ny10570

Absolutely since the BLS are fully capable maintaining that therapy.

That's a very real invention. It is also intended to bu used at traffic stops to prevent the vehicle from fleeing in the first place. It was first patented in 1997.

Unless Westchester has something specific I'm unaware of, there is nothing that says ALS units cannot asses and even treat a patient and turn them over to BLS. BLS cannot maintain ALS interventions, but after an ekg or simple glucose administration why not turn it over.

The people who get into these careers are going to have egos. You need to have a certain personality defect to get excited about making life or death decisions in high pressure situations. It results from a confidence you have in you your ability to be right. Often times 100% right. Not enough of that ego, you become hesitant and ineffective. To much and you cannot be rationalized with and become inflexible to change. You cannot get rid of ego's in any emergency service. They're always going to be there. You just have to encourage a little humility and choose the right leaders.

There are several hurdles that you're not addressing. First, we're still stuck with local everything. A county wide FD, EMS, and PD would be great but for the purposes of this thread they are not a reality at this time. Croton, Peekskill and everyone else cannot fix this and for the immediate future have to find a way to work with the fragmented system. Austin and Texas in general are growing. Relatively speaking a growing community is cheaper. More development and more people genertae more income to fund the new services they require. Most of the state taxes paid by residents of LI, NYC, and the Hudson Valley never come back. We're sustaining the dying decaying industrial cities of the rest of the state. Decaying communities become poor communities and require more resources than prosperous ones due to increases in crime, fires, and decreases in healthcare. An extreme example is Detroit. We have massive infrastructure repairs that we're way behind on. Across the country politicians did little to prepare for the long term upkeep and upgrade of highways, rails, power distribution, water and sewage systems. These now urgent costs are most heavily centered on areas the grew the most in the 50's and 60's. At a certain point population density tips the scale from being a cost benefit to being an expense. As the population begins to exceed the area's ability to supply it more expensive alternatives have to be found. These are not always offset by the added population. For example Los Angeles pays more than anyone else in the country for water. Pumping in more and more water just keeps adding to the price per gallon. Here transportation is a problem. Efficient mass transit cannot work on fares alone. We are pretty close to capacity for highway construction. We can expand here or there, but the days of constructing entirely new highways are probably over. That means more congested roads and more mass transit solutions. These both cost more money. Cost of living is yet another hit to the taxpayer's wallet. As the community grows and sprawls from the urban centers people begin paying a premium for convenience. This drives up everyone's property values. So now your workers need to be paid more, your business need to charge a little more, and your services begin to cost more. This one is great because its self perpetuating. If you stick it out a few decades you'll see Austin become just as dysfunctional and messed up as dear old Westchester. Hell, you guys already had a waste and corruption scandal in your transit system. Its only a matter of time.

John wasn't making all the decisions himself. While he was a strong advocate I'm sure it want all him fighting against the decimation of emergency services budgets.

Chef of the future!

You're right, culpability is the wrong word. I never said she shouldn't be arrested for what she did. She still committed the crime. My point is as the victims you need to be aware of the risks you're taking. Don't go jogging at night alone in morningside park. Just because you're dumb enough to do it, does not excuse any crime committed against you. But you're still an idiot.

Viable does not necessarily mean its the best way to go. When I run the world it will be a paid municipal system. In the interim, once they determine the needs of the communities lets say; city A needs 3 BLS and 2 ALS, town B needs 1 BLS, etc you allow the volunteers to staff what they can and fill the rest with paid crews. SSM while nice on paper is hard on crews and arguably not actually effective in the overall patient care picture. Back filling for unusually large demands on the system make sense, but adjusting coverage from minute to minute doesn't have the benefits that justify the added wear and tear on the crews.

First problem is the test will not be in January. It will be given over several weeks most likely in February and March.

I have always believed that people and especially volunteers rise to the challenges demanded of them. Maryland has become the gold standard of volunteer fire service because they demanded that members be available in house and be well trained. There is no reason why it takes 150 BLS units to cover Westchester. An actively staffed volunteer system supplemented by paid personnel is absolutely viable. In my experience the only thing more cancerous to volunteer response than BS runs is no runs. Shrink the number of units and make them all busier and you will have volunteers jumping at the chance to give a few hours where they actually get to put in some work.

That study is incredibly weak because it doesn't address how many of those ambulances were actually stealable. I can leave my truck running, unattended, and all the doors open and its still only slightly easier to steal than shut off and locked up. A simple ford door lock or piece of tempered glass is the only obstacle. While the perp is still ultimately responsible for the crime the victim does not escape culpability. You do not walk the streets with cash hanging out of your pocket and your cell phone on a lanyard 3 feet behind you. I'm sure almost everyone here locks their doors at night and car when they leave it somewhere. Why would your ambulance be any different? Every police, fire and EMS station I've ever entered had locks. Hell there's even the old joke of why does a 7-11 have locks on their doors yet they all do. In the immortal words of Gunny Hartman "If it wasn't for dickheads like you, there wouldn't be any thievery in this world, would there?" Lock your doors and at least make the thieves earn what they're stealing.

Who's still buying ambulances without a secure idle feature?? Its an $800 extra at the dealership on a ford pickup.

Coggs you keep on talking about alternating the money on recruitment and retention, but what programs actually attracts and retains volunteers? In every review of these programs the results are at best inconclusive. The only effective volunteer retention program is paying them. Pay per call while effective at recruiting "volunteers" still doesn't guarantee their response. At what point its the cost not worth the uncertainty of response? I love the volunteer fire service, and genuinely hope Stamford can maintain an integrated firefighting volunteer force (not the scene support rolls that many volunteer depts were relegated to when paid firefighters were hired). They have to be able to compete with the product offered by SFRD. If you're going to spend more money the product has to improve.

You accommodate as best you can. In LTNR's example, if his female partner hadn't been there I'm sure he would have been the one delivering once they realized the urgency. It all comes down to the best practical solution. If no female is present you make do by keeping contact to a minimum and be extremely clear what you are doing and why. Do you really need to touch her skin to check it's condition our can you ask the husband if she feels warm or cold to him? Can you get a BP over the short our do you really need to roll that sleeve up. Just making the effort to accommodate their beliefs goes a long way towards making it work.

States like Washington,Oregon, and Alaska have already tackled this issue as they have a variety of natural attractions that invite reckless stupidity. Every case is different which makes hard and fast rules difficult, but generally speaking they apply a standard we should all be familiar with. What would a reasonable and prudent person of similar background and experience do? These guys clearly knew better but still chose to go in. The average structure fire victim has no fire experience and a reasonable person could understand why they would go back for a loved one or treasured possession.

It happens from time to time. The biggest way around any hurdle is ensuring a relative is present and then just doing your job. Be sensitive to their concerns and just explain everything you are doing and why you are doing it. Its the same with every interaction with every other patient. I've gotten more grief for wearing my boots into a home than touching someone.

I would encourage fees for reckless behavior resulting in rescue but fees just because I participate in a sport and happened to get hurt sets a bad precedent. At what point do they start billing for all services?

Aww, way to go with the cut and paste. Guess what, not all of my examples got the LODD funeral or far more important the benefits we apparently agree they deserve. So are you right or is it the idiots that have fought people trying to get the proper compensation for their fatal illness or injury? Every example I cited has been the subject of a debate over the validity of their claims for LODD funeral or benefits. Im sorry you disagree with the way this dept memorialized their departed brother but since I'm not a member and you I'm guessing are not a member, it doesn't matter what we think.

For well over a year maybe even two by now they've been used by various federal agencies from forestry to border patrol. Their spread to the civilian and local LE is inevitable

So, do you think Lt Dibernardo deserves a LODD funeral? What about the dozens of firefighters that have died as a direct result of their work at the world trade center? How about a firefighter that survives the initial injuries only to succumb to an infection weeks or months later? Do the cause of the death make a difference? What if it was being struck by a car while getting the meal, getting trapped while trying make that last push to save a civilian, or contracting a disease on an EMS run? Do we draw the line at the source of ailment that kills someone? Does the obese freighter that dies from an MI while climbing the steps to the bunk room deserve the same send off as the guy who's MI was caused by vasospasm from smoke inhalation? There are so many variables and so many places that once you start drawing concrete lines you wind up excluding people that shouldn't be. Personal I'd rather see too many get that hookie than not enough. As others have said the difference between a Line of Duty and regular funeral is palpable to anyone who has witnessed one.

Luckily Mahopac probably doesn't have a different procedure for Line of Duty vs Active Duty. They haven't had enough members pass where that distinction has to be made. How about who gives a rats a** how they did it so long as his friends and even more importantly his family were given some infinitesimal level of comfort. If the family wanted clowns and jugglers and the dept could provide it, then what more could anyone ask? This kind of s*** stirring goes right along with the people who question weather all LODD deaths are equal. It serves no benefit and only distracts from a department's attempt to honor the service of a member.

Powered by nitrogen?? So its essentially a 150 gallon water can with compressed nitrogen?

Break away hydrant didn't break away so well. Looks like they didn't use a breakable collar at street level when they raised the hydrant. Just extended the pipe off the main to the original barrel.

Knives are great for rope and string, but how often are they what entangles you?? Good cutters can cut wire and rope much better than a knife. That aside, a quality knife with appropriate sheath will only let loose accidentally in the most extreme conditions.