RadnorCo15

We ran 55 fire responses & 5 EMS responses during the storm & blackout including a structure fire http://www.nbc10.com/news/2500370/detail.html (I'm manning the 2-1/2 behind the chief ) At many points each of our 5 apparatus were all operating at separate calls. In terms of preparation, stocking extra flares, scene tape, etc. for blocking off hazardous areas. The police do not have us control traffic. They either direct traffic themselves or put up temporary stop signs to control intersections. Town Public Works Departments can be utilized for barricades, but their resources are limited.

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My company just ordered a new rescue - 6 man Seagrave Chassis with a 20-foot RescueOne Body. Some of the features of the new truck (some carried over from the old) are a 20,000 watt generator, 6000 watt light tower, quartz scene lights on all sides, extended front bumper with hurst combo rescue tool troth, full assortment of hydraulic and air rescue tools, tech rescue ropes/riggings, hazmat containment equipment, gas, radiation, etc. monitors, full assortment of hand tools and more, and a fully stocked state certified EMS first repsonder vehicle for use when our 2 ambulances are out or for MCIs. I think this truck is well equipped to stabilize almost any situation.

Obviously outside the window is ideal. I now live in an apartment and cannot put an outdoor antenna so the windowsil has got to suffice. If possible, you want to put the magnet mount on a metal surface. I don't know what your options are but you may consider a different type of mount such as a gutter mount (if you have say a fire escape outside your window). Be creative you will ultimately figure out the best location by trial and error.

I was never a big fan of the headsets until I started using them. I remember riding in the back of Ardsley's Quint 1 and you could only hear half of the radio traffic (the driver/officer's messages were not patched through) and the traffic you did hear was obnoxiously loud and most of the time was just disconnected. With the headset, you can monitor all radio traffic including that eminating from the vehicle you are in, while the officer can easily give pre-arrival instructions without having to compete with the Q, engine noise, or partions otherwise making communication between the crew difficult or impossible. As for donning gear in the rig, that's just silly. You should have it on when you get on the truck, or don it at the scene. You're a fool to be a unrestrained passenger in a vehicle, especially a fire truck. We've all scene what can happen. Donning SCBA's with the intercoms works well if you have alternating seats and you use the intercom opposite you. With the cord now fully extended in front of you, there is no longer the problem of getting it tangled in your SCBA behind you. All of our vehicles have ports for the headsets for fire scene ops either at the pump, ladder control panel, and points from which rescue tools are deployed/operated.

I only started riding on/operating apparatus this past year with Q-sirens (none of the NY dept's I rode with had them). The difference is clear...the Q, with its loud, distinct sound, alerts motorists much farther ahead. No 200 watt electronic siren has the traffic moving power as the Q. Electronic sirens are a great adjunct or back up to a Q. My fire company put electronic Q-sirens in our ambulances with tremendous success, & I've spec'ed it into my VAC's bus. Some people don't like that sound eminating from an ambulance but the bottom line is it moves the cars. A great electronic siren that has comparable power to the Q is the Powercall Brand sirens http://www.powercallsirens.com/dx5.shtml(check out intersection mode) They, by virtue of their design, and sometimes obnoxious tones, project much farther then typical electronic sirens. When apparatus respond with E & Q sirens around town I can hear the Q or Powercall coming before the electronic siren.

We had the same problem with our fleet of E-ONE apparatus especially with failing paint on apparatus under 10 years old (they deny problems exist and are horrible to deal with), and have switched to Seagrave and are very satisfied. We have a very rigerous internal inspection process and we don't take delivery until the rig is 100% perfect. Any defects or signs of poor workmanship are not tolerated. It seems all the major manufacturers are guilty of slapping there names on a few pieces of crap.

To elaborate on what CM36 is talking about in Delaware Co., PA...All stations are assigned a number, I'm with station 15. The apparatus designations throughout the county are 1-5: Engines (Engine 15-1), 7: Ambulance (Ambulance 15-7), 9: Chiefs (15-9), 10,12,13: Line officers. Apparatus such as Ladders & Rescues are Ladder 15, Rescue 15. The countywide policy of "plain-speak" or using no "10-codes" helps avoid confusion, as the uniform numbering system clearly defines what type of unit and from what local is calling. If there are more than 1 type of vehicle, they are designated with letters, so a**'t Chief is 15-9A. In Westchester apparatus are numbered by no particular order with the exception of chiefs and that gets kind of confusing. All departments have either a private dispatch frequency or common dispatch channel comparable to 46.26 in Westchester. However, all communications to the county occur on a separate UHF repeater system with 0ver 15 channels. Fire control has the ability to assign separate incidents their own ops freq. These channels also do simplex for fireground ops. A nice feature Station 15 has is a cross-band repeater that rebroadcasts all our response traffic back over our dispatch freq. so volunteers can still here whats going on while responding. This would be a great alternative for westchester depts who woulndt have to change their pagers if and when the county gets a new system up and running.

I lived in Ardsley and recieved a great tip for lowband monitoring a few years ago. Radio Shack has a magnet mount CB antenna with adjustable tuning on it and it works wonders on lowband. I tested it and it works 10 times better than expensive all-band discones, etc. I have several high-end scanners and am not ashamed to say they're hooked up to $20 cheapo CB antennas from radio shack! Try it out and if u can place it outside or near a window. Good luck!