paro22

At first, I was surprised by the outcome (21 violations?)...it seemed excessive. I generally feel that when a member is caught recklessly driving in their POV, the PD should use discretion & bring the issue up to the member’s Chief first – before jumping to tickets & violations. Call it ‘professional courtesy’, if you will. I have found Chiefs to be pretty reliable at dealing with these situations ‘in-house’ – be it with a warning, suspension, or revocation of their Blue Light Card. If a Chief is caught driving recklessly, I understand that it’s a different story. They represent their Department very visibly on every call. Using L&S is a privilege – one that requires using much greater responsibility and judgment. I guess for Departments where non-Chiefs use L&S (i.e. as EASV's) – this stringency should then apply to ANY member using L&S (as opposed to just a blue/green “courtesy light”)...if they don’t operate “with due regard”, they SHOULD face harsher consequences… With L&S, the risk is just so much greater – of negative attention, public humiliation, or (god forbid) accidents or injuries.

'civil defense emergency vehicle' maybe? After looking at their Facebook pics, they definately do seem to have some sort of working relationship with FDNY. The only concern would be whether they are officially requested to respond to these incidents, or if they just self-dispatch and decide on their own when/where to show up & offer services?

EMT-D and EMT-B are the same. When defibrillators first became popular (& part of NYS protocol), the "basic" EMT course was addended to include Defibrillation, and they were designating EMT's with the new material as "EMT-D's"

I noticed them at that 4th Alarm in Queens (I happened to be at a friend's 3 blocks away ), they were *not* hard to miss. 2 blacked-out unmarked cars came roaring up L&S (a Crown Vic & Tahoe - and the Crown Vic had official plates) - parked in the middle of the street. Two gentlemen got out (I think one was the guy pushing the stretcher in the pic), in civvies wearing black raid jackets that said 'NYRRT' - with Fire radios on shoulder harnesses. They brushed past the cops and actually went over to FieldCom, where they seemed to be recognized. I saw them talking to some of the fieldcom techs & chiefs, then they went into the command post. I had no clue what capacity they serve for the city, or what services they provided... The 'Official' plates and apparent familiarity with FDNY made me wonder if they really were legit. If they're really just 'buffs', I'm not sure how NYC/NYPD/FDNY etc lets them get away with it!

I have heard of dispatchers 'tolerating' civiilian callers follow a suspect vehicle...safely. I am not sure why the blue light was even necessary...what was he trying to accomplish? If the suspect vehicle did not stop originally, why use the blue light at all?

Me too. I believe the operating range for the Phillips Heartstart is 32º - 122º F. Mine usually starts to beep & indicate low battery at under 20-25 F, and i try to take it inside at nights. However, I have forgotten & left it in the trunk for several days of below 15 temps, and after warming up & resetting, it always seems to be back to normal with the battery still full. I never take my O2 inside...should i? What about BLS meds like albuterol & Epi?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/45279147/Onondaga-County-Fire-Department-Response-Times http://www.9wsyr.com/media/lib/17/d/e/2/de2f16bc-4a4e-4586-bd3b-97fcb994bffb/Agency_Response_Time_Report_November_2010_v2.pdf In my home county (Onondaga), the new county executive has pledged to make ‘taxpayer services’ more transparent to the public, and recently released the average response times for all 53 fire departmtents in the county. (Background: Onondaga County is located in Central NY and has a population of about 450,000. Its makeup is primarily suburban, with some pretty rural areas. Its main city is Syracuse, which boasts an ISO Class 1 FD – the rest of the county is 100% volunteer, with the exception of about 4 ‘combination’ departments) The average response times ranged from 3:57 (Syracuse Fire Department) to 15:48 (a rural volunteer Department), and it has caused a lot of discussion amongst the public and amongst the fire departments themselves. Do any Counties down here make any of this information public? Do any of the volunteer (or paid) FF’s know their department’s average response time? (I didn’t) Whether you agree or disagree with releasing this data, it definitely highlights some of the issues that many counties and fire departments are facing with regard to maintaining effective, volunteer-based FD’s…

Do you know what type of vehicles they use for take-home units? Marked or unmarked?

I was there on Weds afternoon...it was actually much smaller than I expected, and there seemed to be very few attendees (at least during the time that i was there) A few booths of the 'regulars', etc, but not too many large displays. Nothing like some of the bigger show's I've been to (NYS Fire Chief's Show, etc)

There are two ways that you can obtain a duplicate copy of your certification card: http://www.health.state.ny.us/forms/doh-4453.pdf You can complete the Duplicate Card Request Form. You can also submit a signed written request that includes your social security number, date of birth and current mailing address to the Certifcation Unit of the Bureau of EMS. Either option can be mailed or faxed to the following: New York State Department of Health Bureau of EMS 433 River St. Troy, NY 12180 Fax (518) 402-0985 (source: NYS DOH website)

Yonkers is a bit larger than Syracuse (200,000 vs 150,000), and has a very progressive fire dept (ISO Class 1). SFD runs out of 11 stations (not counting the Airport station). They have 10 2-piece engine companies (mini & engine); 6 truck companies, and a 2-piece heavy rescue co. A Hazmat Company is cross-staffed by an Engine company. The minis respond together with the engine for fire & MVA calls. EMS runs are usually handled by the mini alone (usually with 1 ff/emt). EMS txps are by ALS provider Rural/Metro.