Mark Z

That does seem like a lot of vehicles but I am totally unfamilar with the dept and am curious as to how many stations/calls are run in a year? I don't agree with the poster above and am not calling anything stupid!

They should be ashamed of themselves! The kid screwed up and it cost him his life! I wasn't there, but would wager most of us would have reacted the same way the officer did and I won't second guess his actions. I have children and would hate to see anything happen to them but don't see how this helps anything. Hang in there Officer Hess!

I am surprised that this thread has not generated much discussion, we need to be putting this out there so that those controlling the purse strings realize that boots on the ground are still needed even with all the safety bells and whistles! Thanks for posting this!

RIP, you did us proud. COGS, thanks for posting this.

N0VOC, Welcome to the club!

In this day and age with depts, shutting down due to lack of funds, I don't think it is the best time to go looking for funding for these kinds of programs/expenses. I am not saying you are wrong I just think it may not be the best time to start the discussion.

If the CPAT were required for the volunteer fire service it would cripple the volunteer fire service; I am interior qualified in my dept and I don't think I could pass the CPAT, and at my age( 51) don't even have a clue about setting up the kind of physical conditioning program it would take to get in shape to pass it! But I also realize that unless absolutely neccesary, I have no business on an interior attack anyway.

Great Photos! Are they hiring?

Sorry, but the wife's new iPhone does a better job than the digital we bought a few years ago and is much more available. I can see better and better camera phones with each new generation, i don't think it is just wishful thinking from the phone makers.

GET OVER IT!!! It was irresponsible of the Chief and calls into question his judgement and ability to function as a fire officer and as a volunteer chief he doesn't lose his livelyhood if he is tossed out. Ultimately this thread is about a lack of professionalism and not much else. Quit trying to turn this into a paid vs volunteer thread and get a thicker skin!

I never thought about how much Seth spends to run EMTBravo, I have sent him a couple of bucks when I can spare a few and if the day comes where a few dollars more comes in than Seth sends out I am not going to get upset about it. I am not trying to submarine any effort to start a subscription site, just saying that I am not going to beat Seth over the head about what he does with the money, I TRUST HIM!

I get a great deal of enjoyment out of emtbravo and have no problem with Seth making money off of this site.

:)YAHOO!!!!

Thanks for what you have done and I wish you all the best in the future.

I much as I would love to volunteer WITH the FDNY, there is NO WAY IN H**L I would ever stab them in the back and volunteer in order to strikebreak and I would bet that most volunteers feel the same way. (I hope!)

@FFlieu: Try LifeLine! My service has six, we have bought 7? The dealer here in CT has been very good.

I don't disagree, but that is a silly reason for a RLS transport. The billing for EMS is one of the areas that need serious overhaul and has done much to inhibit advancement of EMS because "Ain't gonna get paid for it" is an easy response to any attempt at change. That you are correct is beyond dispute but do you agree the rules need to be changed for many reasons and not just this one?

I as a matter of policy do not run RLS to the hospital unless ABSOLUTELY NECCESARY, I can count the number of times I thought it needed on the fingers of both hands. My service does transport cardiac arrests RLS but I am listening to those that say that we may not have to do even that. In my limited experience transport RLS is VERY RARELY NEEDED. Priorty dispatching can work and there are agencies in my area that handle all calls priorty 1 no matter what he call is so there is work to be done in educating people all over.

Saturday the 26th! Anybody else going?

OK, we agree then! You made a statement that I wanted to clarify and your clarification was not what I was afraid you might intend. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question and I can't imagine a paramedic around here not taking a cardiac arrest what we call priority 1(lights and sirens) to the ER, there is at least one service that does all transports priority 1 regardless of the patient complaint. Thanks again.

What about the patient that has obvious rigor or dependent lividity? I don't see a need for transport BLS in that situation, the danger inherent in lights and siren transport is high enough that doing it for no reason is silly. If ALS is not available the EMT's need to step up and be able to make those decisions, or you need more ALS resources so that EMT's won't have to make those decisions then..

I saw this and thought I would post it to the forum as it is a great community relations move and an all around good idea! http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/06/07/1073755/eggertsville-bicycle-squad-to.html

1rst male pt; Pale, unresponsive to painful stimuli, Yes and probably used Narcan as well. I would suggest he be on a cardiac monitor and Hi-flow o2 as well. I might consider an NPA as well. 2nd Pt: I am going to assume that she was on a monitor, but add hi-flow o2 and yes she would have gotten a line and depending on transport time and what medication she overdosed on, dealt agressively with the arrythmia.

Pt conversing well, good vitals, it is possible a line is not neccessary and why risk dealing with an uncooperative pt. I would agree with your choice given the information you have given me, but would ask just one question; how was the pt trending? Did he have periods of diminished responsiveness or was he slowly becoming more and more alert?