maisela

This new version is definitely a lot easier to use. The format everything is presented in allows you to see most things without scrolling. It seemed like on the old page you'd have to scroll quite a while just to get to the different sections.

Last week, my department at school visited Appleton, Wisconsin for the final inspection of our new Pierce Enforcer attack engine. RES1CUE's pics are at the bottom of the page. Enjoy. Forks Fire 2511 and FDNY Rescue 1

I also received a jury summons in the mail recently. Too bad it's for the county courthouse and not a federal one. Do the NY state courts still have occupational exemptions?

I think having any more than three chiefs on a highway job is unneccessary, unless we're talking about a large scale MCI. Too many officers and not enough grunts means less is getting done.

Just out of curiousity for those that don't like the Roto-Ray, do you have the same thoughts on Mars lights? Some could make the statement that they're just conversation pieces too. It seems to me that the Roto-Ray puts off the same amount of warning power as a pair of Mars lights though.

One thing you really don't see in Westchester County is the Roto-Ray. Anyone know of departments in the Westchester County area who have Roto-Rays on their apparatus? While we're on the subject, what do you guys think of them? It seems people either love them or hate them, personally I'm a fan.

True, true, but his looks more like an older Suburban. If everything works out, I'll be ditching the Volvo in favor of the '06 or '07 Tahoe. I'll have to do some serious R&D for whacking it out.

To be honest, I really didn't like it at first, but it's starting to grow on me. Would like to see how it looks as a chief/command vehicle.

I don't understand why people are getting so hung up on the fact that she's a Democrat. I think it's pretty ignorant to say that this is typical Democrat behavior. Are people so naive to think that Republicans are saints??? The fact is that McKinney is a stupid person and I have no sympathy for people like her. She should be treated like any other American under the law and not expect special treatment. As first responders, we deal with stupid people day in and day out. We all know that they come from all walks of life, ethnicities, genders and political affiliations. In today's society, there are people who if they feel that they are mistreated will cry lawsuit or racial/gender profiling. We find ourselves at risk to the ravings of these idiots everytime we do our job. Not to mention the stigma many first responder agencies have from being labeled by certain groups as racist, sexist or somehow otherwise prejudiced. Saying that this is typical behavior of a particular political affiliate, gender or race only helps to magnify this stereotype (Steps off soapbox).

I think that posting pictures of serious incidents on FD or EMS websites is not only beneficial to the public but to the first responder community from a training standpoint. Granted, photos should be edited and censored so they don't include faces of victims, license plate numbers and extremely graphic pictures of injuries. I took a vehicle rescue class last year in which the class was shown a slide show with pictures of MVA scenes. The instructor asked us what we thought was being done right and what was being done wrong on the scene based on what we have learned. The same can be applied to FD and EMS websites. I think I can speak for a great deal of first responders when I say that I enjoy browsing other agency websites looking at their apparatus and calls. And I think at some point, a couple of us have come across a picture or pictures of an emergency scene where we have said "Wow, I would have never thought to crib a car like that" or "So that's where the car battery is located on that model." What I'm trying to say is sometimes we undestimate the value of these pictures from an educational standpoint for fellow first responders.

A firefighter is a firefighter, whether he be paid or volunteer. Therefore, ALL firefighters should be held to the same standard. If OSHA or NIOSH has regulations on facial hair then every firefighter should be held to those standards. Also, I think that a department loses a certain degree of credibility or respect when firefighters show up to a scene unshaven and scraggly looking. The public has expectations from their civil servants and one of those is professionalism. I know you've been told not to judge a book by its cover but when John Q. Public calls the fire department, his first judgment is going to be on the appearance of those responding. The general public can't judge us on our tactics because they simply don't have firematic experience (usually). They're going to be looking at image. And clean shaven firefighters, police officers, EMS providers or any other first responders are going to resonate better with the public than those who are not. Just my two cents.

Here in PA our brush unit is a 2002 KME on a Ford F550 chassis. It also serves as a light rescue/suburban interface pumper. 2544 is also used as a Quick Response Vehicle and carries a full complement of BLS equipment It has a 500gpm pump with a 270 gallon water tank as well as 30 gallons of foam. The unit is also equipped with a 1000gpm deck gun, ground sweeps, a TnT combi tool and a 10kw generator. Unfortunately, my photos are too large to be attached to the post, maybe I'll try to get them put up on the main site.

I have to agree here with skubasam, a centralized county dispatch system is not going to solve all the problems. 60 Control has come a long way in getting departments on board but they still have a ways to go. It's a gradual process that has to be done with great care, no one wants them to bite off more than they can chew. Is 60 Control currently capable of handling dispatch for every fire and EMS agency in the county? In Northampton County, PA, where I go to school, every fire, police and EMS agency in the county are all dispatched centrally. There are fire/EMS specific dispatchers and then there are law enforcement specific ones. The system has a lot of advantages: A coordinated and streamlined mutual aid system, universal fireground frequencies for multi-agency incidents, simultaneous dispatch for fire and EMS rather than EMS agencies becoming aware of an incident through monitoring, etc. But like any system it has its flaws. There have been incidents where County has misinterpreted what PD has said and then hit the cancellation tones for responding fire units. The fire/EMS dispatcher sits only a couple feet away from the law enforcement dispatcher yet there are times when pertinent information from one end never make it to the other. I guess what I'm trying to say is that in a perfect world, a centralized dispatch system may cure the "check and advise" illness. But we don't live in a perfect world and it's really a mindset that people have that's responsible for the whole "check and advise" disease.

Has this law already been approved or is it still to be voted on?

Hey everyone, I'm Adam from Larchmont. I'm a FF/EMT with the Town of Mamaroneck Fire Department. Currently, I'm a junior attending Lafayette College in Easton, PA and have been volunteering with Forksfire since freshman year. As you can see I've been spreading the good word on EMTBravo all the way to Northampton County, PA. Look out for some maisela/Intubator photo hunt material from PA in the near future.

Town of Mamaroneck General: 325 Minor: 242 Total: 567* *Does not include EMS

Here goes... Ladder: Ladder 19 (Town of Mamaroneck) Engine: Engine 11 (Allentown, PA 2002 Pierce Dash w/ 75' RM) Engine: Engine 109 (Bedford) Engine: 2511 (Forks Township PA, 2006 Pierce Enforcer, under construction) Rescue: Rescue 75 (Thornwood) Utility: Chevy Suburban and/or Utility 9 (Mamaroneck Village) Tanker: Tanker 5 (Beford Hills) Chief cars: 3 Tahoes

Date: 11/27/05 Time: 0619 Location: I95 SB m/m 7.2 Frequency: 33.96, 46.26 Units Operating: Mamaroneck Town Car 2232, E36, R6, Mamaroneck Village Car 2243, E41, E42, U9, LVAC, MEMS, NYSP Description Of Incident: Initial dispatch for MVA w/ injuries on I95 SB under the Chatsworth Ave bridge. 60 Control realerts for an MVA w/ confirmed entrapment. All SB traffic shut down.Two vehicles involved with two patients, one requiring extrication. Both patients transported to Sound Shore. If anyone has additional times (extrication complete, clear of scene, etc.) please post. Writer: maisela

Northampton County in PA has a pretty efficient apparatus designation system. All Fire/EMS stations have a two digit code, after which the apparatus designation follows. E.g 2511 is Station 25's first due engine. The third digit designates the classification of the apparatus: 1=engine, 2=aerial, 3=tanker, 4=rescue, utilities and brush units, 5=chief and officer units, not sure about 6, 7 is for EMS officers, 8 is for ambulances and 9 designates fire police units. I run in Westchester too and although the designation system isn't very streamlined it's really not that problematic when calling for mutual aid.