the least.

Just because your teaming is WATCHING football now doesn't mean you have to be a hater! But your point is well taken!

This is not about qualifications or what is best for public safety both police and fire related. This is about someone who will 1, maybe actually speak with the men/women who are serving this community because the mayor is too scared to... I mean has been advised not to. And 2, pushing the B.S. that is already coming out of 888. The mayor was quoted saying that he (Bobby V) already knows all about the fire service in Stamford... WHAT? What does he know? He knows how to be the "mayor's" puppet. This is not what Stamford needs no matter what "side" of the fence you're on. We are talking about people's lives here people. This is not a game. IT IS PUBLIC SAFETY!!!

Just a side note thought while we are talking about consolidating the VFD's. Does that mean that each department's money will be consolidated into one big bank account too? That would greatly benefit one department in particular that owes its' paid drivers/chief/president/volunteers a HUGE amount of money!

Just curious, if the consolidation plan goes through and it calls for a reduction in apparatus as well, do you think that would fly with all the departments? Say if they said there is no need for an engine at BFD and the rescue from TOR is not needed, and an engine from Sprindale can go as well, and while were at it get rid of a truck company downtown, that would be ok with everyone? I think not! Boy I bet you would hear just as much screaming as when they told people that they might have to actually bring their garbage to the curb! Heaven forbid!

THANK YOU! You just hit the nail on the head! You just proved my point! Statements like the one above ("the houses belong to the volunteers they can come and go as they please when not assigned for a duty shift. Same with the rigs, we own em therefore we ride em") is the mindset that will cause the conflict. This is not a statement of someone who wants to have a unified combination department. This is a statement already setting the ground work for conflict. Paid staff as guests in a volunteer department is NOT UNITY. Those departments in MD and all the other states you mention, are they volunteer departments with paid staff from some other department or are they truly one department working together? If I had any input it would be this. The career crew consisting of an officer, driver, and 2 FF's would be assigned to a SINGLE piece of apparatus 24/7. The volunteers would man whatever other apparatus housed in that station. Example, say SFRD maned the engine in BFD. If during the day if there were enough volunteers they could man the truck, they would call into service and be added to the CAD. If there were not enough then the next closest truck company would be dispatched. The volunteers of course could ride out on the paid rig if they so desired. At night if they had a duty crew they would again call into service and be added to the CAD. If an emergency called for a truck company the closest would be dispatched (wherever the call is in the city) wether it be BFD or a downtown truck. This all being that training is standardized city wide. I would have to find a copy of your plan to pull out what I like and don't agree with to give you a complete an honest answer. I will get back to you on that. Unlike you, my boss doesn't want to meet or discuss anything let alone the fire service. So where you can go to your members and vote and bring it to the chief for change, we cannot.

More personnel 24/7 for starters. Firefighters put out the fire remember? Not to mention having pride in your company and wanting to be there and make it the best it can be. Who wants to be part of a part-time company? I wouldn't. Would you want to be part of a company that you could only be there during certain hours of the day? You want to feel like you belong to a house not just coming in for day time work. This would be paid guys coming into someone else's house. How do you expect the crews to fully integrate in they aren't really there together? This would just be filling in because the volunteers are not available not really melding into 1 department. Not to mention all the training, eating meals together, cleaning the station together etc..Ya know, working together? It would breed problems in my opinion if the crews were just passing each other at shift change. How or where is the proof that it was the SFRD that totally dismissed your plan? How do you know that it wasn't fully examined and just thought in their (whoever you are referring to) opinion that it was not a good plan? The union never had any say in ANY plan so you must not be referring to them. Chief Brown was given a task to come up with a zero cost plan and that's what he did so who is it you are referring to every time you say SFRD? I never got to put a vote in, nobody in my company did either so it can't be them. Who is it? How are the officers made in the volunteer system? Do they have to serve for a certain amount of time? Do they have to be interior qualified? You are always talking about legalities so tell me, would there be any legalities if something happened at fire because of an IC decision if they were not properly trained? And while a "piece of paper" doesn't necessarily make someone a great leader, it at minimum shows that they took a course and possibly have a clue as to what is going on. If an officer is elected because he is most popular, buys the most beer or because there is no one else to run, that doesn't make them a smart/safe/experienced leader either. Who did you give the rundown of BFD's interior members to? Are you an officer of BFD that has the authority to enact changes?

Perhaps it was ignored because it is not the best idea? Perhaps it is a fact that except for BFD you CANNOT rely on the volunteers being there? I personally am for a combined service of paid and volunteers but I am not for having paid crews only part of the day. There are more benefits for both sides to have combination crews 24hrs. Don't think that you are special because your ideas were ignored. Lots of peoples ideas were ignored. The city has completing ignored the paid rank in file since they took office. They don't want to hear anything no matter how much sense it makes. Real professional right? He is only the mayor and the director of public safety. Why would he want to talk with the ones protecting the citizens that elected him? You still didn't answer my question in regards to the volunteers training and qualifications. Why haven't those documents been provided? It's all well and good to say there should be a a city wide level of requirements (which I have said should be in place) but it is not in place at this current time and the question remains. What is the level of training of the current volunteer fire departments from the top down. How many of the "active" members are qualified for interior firefighting/EMS/driving etc.. And again I ask you, would you allow your crew to follow orders of an IC/officer that is not trained for said position?

The "abysmal response" from GFD has NOTHING to do with SFRD. That is up to GFD. And frankly BFD is the only department that doesn't have an "abysmal response" record. And what GFD agreed to was way before any "plans" were submitted by anyone. And it should bode well with the tax payers because they would be 100% sure there would be an adequate response to any and every emergency 24/7. So don't go saying that now the "plans" on the table say "this" because none of this would have been necessary, time and money wouldn't have been wasted, and there would have been fire protection in place for every citizen tax paying or not that resides in the city at least a YEAR ago. As far as what the plans say now about command. How can you blame the SFRD for wanting to have command? No training records have ever been turned over for any volunteer firefighters. How can any chief officer let someone command their FF's w/o knowing that person is qualified to do the job? Would you (if you were/are an officer) let your men/women take or follow orders from someone who you thought or knew to be unqualified to run a fire? Isn't the safety of you and your crew most important? Perhaps if there were city wide standards in place for firefighters and officers both line and up, the attitude of the SFRD would be different. But if the VFD's won't provide even the basic training records for its' members, I am sorry they should be in command. At least you can be sure that the SFRD deputy is not only trained but experienced as well. Houses staffed by a combination of career and volunteer firefighters shouldn't need to swap apparatus, if the volunteers are staffed there as you say.

You are right. It has nothing to do with what is best for the residents of Stamford or what is going to be safer for all firefighters responding. It is and always has been about control from both sides. The volunteers don't want to lose control of their districts and the career staff doesn't want to take orders from officers whose training and qualifications to lead are not known. What I don't understand is why what Glenbrook did is so bad? Yes they have a SFRD engine in their quarters. But any time there is a call in that district, the chief of Glenbrook is in command unless he relinquishes it to the deputy from SFRD. The volunteers if they come out, can respond, they can even ride out on the SFRD engine. Where is the down side to the way GFD operates? If you had the same set up in any other of the departments, why wouldn't it work the same way? Would it be so terrible if the career staff manned an engine out of TOR and the volunteers if they showed up, manned the ladder or the rescue? Same in Belltown. Tell me what the down side is.

Cogs, All legalities aside, don't you think that if the volunteer departments (aside from yours of course) would truly admit that they are not providing the best fire protection for their residents and admitted that they needed help, regardless of what the charter says, this could be done? If nobody files a law suit saying that the city violated our charter, then there would be no battle. It would only be about what is best for fire protection. The mayor himself admitted that one of the main reasons that SFRD is not combining with the volunteer departments is the threat of law suits from the volunteers. It makes it very hard to believe that the citizens safety is their first priority.

The members dedication is NOT in question. However their safety is. As well as the safety of their fellow volunteers and the citizens they are so dedicated to serve. What would the discussion be if during the 66th hour of service they crashed and killed a family of 5 because they fell asleep? Our safety and well being is and always should be our #1 priority followed closely by the public's safety and well-being. If there are not enough volunteers to respond, then mutual aid should be used.

So this ridiculous battle with the fire service has been going on for approx. 160 years.... great. I guess the odds of seeing a peaceful resolution before I retire are slim to none.

Only question is how do you get all parties together? Maybe if all the chiefs stayed home.......

Cogs, How can anyone submit any other ideas for the future of the fire service? The mayor will not and has not EVER met with ANY union official since taking office! The head of the city won't meet with the people sworn to serve and protect it. Childish at best. Don't you think that paints a perfect picture of this mayor and his staff? He/they have NO interest in what any of us have to say, period. I would like to think that the mayor (being the Director of Public Safety) would be willing to sit with union officials, act like ADULTS and at least hear some of our ideas. But that is not and has not been able to take place. Whatever is going to happen is out of the our hands. The powers that be will decide all our fates.