dmc2007

Thanks for that informative post. It's good to hear that you guys are working to make HPN better, as it could really be invaluable in taking some of the strain off of JFK, LGA, and EWR. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to make anything happen over there.

RIP to FF Kelly and FF Ruggiero. My thoughts and prayers are with their friends, families, and fellow firefighter.

Flights from Canada don't clear customs at any US airport-they are pre-cleared by CBP agents at Canadian airports before take off and then land essentially the same way domestic flights do. As for the Avitat operation, that unit is set up to receive business and general aviation travelers. It is highly doubtful that they could handle 150+ passengers at a time.

I spent this past summer working for a rental car agency. My offer of employment was contingent on not having more than 1 ticket or at-fault accident in the past 3 years (as well as having no alcohol and driving-related convictions in the past 5 years). This was verified through a criminal and driving records check. Once hired, I could have been fired for having more than 3 tickets or at-fault accidents in a given year, whether on my personal time or while at work. Keep in mind, this is all for me to drive around cars averaging 10-30K in value (there were some more valuable cars in fleet, but none come even close to the value of an ambulance), with a fraction of the liability that an ambulance has. As far as costs go, considering that a good portion of volunteer agencies in the county drive custom-built ambulances that cost in excess of 100K, driving records checks seem like an excellent value. Besides which, why should it make a difference whether it's a volunteer or paid agency? Do our patients not have the right to safe and competent transport no matter where they live?

The other issue is the lack of Customs facilities. While some of the FBO's (fixed base operators-essentially the various hangers that cater to business and general aviation) are set up to handle international arrivals, the main commercial terminal is not. It is highly doubtful that the NIMBY's in the area would allow the renovations to allow for such facilities. There is a way around this issue, which would be pre-clearance of flights. CBP has officers in Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Aruba (as well as Ireland and Canada) that clear passengers on the ground before the plane departs, allowing the flight to arrive the same way a domestic one would. While it would make flights from those countries feasible, flights from Mexico and the other non-US controlled Caribbean islands would be nearly impossible.

Who is EMS 10?

Is there any reason not to install one? It seems like a pretty cost-effective way to cut down on auto theft without adding a significant burden to officers on the street.

Shea always had Corona VAC on standby at games. When I was at Citifield for the first time a few weeks ago, I noticed that they now had EMT's on standby in Citifield polos that said EMT on the back. Whether they are affiliated with Corona VAC or not I'm not sure nor am I sure of whether or not there were ambulances on standby there as well.

+1. HID's are great when properly installed. It's when you get the idiots installing them in their stock reflector housings (i.e., taking out their old, non-HID bulb and not properly retrofitting in a new housing before installing an HID bulb) that you have issues.

My thoughts and prayers are with Officer Perry's family and the men and women of the White Plains Police Department. May he rest in peace.

Very interesting. Any idea who makes those smaller, golf-car/kei car sized rigs?

The pronunciation is Keer'yaz Yo'el. For some reason is transliterated the yud (the "Y" sound) gets written as a J (there is no J sound in Hebrew).

Nope. All are part time employees of the Town of Mamaroneck Ambulance District.

For what it's worth, I saw a number of their vehicles outside of Penn Station last week. I don't travel through there frequently so I can't speak to how often they have a presence there. I am pretty sure they also have a presence in Connecticut.

You are no good to your patient if you become a patient yourself. Clearly, this individual knew how to evaluate the risk involved and was able to bring a good resolution to this situation. Kudos to him.

My condolences to the family of Captain Iaccino. May he rest in peace.

Thank you for the very informative post. Total typo on my part. I meant to type "the county PD patrol the county roads we drive on." I was reffering to municipalities who use the County Police exclusively for their law enforercement (which in hind sight are probably irrelevant to the discussion at hand). I am not sure if we currently have any such communities in Westchester. However, I do remember that there was a community in northern Westchester (which one it was specifically escapes me at the moment) that was considering disbanding their police deparment in favor of having the County Police patrol their community. If such a measure would pass, would the County Police not receive any funding from the municipality for this? I think you and I are both in agreement that this is not a productive measure. Aside from the issues I have with placing too many incentives on volunteering, I do agree that it is ridiculous for communities with career staff to fund other communities who can't maintain a volunteer department. My post was intended to show that he inequities that the prior post cited were not in fact inequitable, and that all players involved were paying their fair share. Agreed. I hope my post didn't come off as an attack.

We pay for the county police because they fund the roads that we drive on. As far as I'm aware municipalities who pay for the county police pay for their services. Is that correct? As for the schools, the reason why we pay for them no matter whether we have children attending or not is because we all benefit from a well educated populace.

It's pretty remarkable that, as more competitors enter the market (and Cablevision's monopoly shrinks), the greedier Cablevision gets. Then again, based on what I've heard about how this company operates (my dad is a former employee of one of their now-extinct divisions) and from what I've experienced as a customer, none of this is too surprising.

+1 You go to most third world countries and you'll see many with cell phones. Even in places without access to things like potable water, people have cell phones.

It was the explosion at a power plant that killed five people: http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/middlesex_cty/middletown-power-plant-explosion

But would their contracts with the municipalities and any required performance reports submitted to them be covered?

They showed an interview with his father who was still in tehir hometown in Georgia. He did mention that he was upset about the video and did not want to see it.

Thing is, an extingnt circumstance is one that can't be prevented by reasonable effort. Something that can be prevented by a complete controllable factor (having adequate staffing) is not. That's a failure of the system which shouldn't be accepted.

I'm curious about the various Campus EMS agencies in the city. I know Brooklyn College, Fordham, and Columbia (among others) all operate ambulances that, IIRC, are part of the FDNY 911 system. I guess now they'll only be dispatched by their respective Campus Security/Public Safety offices.