comical115

Having responded to jobs in the projects before, it is no where near out of the realm of possibility (and I would speculate rather likely) that this job was communicated to the housing officers as an EDP, DI or other any other disturbance that they routinely handle.
Unless you have specific and well informed knowledge about *THIS* specific incident I wouldn't dive straight to a soap box...

I understand the point you are attempting to make but I feel you are missing some major points. Nobody believes " wearing a uniform transforms you into something you are not". You are looking at it from the FD side and quite condescendingly at that. I'm sure they had no desire to " get in on the action" and were doing there job of protecting life and property which is very much " In the scope of their job description".
You made a statement that you always " stage away as requested by PD". How many times have you or a member of your department responded lights and sirens against the request of PD because that's not your "SOP"?
They where both housing officers so they did have elevator keys and most definitely knew how to use them.
You brought up " In the scope of their job description". This is the same forum that praises fireman for stopping a robbery or an assault in front of their house or while returning from a job. Where is your very literal definition of a " job description" then?
The bottom line is this is not the time or the place to Monday-morning quarterback someone's decision while they lay in critical condition in the hospital. I'm sure you truly wish them well and do hope they have a speedy recovery..but save the uninformed personal commentary to a later date.
Ps.. My panties are in a bunch and I'm not going to get over it

Obviously you must be tired ...because you sure do yawn a lot..it must take a toll on you to sit behind a computer judging other peoples decisions. Nobody knows what they were thinking and why they did what they did, it's just not appropriate at this time to explain to the members of this forum what an amazing, clear thinking decision maker YOU are....also between your yawns maybe you can answer the question about where is your utter contempt when firemen take police action?
Ps...please save me the guaranteed response of " I have done more in 1 tour then you have your whole career" to justify your Monday morning quarterbacking

"There was a time where we took a guy like you in the back and beat you with a hose, now you've got your goddamned unions..."
If you're as annoying in person as you are on this thread, a North Castle brother might just get an MTA officer to 85 with him and find out how Armonk's tazer policy really works...
Out of your league junior, keep moving.

Scenario: 45 year old female found on the street, called in by passer-bys. It's Friday evening, patient is responsive to pain with a GCS of 11 (2/4/5). Patient wakes up to sternal rub and quickly nods off. She is unable to provide any information as to her present condition or history.
Resp: 12.
HR: 66, Regular.
BP: 94/50.
SPO2: 97% room air.
BGL: 118 mg/dl.
Skin: Cool, pink, dry.
Eyes: Pinpoint, reactive.
Patient has x3 empty methadone bottles in her pocket.
Narcan or not? Keep in mind that ED's are using 1/10th of what we are in the field as the first line dosage now-a-days (that's 0.04 mg for those keeping score) and I've seen my share of crews bringing in patients who are either actively seizing due to narcan mediated withdrawal or some other acute stress response that ensures the patient's stay in the ICU...
No medication administration is without it's potential adverse reaction and unless you're equipped/trained to deal with it, you have no business administering the drug to begin with. *Especially* if the condition can be mitigated with a BVM and some O2...

I thought Suffolk County NY and I am sure State of Massachusetts PD's are using IN Narcan with much success? Maybe it is Suffolk Mass I am hearing of. Guess tht famous scene from "Bringing out the dead" will soon be obsolete!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJ8c0rWJsk here it is for you kids- worked with a 23 year old medic last week who never heard of the movie! Christ!!

Won't matter in westchester given the average bls ambulance response time. You're guaranteed an anoxic injury.

You're going to have to contact NYS-DOH. Doesn't count the fact that you still need regional authorization to "work" as a medic (REMAC).

New Jersey requires an RN on board for ALS transports. Paramedics can transport patients on pumps, vents, nitrous, ECMO (usually with a fellow), balloon pumps, etc in New York State without an RN.
...Back to topic. Good luck with the DOH. I'm curious as to what they say.

We have too many agencies, with too many UNDER Paid staff (mostly perdiems) and this just hurts everyone. Most agencies do not have thecall volume to justify paying people to sleep.
Just treats the symptoms.

The below link was sent to me in an email. It's well written and thought out and while its soley about Sufflok County, it seems awfully similar to what goes on in Westchester.
http://resqrev.blogspot.com/2013/06/volunteers-vs-patients.html

The amount of supposition here is astounding. Not only does Transcare hold numerous 911 contracts with numerous hospitals throughout the city, it also does do interfacility transports (which anyone knows can be an emergency in itself) but no regulation or rule states that a person having a medical emergency has to call 911 and no regulation or rule states that Transcare has to call 911 for said emergency, no matter your definition of 'emergency'.
No, I do not know the reason for the vehicle, but I wouldn't be so pompous as to go on a 'public' forum and start assuming it was 'just go red lights and sirens'. How hard would it have been to pick up the phone, call Transcare and ask?

Actually, per NYS DOH policy statement 10-01, epinepherine and defbrillators (both of which require a medical director to carry) are REQUIRED by part 800.
http://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/ems/policy/10-01.htm

Many interesting and valid points here. I'd agree we'll never know the root cause of this or similar tragedies, but like so many other problems we must seek to identify commonalities and determine if there are factors that can lead to identification or prevention. Here's few things that have come to stick with me over the last two days:
1. How much does the media contribute to these heinous acts. I'm not blaming them, but it seems that in many (Most?) cases the perpetrators are most often described as withdrawn, quiet, "nobody's", or otherwise lacking a significant number of peer friends? Very often these people are also described as bright; genius; brilliant; etc. So we have smart kids going unknown or unrecognized. Add in some level of depression, and yes the "goth" style seems to typify the dark, quiet depressed nature of many kids. Do these kids starve the spotlight? Does the media making these tragic events so front and center provide the venue for them to be noticed?
2. While I'm an advocate for the 2nd Amendment and responsible firearms owner, I can't think of a scenario where my having to register my firearms would adversely affect me. I say this because I think that forcing some gun owners to be more responsible about how their firearms are kept would reduce unwanted use and stolen guns. Eliminating gun show loopholes to ensure all transfers were recorded and checked through NCIC (or whatever DB they use) again can't really be a huge inconvenience to legal gun owners are compared to the all out bans that are becoming more palatable every day as these tragedies mount. I fear not the U.S. government taking my legally owned firearms, I'm confident that if used against another human it'll be completely justified, but far more likely they'll never have a human in their sights. Those who fear the government will use LEO's to grab their guns fail to realize that cops, military personnel and federal agents are American citizens too, come from all walks of life in various sizes, shapes and colors and even political affiliations.
3. I too played violent video games, loved war movies and played army as a kid, none of which has made me a violent human being. That being said, there may be some merit to the point that the amount of violence seen by kids today contributes to their desensitization? We must remember that not all have the same capacity to handle what they're exposed to, hence Road Rage and seemingly these mass killings of innocent victims. Sadly, we can somewhat understand mass murder for a cause, but these total acts of senseless violence seem to prove a growing disregard for human life. Should kids be playing games that reward them for injuring and killing innocent people?
4. Lastly, maybe it's time to start meeting in the middle on some things. Our country gets weaker by the day as we deepen the great divide. Today it may be gun control, next week we'll be back to fiscal responsibility, national healthcare, religion, same sex marriage, you name it, we are so far from agreement on so many things we are a nation divided. Instead of seeing any middle ground every issue have become a larger fight. We rarely see any merit or listen long enough to hear the other point of view. It seems we all can agree that senseless tragedies need to stop, maybe we could stop the name calling long enough to see that even a few little steps toward the middle might help stem just one tragedy from ever happening. Problem is we can't see something that never happens thus we can't prove it'll work.
Wow, this soapbox is pretty high, guess I'll climb down.

In this area, the course is difficult to find - i think phelps as, at times, offered it. In all honesty, if you intend to work in this area i wouldn't waste your time. There are few agencies who are credentialed at the "I" level and you'll rarely find yourself doing much more than a basic given how saturated with medics the system is. If you're a basic looking to advance yourself, get some time in the field and in a year or two of solid experience look into a local paramedic program if you're still serious or interested in the field. Best of luck.

Tankers engines ambulances rescues.... Speed is the issue regardless of apparatus type.

AND as a tiller, with the tiller man steering into the turn, much of the lateral inertia that initiated the roll was mitigated... Had this been a straight job or tower, it probably would have gone over twice!!!

Like a good portion of the homeless population, there might be some mental illness, or drug addiction involved here.

No F'ing way!?!(Sorry nothing else seemed to say what was needed!) Anyone who'd do that outside of a joke would be in the drink at best... That kind of abuse of personnel is not wholly admin's fault, stuff has had to have been let slide far too much for anyone to think that could be remotely OK. We have a great Union/Admin relationship and I'm certain our people would have tripped on a "manhole".

Exactly...
How many times did you hear the story of a crew working up a guy who was shot (*insert number of gun shot wounds here*) in the back of the bus when the perp comes back and asks if the patient is going to make it? *Spoiler Alert* The perp proceeds to unload whatever he didn't use the first time around into the patient in the back of the bus and he walks away, leaving the crew to ponder which protocol this exact situation falls under... Well NOW the perp assumes that the two Paramedics and the two EMT's who are crammed in the back fo the bus are armed, so now he has four *more* targets before he "finishes the job"...
Bottom line, the list of disadvantages for having a firearm on my person while working as a paramedic is *far* longer then the list of advantages.

Within the last year, there was a shooting, fatal, in Porto Rico when two ambulance companies fought over a pt.
My position is: If there is no gun in my ambulance I cannot be shot. Other than PD, probably over 99% of the time there is no gun. If EMS carries guns, then there will be a gun in my unit 100% of the time + my partners gun. This exponentially increases my chance of being shot. Like BLS before ALS; if you think you need a gun, you should try pepper spray and a taser. If that isn't enough for you, maybe you do need a gun. In the YO we get a crew assaulted every once in a while, but I am pretty sure we have never been assaulted with a deadly weapon.- Not that I can think of. Dans spit cup not withstanding.
I have fled a few scenes in fear of assault, and all ended just fine. If I was armed may have felt I should stand my ground. In that case I may have killed someone- not what I signed up for. I likely would have to declare bankruptcy to pay to defend myself in court. My house, retirement savings and the kids college money would go away.
For those who may not recall, a former medic in Westchester accidentally shot her ex husband police officer to death a few years back. Found not guilty but spent much for it.

Would be nice to see the Tarrytown FFs using proper PPE. No hoods on any of the three and at least one not on air. Be safe, be smart, no rush to extinguish a car fire, take time to pack up properly.

Unlike an Epi-Pen where there is no alternative, a BLS ambulance already has a tool to prevent anoxic injury secondary to hypoventilation. It's called a BVM.
I'm all for it as long as the agency provides the proper training and support and equipment to monitor the patient after administration.

Unlike an Epi-Pen where there is no alternative, a BLS ambulance already has a tool to prevent anoxic injury secondary to hypoventilation. It's called a BVM.
I'm all for it as long as the agency provides the proper training and support and equipment to monitor the patient after administration.

Unlike an Epi-Pen where there is no alternative, a BLS ambulance already has a tool to prevent anoxic injury secondary to hypoventilation. It's called a BVM.
I'm all for it as long as the agency provides the proper training and support and equipment to monitor the patient after administration.

This is the same fashion how the federal goverment repealed regulations that now allow commercial pilots to carry guns with them. Not all pilots carry guns, and some airlines (usually smaller, regional airlines) prohibit their pilots from carrying. I don't fully agree the new legislation, especially when I own guns myself. I would never carry a gun on the fire truck, so why should EMT's need them on the bus. It cracks open pandora's box to a world of hurt and liability. Going back to the airlines, I don't agree with pilots being able to carry, either. Company/Agency rules and regulations for carrying weapons are far less strict than those in law enforcement agencies.
Changing the subject a bit; An Army friend of mine once said, "You can teach anyone to fire a weapon and hit a target, but not everyone can be taught to shoot a person." Some people, even those in law enforcement and the military, freeze up in a situation where they're being attacked or have a gun drawn back on them. The same thing will happen when a gung-ho EMT draws his weapon on a man who just shot his wife and children. Will this 24 year old EMS know-it-all pull the trigger, or will he end up in the morgue after he himself gets shot? This is where I agree with some of the others in this thread that non-lethal tasers and/or mace may be more acceptable. Then again, we should just fall back on our training and stage elsewhere until the police come in and do their job. Fire departments fight fire, EMS fights death, and Police departments fight crime. I'll gladly wait 30 minutes for a police officer if that's what I need to do.