JohnnyOV

Which specializes in only water rescue, trains multiple times a month in only water rescue, and has members who are water rescue certified from advanced dive operations, to advanced swift water technician who have been training and in operation for years?

I am standing by what I said by clarifying it. You're twisting what I was saying to make it seem like I have a gripe about the individuals on the team, which is absolutely incorrect. I will not apologize for something you have convoluted. For a second there, I thought I was going to have to wear tin foil on my head.... I am not saying they are in a direct relationship to one another. I am only saying that as of right now, a county managed department exists for an animal response team, which seems to have a plan in order and logistics set up to work effectively in an emergency. The disorder that exists and game of chance that you play when you dial 911 for an ambulance however, is the exact opposite. Yesterday 3 different departments couldn't fill a crew for a fall victim.... I'll take an aspirin and drive myself to the hospital, I'll have better chance then someone actually showing up and getting definitive help around this area.

Calm down everyone. My statement was not a dig at the individuals who perform the assistance to the animals in a time of crisis. Kudos to them for finding a niche they love, much like the garden club women. It was more a statement to our government, who would rather support an animal rescue team, then address a serious problem with EMS as a whole in the county. No one wants to step on anyone's toes as for fear of losing votes, or hurting people's feelings. I'll absolutely use this argument, but go down a side path. First off, why does the county even need to have a TRT team, when there is an entire team fully staffed, well trained firemen, made up of down county departments? Training twice a month on water rescue (dive, swift, flood water), confined space rescue, trench rescue, high angle rescue, collapse rescue, ect. ect. is just too much for a volunteer organization. Stick with a single type of operation and master it if you're going to train so infrequently on it. Me personally? I'd call Yonkers/Greenburg tech rescue or Bronx Rescue 3 first if there was a technical rescue so in depth that it required an outside team to assist. They've been training for years, have a proven track record, and I know I'm getting dedicated personnel. Second, if the home department is having severe staffing issues, time to bite the bullet and explore your options other then a strictly volunteer department.

if we got rid of the 50+ PSAPs in Westchester and had a centrally located 911 answering point for the county... big cities can have their own... we could eliminate all the transferring and BS that goes on in delaying response, for ALL agencies. Our last fire, we heard our PD going out on the job since the call went to PD first, geared up, jumped in the rigs and were out the door as the tones were dropping. Probably a good 1:30-2 minutes after the PD was initially dispatched. If our motto of "seconds count" really matters, why don't we abide by it ourselves?

The abandoned school is now the Hudson Valley Islamic Community Center. After years of disrepair, it looks like its been undergoing some renovations inside and out. That being said, there are 16 acres of land now for sale just south of that location diagonally from GWES that could potentially serve as a new home? side topic... another great blunder of the Yorktown Government. High end condos were planned to go in there, bringing in thousands of dollars in taxes a month. Yorktown shot it down, and now its another tax free, religious property in this town.... on top of that, LETS GO BUILD MORE BASEBALL FIELDS YYEAAAAAAAA! /rant

Since you're in a rural part of the county, and I'll assume you have a very small operating budget, consider purchasing a Drager multi gas detector. Their sensors last 5 years, as compared to other companies 1.5 years. They are also very easy to use and work very well. It is what we use at work to test for toxic gases in the labs. We use the Scott 4 gas meter in the FD which requires calibration every 30 days, and a sensor replacement every 1.5 years.

Agencies cannot get an ambulance out for a possible heart attack, and we have entire teams devoted to helping animals? Priorities people.....

Water Rescue would hands down have to be Dive Rescue International. Make sure your members can pass the IADRS swim test prior to the in water testing as they have no problem failing students if they cannot safely swim. The swim test is mentioned in the NFPA 1670 standard. They are the company that Yorktown's Dive/Swift/whatever+water team uses to train all of their members and have been extremely supportive and helpful throughout their training over the years. Most of their classes are spaced out through the country, as well as internationally, such as their swift water courses in Canada, to get you accustomed to "Big Water." They'll send instructors out to our area as well to teach classes for Ice Rescue, and other water rescue needs. Seriously consider them as your primary source for water training as they go above and beyond the NYS level courses.

Thanks for the clarification Capt. I've dealt with this in the classroom in college, just never out on the streets. I guess we can revert back to the question of "why is thh state even introducing it in the first place?"

I wont venture a guess on the associated reimbursement amount, so I'll leave that alone In NYS, Towns by law are not allowed to provide the service of fire protection, or have any say in the finance fire protection. The only interaction a Town and a District have is when the Districts tell the town this is how much taxes will be and when the Town collects the Districts Tax and sends it over to them. I'm sure that if there was some type of loophole to have the town contract this, it would have been found by now. I believe our district has never been reimbursed for any Hazmat call we have ever been on. On a side note, I'm reading that the EPA will only reimburse a government agency up to $25,000 for practices used above the funding that the local agencies normally provide for Hazardous materials response, not the full cost of the response should it exceed $25,000. Bnechis, which agency reimburses you past the $25,000 mark? This is all from the Code of Federal Regulations website: http://ecfr.gpoacces...:28.0.1.1.7.2.5

I thought that NYS Fire Districts were not allowed to bill for associated costs with HAZMAT clean up under the current federal regulations, hence the reason for the state bill. At least that's the way it's been explained to me Edit: After a little searching, Federal regulation - 40 CFR 310.5 states that: - http://ecfr.gpoacces...7.2.5.1&idno=40Isn't a NYS Fire District a "special purpose district?"

As a shameless plug for my former school career long project, have you looked into joining the MED Team? We've provided numerous students from all walks of the university the opportunity to get involved with a campus based EMS system while pursuing their college degree. They've made quite a number of advancements after I graduated, and hopefully you'll give them some consideration as they work very closely with Daytona Beach Fire, and EVAC ambulance. Some students work part time, while attending school, at EVAC as EMT's and if the same still applies while I was there, those who volunteer with MED, get looked upon very highly when they apply for a job with EVAC, Check them out at http://www.eraumed.com/ .... They should be starting their First responder program shortly, and I highly recommend you check it out. Those who take the in house first responder course, and go on to their EMT, have an extremely high pass rate, and generally graduate at the top of their class. PS: I stopped flying after receiving my Single Engine, Instrument rating between winter and spring semester my sophomore year... too much time and money would have to be invested now to get back on the commercial flight path, and I just can't afford to do it right now.

I attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which I am suspecting you are too right now, and originally went to fly airplanes. I stopped flying, not because of a medical issue, but rather what appeared to be a decrease in piloting jobs upon my eventual graduation. I switched over to occupational safety and have enjoyed this path ever since. There are hundreds of related aviation jobs out there that do not require flying. ERAU had hundreds of programs ranging from aviation maintenance, weather, NTSB and aviation safety, to human factors in aviation, that it is quite possible to find your niche without having to command an aircraft. While attending school, I got my EMT in NY over my sophomore summer, and worked as an EMT at Daytona Speedway as a track/jump medic for the duration of my schooling down there. I know plenty of guys, who love the world of EMS/firefighting, but went to school to pursue other degrees, while obtaining their initial medical training. God forbid something happens where you cannot function as a public servant anymore, or, you unfortunately never get hired off a list, you still have your degree which you can fall back on and make your living off of that. Best decision I ever made, was to get my 4 year degree in something completely unrelated to firefighting and EMS, and enter the (unfortunate, as I would MUCH rather be out busting cajones and helping my community) world of Corporate. Give yourself something to fall back onto in case what you really want to do, doesn't work out.

Same thing they were thinking when they merged the Sheriff's office, and the Fire Department.

I didn't even see JFLYNN had wrote that at the time, as I had been typing this out for a while since I'm at work. I wont speak for the Chief, but I interpreted what you were saying as a "we're not going to have a written plan in place, we'll just wing it as the incident progresses and hope it works." I totally agree that sizing up an incident is imperative to a positive outcome. If we look back at the initial posters statement/question, I think that we can both agree that filling an engine with 8 guys and a chief's car with another 6 and sending them to another fire is a little ridiculous. There are so many different paths that we can go down with this, such as minimum/maximum staffing for M/A, % of available manpower required to remain at home to respond M/A, etc etc. Biggest thing I hope we can both agree on is that, if you dont' have a ratio in favor of your department to that going M/A at the time, you stay back and protect your town. And yes, if conditions warrant an aggressive interior attack, we will make that push. I should have been more clear, but that last part was not aimed directly at you. It was more of a broad statement for departments in general. Listen to a scanner on a daily basis and you can easily tell who has their stuff together, and who does not.

If you want to play the odds game, you should get into politics, not the fire service. Crossing your fingers and hoping for the best is a hell of a way to operate. I can recall many times, my department alone has had numerous calls, possible fires, extrication and dive jobs in a matter of an hour, and there wasn't even inclement weather occurring. I can count even more times I've heard other departments trying to handle 2 or 3 major incidents at the same time. It happens, quite frequently, and its not time to play chance games. Why even relocate apparatus to the effected department, since the odds of going on an additional run are so small? You're not playing poker, or blackjack where you can almost determine what your next hand is going to be based off statistics. It is strictly, "just something that happens" if a run comes in. You need to know exactly what your next play will be and one up the fire service god's before they get to you, if you will. My point is, BE PREPARED to handle any number of major incidents at one time, not just the one you're currently operating at.

3-4 Interior firefighters and an officer should suffice for any type of request for an engine or truck, whether it be a relocate or a deployment. If departments wanted extra manpower when requesting units, they would call for extra manpower. When special units are called such as Rescues, manpower should be assessed and deployed based off the scale and type of the incident. A request for an additional hurst tool is quite different then a request for a car pinned under a overturned semi-trailer. Departments that are requesting an additional 3 engines and 2 trucks for a room and contents fire, really need to think about why are they requesting so many resources on an initial assignment, that by the time they arrive on scene, will more then likely not even be needed. A department should be able to handle a bread and butter operation by themselves, with no outside help. However, we all know that man power is down, so an outside FASTeam, and a relocate is not a bad thing, and as always, if you don't need em, turn em around. Certain (not all) Battalion COORDINATORS (note they are NOT chiefs) also need to realize a) when they are stripping entire departments for a single job, and branch out past their own battalion and b ) the scene is not theirs to command. I'll use my department as an example: on any initial report of a structure fire, A FASTeam is immediately dispatched along with our department, regardless of whether it is in the hydrant or non-hydrant district. Our M/A departments were asked if they were OK with this policy before it went into inception, and they had no problem providing a FASTeam on the initial dispatch, rather then the 10-75 assignment. In the hydrant district, a working 10-75 brings in the BC, VAC/Medic, and the relocate of 1x1 to our HQ. Each additional alarm brings in an additional FAST, transfers the relocated 1x1 to the scene, and relocates another 1x1. 2nd alarm brings in a Cascade, and 3rd Alarm brings in the Field Com unit. The non hydrant provides the same, but with 3 tankers to the scene and additional engine for the draft or dump site. Our non-hydrant district has almost no access for 1 ladder, so after the first relocate of a ladder, 2nd alarms and above only bring in an additional engine on the relocate as the truck will remain on stand-by for the duration of the incident for the rest of the district. There are a few specialty boxes that provide a different type of response based off the building type and hazards involved however. Each box was set up to try and not pull more then 1 apparatus from each department for the entire duration of the incident, regardless of the scale of size (3rd alarm in our residential, 4th alarm in our commercial district), however in some cases, it was impossible. Department Chiefs were contacted to see if they had any problem sending 2 pieces of equipment and manpower to a scene if that was the case, and those who are on the box, had no doubts they could cover both their district and provide aid to ours with multiple units pulled. http://www.yorktownf...ent/operations/ / http://maps.google.c...08&source=embed

Any other departments sending manpower or equipment to assist?

This gives me some hope that there are still good people out there willing to help when needed.

While I completely agree with what you are all saying in regards to training and the sometimes "forgetful or unintentional moves" we sometimes make, there is just no consistency when it comes to how photo's like this are treated while up on here. There was a certain set of photos from a Duchess County fire that ended up on FFCC about a month or so ago, and EVERYONE freaked out that they photo's made it on there saying "He's experienced, if he wants to be on a roof with no mask / no gloves /helemet off, venting, I'll trust him to the day I die." Now, this time it is reversed, (FFCC to EMTbravo) and we have another member from a department, that is a CHIEF this time, lacking PPE, making another questionable move, and everyone throws him into the fire. Have some consistency on which way these safety issues are discussed. I was not involved in the incident presented at all (I'm not a member of the department either), but I can only imagine that the power was shut down and verified by the power company. And for operating off the roof of the engine; have you never packed hose before in the hose bed once you've laid in? PPE however, is a different story.... There is always wiggle room on what is considered a serious offense, and given the 2 sets of photos, I can only assume from what is presented, that this was more dangerous to be operating around, then venting the roof of a fire that appeared to be under control. I understand that they are 2 different types of incidents, and we're only seeing 1/1000 of what was actually occurring at the time, but these, like the other photos, are capturing that 1/1000th of a time frame, and everything can be judged off that, which it obviously is. And, as a side note, the ONLY reason I mentioned taking these photo's down today, was because of the way the other thread was treated. I'm all for learning from mistakes and improving your operations and you can be sure I'll be sharing this on drill night with guys from my department for training.

I know a couple guys from my department wanted to go, but the less then 12 hour notice for a 72 hour deployment would not have sit well with our jobs... Had we had more advanced notice, I'm sure we would have had a crew up there.

Just received word that the County Swift Water team is headed upstate with all their equipment; Yorktown will be dual dispatched with them to any job they're requested to down here.

I was thinking the same thing Bull. They might be a complete bunch of stem whackers, but if they want to cut trees up for me, while I sleep at night during a storm stand-by, All the more power to them. I'll gladly take the rest. I need my beauty sleep.

Date: 9/7/2011 Time: 0215 Location: Initially reported as 80 Broadway, actual location of 82 Broadway Frequency: Dispatch - 46.26 , IC / Battalion Ops - Trunked Fire 12 , Operations - Fire Ground 3, FASTeam Ops - Fireground 7 Units Operating: Ossining Full Assignment Box 6-6, TL 42 and Engine 99 first due; Croton E119 FAST; Briarcliff Manor R37 Cascade, Yorktown E270 FAST, Millwood E247 Relocate, OVAC, CVAC, PVAC Rehab Weather Conditions: Cold, Rain Description Of Incident: Fire in a 2.5 story OMD. Fire started in the basement of the building, traveled up the balloon frame to the 2nd story and attic. A good, aggressive interior attack by the initial companies kept this fire from spreading throughout the entire house. House was located in a rowhouse setting, with side B and D similar occupancy with almost no space between the D side and exposure. Overhead wires prevented TL access to the roof. 2:15 - Car 2331 requesting Croton FAST for a working fire 2:30 - Batt 12 advising heavy fire in the basement and top floor, 4 L/S/O 2:55 - Batt 12 advising 6 L/S/O ATT, main fire in basement knocked down, heavy fire in attic, 3:02 - Batt 12 advising propane/acetylene tanks letting go, units still operating, protecting exposures 3:05 - Batt 12 requesting Yorktown FAST 3:24 - Batt 12 requesting Pvill VAC Rehab 4:19 - Batt 12 advising fire under control ATT 5:00 - Releasing Yorktown FAST 6:10 - All units clear Reporters: http://ossining.patc...h-ossining-home http://www.lohud.com...|text|Frontpage Writer: to the left and up As a side note, wishing a speedy recovery for the Fireman who was overcome by heat exhaustion.

Date: 9/6/2011 Time: 12:55 Location: Mahopac National Bank, Lexington Ave, Mount Kisco, NY Frequency: Mount Kisco PD Units Operating: Kisco PD, WCPD, I believe I heard Bedford PD operating as well Weather Conditions: Rainy Description Of Incident: Subject handed teller a note demanding cash and claiming he was armed. Subject fled north on Lexington. Reporters: http://www.lohud.com/article/20110906/NEWS02/109060349/Mount-Kisco-bank-robbed?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage Writer: