FFLieu

Maybe the so-called "deafening silence" stems from the rather condescending nature of the way the issue was raised. Aside from the fact that it demands information from people as if they are compling some kind of official report for the Almighty, maybe people would rather talk about something other than a dead topic. Maybe volunteers such as myself would rather talk about something other than the ubiquitous threads and posts that make them look less than qualified for their jobs. Maybe we take umbrage at the implication that we care more about parades than public safety. Maybe we just don't care about what you're crying about today.

The fact that I am on the inside of such a volunteer department, with inside knowledge with respect to this rather beaten issue, should be specific enough.

There really are some classics out there, and I don't know if I could say for certain which movie could be considered the best. But, the best scene in any cop movie, hands down, is the car/train chase scene under the El in The French Connection.

Here are the "specifics" Chief. The majority of places have a signup. The majority of places are community-minded, keeping the safety of the residents of their original jurisdiction at heart at all times. That said, the majority of places make sure that their district is covered before going to an extra-jurisdictional affair. So, just because the "jolly vollies" go to attend a parade or a wetdown or whatever, does not necessarily mean that they are shirking their responsibilities.

Most places have a signup and it's not like the whole department goes to the parade and leaves their respective district unprotected. What's your beef with Volunteers, anyway?

For a minute, when I read the title, I thought this thread was about a disease or something... But it is very well written and definitely not something you see everyday.

OK, I don't understand this, maybe because it's still a tad bit early in the morning and I haven't had my second cup of Joe yet. So if I wreck my car on I-95 within the confines of New Rochelle, you're going to bill my insurance company (and ultimately me, since I don't have and have never heard of that kind of coverage to begin with) for your services?

Property taxes should be able to cover the bulk of the operations cost for an FD. I think charging for a structure fire or another "act of God" is incongruous with the overall idea that a resident pays for that protection already. Charging for an MVA, to me, seems to be a pretty slippery idea. For instance, what if the MVA involves one or more taxpaying residents of the district? Wouldn't they have already paid for that service, similar to that of the structure fire example? And, technically, I believe that if an MVA involved a commercial vehicle of some sort, charging for that could be construed as an interference with inter/intrastate commerce and could be a violation in and of itself. I think the only charge for service should be for repetitive false alarms - let's say after the second - that pose a significant risk to the public in that an engine company had been dispatched and wouldn't necessarily be readily available for a true emergency occurring at the same time.

Yes. Most normal people pay for their own meals. Even us "volunteers."

Oh goodie. Another God-forsaken blue light thread that nothing good will come of, mark my words. Someone should close this ASAP. But, I'll add my two cents. I volunteer because I want to help my community. I have a blue light in my truck and can count on one hand how many times I have used it in the past 3 years since I bought my truck. If courtesy lights were outlawed, I'd still volunteer because I'm not a superficial, one-dimensional character.

I heard a rumor a while back that they were thinking of bringing the fire patrol back in some form or another? Weren't they funded by the insurance industry?

It's probably feedback from the strobe pack. Is the pack located near the scanner?

Way to flip out over nothing. Just because New Ro isn't going to fill the 15 slot shortfall doesn't necessarily mean that other people in public safety positions are either uneducated, abusing the system, or otherwise "getting over." Maybe it only took you a H.S. Diploma and a month of college to get your job, but I have a Bachelor's Degree, a Master's Degree, and extensive experience in a very specific area, and I'm still waiting to get picked up on the job. Therefore, you should consider yourself extremely lucky. Grumpy stood on a fixed footpost for 3/4 of the day and did so in frigid temperatures. Have you ever done that? Oh wait, you sit inside the nice warm house until the next alarm comes in.

Just goes to show you that he couldn't give two flying ones about people like you and me. If 79th and 5th comes in, make sure it goes out first, but what if, at the same time, there is a fire in an orphanage with 50 children trapped inside? "Please Sir, may I have some more?" NYC's middle class is turning into a real-life version of "Oliver Twist" more and more each day.

Good.

Forgive me for being cynical (after all, it is a trait that I picked up at work), but before I make a donation or contemplate making one, is there transparency in the donation process? I understand that this site is a pretty monumental undertaking and I appreciate the admins' efforts, but I just want to make sure that any donation that I were to make would go to the appropriate place and would be used for that specific purpose.

Here's one: How many Chiefs who use the official vehicle for personal purposes pay TAX for that use? According to NYS law, every employee of a public agency that grants the use of take-home cars must file an affidavit to that specific agency that lists how many miles were driven for non-official duty, and if used in that way, each driver must file an addendum to their State and Federal income taxes listing their receipt and use of a fringe benefit.

Holy Dead Thread Batman! I think I found something more beaten than the ubiquitous blue light threads! The kid (and comparitively speaking, he is a kid, so let's all take a step back and a deep breath before we bash his skull in) posted a picture and asked a question. How many people do that here on a daily basis? Yes, that's right, we ALL do. How many people post so-called "pointless questions" about what department is getting what new apparatus and what color lights they're going to have on it to go along with all the newest bells and whistles and why, perhaps, that department needs all those bells and whistles, which invariably launches into a thread that more than outlasts its useful life cycle about two posts in? I'd say a good 40% of people on here post useless crap like that. (And yes, it is crap, because I couldn't give two flying ones what color lights X-department has on their old/new trucks.) All I care about are the real firematic and emergency medical issues. I also do care about fire chiefs abusing the system, especially when it comes to assigned vehicles. Those cars belong to the taxpayers, and if that vehicle were in Rhode Island for anything other than the specific duty of bringing the chief to/from work or to/from a department-sanctioned event, then he/she has some explaining to do. Who here has heard of the now-former Fire Chief from Fair Haven, NJ? Google it and see what kind of news pops up, then untwist your panties and cut the OP a break for asking a valid question.

It comes down to the way the tax law is written. FD's can't solely provide EMS coverage because the FD is a state-mandated tax-levying institution. According to the law, which has not been updated in a good 60 or so years, towns are only mandated to provide fire and safety protective services. Basically, if you're being robbed or your house is burning down, then you're fine; if you're having an MI, then the state couldn't care less. Unfortunately, this gives way to situations like this in which the taxpayers - who usually think that EMS is provided by the town, anyway - lose.

Yeah, cuz NY is just light-years ahead of the curve, right?

As a NJ-based EMT, I have some issues with this. The article cites the September incident (which I believe was also noted on here, as well) and describes the circumstances as the fire truck passing the bus in a no-passing zone and subsequently forcing the bus off the side of the road so as to avoid a head-on crash between the fire truck and an oncoming vehicle. According to Title 39 (NJ's VTL), the fire truck was wrong. Believe it or not, the only emergency vehicles that are expressly allowed to disregard the vehicle and traffic laws of the State of New Jersey are police cars. Everyone else must follow the laws, drive with due regard, and take control of right-of-way or an intersection only when other drivers cede it to them first. At no point can a bus or fire truck or POV proactively step outside the bounds of the law. If I were a police officer and I saw that specific instance, you can bet my next paycheck that the truck driver would have received a nice piece of yellow paper from me immediately thereafter. If I were the driver of the oncoming car, and if an accident would have happened, you can bet my next paycheck that I would have owned Franklin Township, plain and simple. But, I digress... As far as the complaint that the Squad took longer to respond, well, that's typical in NJ, sad to say. Most of NJ's EMS and FD makeup is volunteer-based, so getting a rig out is an issue throughout the state. And as far as I am concerned, "too many people at an emergency" is a laughable claim. There are never too many people at an emergency. Train them properly, give everyone a job to do, and you'll be thankful at the end that you had numerous sets of hands. My EMS squad covers two towns, one large town, and another, smaller one that the larger one surrounds. The larger town is split into two fire districts, and the smaller town has one. So, that's one EMS squad covering three fire districts. Out of the three of them, they generally work well with us save for a few hiccups that occur every so often with one of the three districts. What this instance basically comes down to is that the squad and the fire district do not work too well together. But, that doesn't give the township the right to tell the squad that they cannot respond to emergencies in the township, either. The FD is going to have the same problem with response time that the independent auditor cited, and if they accept all "interested members" from the squad, then isn't that going to fall back into the same situation as having "too many people at an emergency?" Unilaterally dissolving the squad or changing its response area is not the answer, especially since the reason why an independent auditor came into the town was because of an incident in which the FD, and not the squad, was wrong. Taking a look at the bigger picture, the residents are the ones who lose in this situation. And in the state that has the highest property tax index in the entire country, that's a disgrace.

I had an MVA a few weeks ago involving the same kind of Jeep and the same kind of crash. Seeing that kind of intrusion makes you wonder how sturdily Jeeps are built, especially since I own that exact kind. My patient was the driver, who was extricated and transported with some serious head injuries. Had my patient had a passenger, he/she definitely would have been killed.

It's easier and more logical to go to the fire house. That's where the necessary fire apparatus is kept and it also keeps the scene open for apparatus placement. How much of a pain in the neck would it be to be driving the engine in and having to negotiate around members' cars in addition to those that might ordinarily be parked in or near the scene?

There comes a point in time when the Mayor needs to back the hell off, especially when it comes to public safety. Part of the problem is that all of his millions went to his head and he forgot what it's like to be Joe Citizen. OK, fine, he was smart enough to build his business and made a lot of money in the process. But he started his life just like you and I; his parents were cut from the same middle-class cloth that he is trying to destroy. Good living, honest people are either being taxed to oblivion or their lives are being put at risk all for the simple reason that he couldn't give two steaming piles about anyone who isn't from the same eliteist ranks as he. His "metrics" over the last 8 years have put the public at tremendous risk, particularly with respect to Fire and EMS issues. Between engine and truck staffing, the needless closing of fire houses, and the abomination that is UCT, people are dying and will continue to die, plain and simple. His "statistics" with respect to the crime rate are fallacies. Murders are down. So what? Violent crime is up, no matter what he says. Statistics tracking arrests for Criminal Possession of a Weapon (which is considered a violent crime) alone indicate that this type of crime, or the propensity for same, is increasing. He continually touts the decrease in the murder rate, but conveniently forgets to mention the increase of incidents of assaults. These may not turn into murders at the rate that they used to, mainly because of the valiant efforts of people like us here; the very people that he hates with a passion and punishes with abhorrent salaries, endless micro-management, ridiculous paperwork, and staffing issues that are only problematic because he's too dumb to put the pencil down for two seconds and see the bigger picture. And if what M'Ave said is true about how he's keeping his approach very "hands-on," City residents are F-ed.

This is what I don't understand. And please bear with me, as in this respect, I'm just an average citizen. The FD, as well as the rest of the City, is so scared of H1N1 that it tells its staff not to bother coming to the medical unit if they are exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Not that I would have a whole lot of faith in the medical unit anyway (one of the quacks over there told my mom's friend's husband that he had a hernia; six months later, he was dead from cancer because his "hernia" was actually a tumor), but isn't it counter-productive not to have sick members come in for examination for a possible infection from something that is contagious before and after symptoms are shown? For instance, if I had H1N1 (or even the regular flu), I would be contagious for about three days before and after I was "sick," so I would end up potentially infecting my house mates first. So why not go to the doctor? If I am exhibiting flu-like symptoms, then chances are, there is more of an infected population than those whom I would encounter in the medical unit. So sick fire fighters bang in, and rightfully so, and it drives the sick leave rate up to 0.3% more than the cutoff. But that only happened because the City said to do so. And now they want to use this as a way to change staffing. Someone wrote into the NY Daily News that it takes something like 50% longer for a 4-man engine to do their job as opposed to a 5-man engine. Now, I don't know how accurate that is, but I do have to say, all of these "numbers," "metrics," and "statistics" coming out of Mayor Doomberg's office are highly suspect. How can he unilaterally change engine staffing because of a perceived problem that only exists because department management mandated that it exist in the firstplace? Between this and the "Charlie-Foxtrot" that is Unified Call Taking (as an aside, I called in an MVA last night on the Southbound Brucker Expressway at its split with the Throggs Neck Expressway and to my surprise, only one responding unit got to the correct location on the first try), how much more at risk does the dishonorable Michael R. Bloomberg want to put the public?