vwwh1

Do they do this because they feel salty saying they, "beached their rig"?

 
Is the Union advocating not providing mutual aid? Given several recent incident alerts where they accepted mutual aid into their city, this incident certainly seemed reasonable I would think. And they probably could have declined the additional 1&1.

How about all times New Rochelle sends out Mutual Aid and never says a thing

 
How does this affect your organization?  What preparation needs to be done in advance?  Is this a negative or a positive?

 
 
They went with the town wide ambulance service proposal.
 

 
If you have lights "all over your personal vehicle"  you have already broken the law.

I do not believe, that the pc chiefs are still in office after the breaking news 12 report about the chiefs comments.Are the village board members that corrupt not to grow a set and do the right thing.You have a individual who is sworn in to protect life and property, and he makes comments to other members to break a residents Windows. Something stinks. It also makes me think that the members of this dept. Don't rise up and demand that they be removed and back the professional firefighters to get their jobs back. Come on guys open your eyes your leaders are giving your dept. a black eye, not only in your village, in Westchester, but across ny and the country.

 
The Pawling situation was slightly different. The Pawling PD was comprised of part-timers, many who worked full time PD jobs elsewhere. There were ,of course, a few bad apples that constantly made life "difficult" for some of the residents. Personalities won out over principles. (Sounds familiar doesn't it?)  The County Sheriffs Dept picked up many of the part-timers after taking over. Better service? I doubt it.
 
Now back to Port Chester. As any firefighter who works or worked in a combination dept knows, the vollies who hate the "paidman" the most are the ones totally incapable of passing the requirements to becoming a professional firefighter. They are, to say the least, green with envy. Then, there is the next bunch who are successful in life and harbor no resentment. They tend to take a back seat (unfortunately) to the issues because they have a life and can "take it or leave it," when it comes to the FD. The remainder, usually the highest percentage of members, active or not, some living in Florida, North Carolina, etc. just don't give a rats ass. As was stated in prior posts, the union needs to get some volllie support. Ang's post seems to say there is some, and hopefully it grows.
 
The next thing the PCFD needs to do is impeach all three chiefs. Lets face it, they're losers. Didn't the head chief get thrown out of his prior volunteer dept ? They need guys like Joe" Pug", Bob Thalhiemer, Vinny Lyons ,sr., and Bill Neathercott to come back and lead the dept. They were gentlemen, who didn't play games with anyone, especially with the public's safety. Enough of me ranting. 32 years in the fire service and the only thing that got better were the rigs.

Could this be the Mayors next Press Release when they hit the tax Cap
 
The Board first considered in depth the possibility of abolishing the paid firefighters Sanitation positions a couple of years ago but was able to avoid doing it at that time.  Recently, with the budget deadline fast approaching and the possibility of having to override the tax cap looking more and more likely, the Board revisited the option of abolishing the paid firefighters Sanitation positions and decided that doing so was in the best interest of the Village and its taxpayers.  The Private Contractor Start in June
 
If you Work for the Village of Port Chester you Should be out with the Firefighters, You Could be Next. Using the Volunteers is just another way of Subcontracting Union jobs.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
How is this even acceptable? outisde of this recent issue....idc if you are career and vollunteer at home, but to vollunteer in a combo dept? do those "double dippers" run mutal aid into other career depts with PCFD?
 
Before this gets out of hand, im career and vollunteer in my boonedock town in no whereville CT, but i dont run mutal aid fires into the neighbooring iaff city, nor does anyone else whos career and vollys with me.

Any Career Firefighter from other Departments volunteering in Port Chester must resign forthwith, The volunteer members must ban together and think of a sane way to reverse this situation, as they hold the upper hand in this battle, Remember Port Chester is a densely populated compressed community with a high fire risk not some pristine Norman Rockwell community,

There is also the other BS contingency plan....
 
Staffing RRV units with 2 firemen and an officer to respond solely to EMS.  This is nothing more than a "stop-the-clock" measure....
 
Wanna free up more ALS/BLS units?  Start a PSA about when you should call 911 and when you should buck-up for a cab!  Too often the "patient" having the emergency has all the ability to stop in the bathroom, get dressed and walk themselves downstairs....THATS NOT AN EMERGENCY CONDITION....

 
I know that this is a played out/sore subject with many on EMTBravo.net, but I will again say, if the "Powers to Be" (Politicians) would all get together, abolish the "Home Rule" permanently, and develop and implement a 100% County Run EMS and Fire Operation, with every county tax payer being held responsible for the costs of running such operation, you would stop such comments, as "The City of Mount Vernon doesn't even have enough firefighters to do their primary job of fighting fires". If you take the LOCAL BULL-DINKY POLITICS (both Governmental and Unions) out of the equation and put it in the hands of a Group of EMS and Fire Professionals throughout the county (such as say 5 to 7 "Leaders" coming out of say Yonkers, New Rochelle, White Plains, Mount Vernon, Eastchester, and possibly 1 or 2 Northern Westchester County Towns/Villages) to oversee the day to day operation of such a "Consolidated County Run EMS/Fire Service" you would never have to worry about Private Companies going bankrupt. 
 
When will people wake up and say "This is Enough" ?????

 
Stupid is not exploring options to insure that you're providing the best service possible at the most economical cost to your customers/constituents.
 

 
While there is no restriction, that I am aware of, of using an ambulance as a fly car, it might cause some awkward conversation on the scene with some of the family members, who might not be up on emergency operations. Especially if there is a delay in getting another ambulance to the scene. you know, paging out several times for a crew even if after waiting( as I have) before telling disp. that I'll ride it in BLS, just get me an ambulance please. I can see it going something like this....
 
"What are we waiting for, my (pick your loved one, wife, husband, child etc) needs to get to the hospital"
" I'm sorry we're waiting for an ambulance"
"Isn't that an ambulance out front" 
"No, that's my fly car"
"It says it's an ambulance"
"Well its a little complicated, you see my (fill in organization) has some difficulty keeping appropriate vehicles on the road some times so we're filling in with what we have in order to to serve the community"
Family member mumbles under breath "The only thing you're serving me is a load of B*##@%&+" "Does it have one of those, whatchamacallits, little beds inside"
"Yes, but I don't have any one else to drive"
"Can't one of the other (half dozen or so) responders (getting in their points) standing around drive for you"
"Well, no they're from a different agency and our insurance won't cover them"
"Well I haven't had an accident in over 20 years, not even a parking ticket, I'll be happy to drive. I'll sign any wavier of liability you want"
"Thank you for the offer, but I can't allow that either"
"Oh hell I'll drive them myself" (after hearing the third or forth page for this location)
" I'm sorry you can't do that until you sign my RMA form"
"RMA form? What's that"
"Well, that says you're Refusing Medical Assistance"
Family member now a little red in the face
"I'm not refusing anything!! You can't get them to the hospital!!"
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to control yourself or I'm going to be forced to ask you to leave"
"LEAVE, LEAVE!! THIS IS MY F#*#*&g HOUSE!"
"Sir, sir if you don't get yourself under control I'll be forced to ask the officer to remove you"
It quickly spirals down (as if it could get any worse) from here
 
While this might be a little over dramatized I would rather be spared this particular or similar conversation. While there might not be anything preventing such use I wouldn't want to be involved, thank you. Sending a patient transport vehicle to an emergency and then saying you couldn't transport would be like sending an engine to a confirmed structure fire, KNOWING, that you only have the driver going. (Yeah, I know, unlikely, but it's the only comparison I could think of) "Sorry, I brought the truck but we don't have anyone to man the pumps." Permissible, maybe, but a public relations disaster as the driver and home owner watch the house burn down.
What do you guys out there think? Maybe I should think of starting a new career writing fiction, no? Either that or apply for a job at LoHud! I got it, I could run for President!
 
 

What if certain firefighters don't place their trust in god. Maybe since the department and community is so heavily involved in religion, that they're terrified to speak their mind for fear of being shunned or mocked. Or what if they place their faith in Allah? This isn't about political correctness, but about what your department is now representing. Technically it's a government entity and it should not be endorsing ANY religion or lack there of. Could you imagine the uproar if the department placed "There is no God," or "Allah Akbar" on the side of their apparatus because someone donated their time and money to put it on?
 
I'm all for individual PEOPLE believing whatever they want to believe. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhist, Amish, Scientology, Atheism, Pastafarianisim Flying Spaghetti Monster, but leave it out of the organization of the Fire Department. Don't ram it down my throat, or try and convert me, and I won't ram my beliefs down yours and try and convert you. And before people think I'm bashing religion, or accuse me of being someone who think's religion is evil, if what you believe makes you happy, doesn't harm or hamper anyone else's happiness or way of life, I'm all for it.

This is also true of our military. We all get what we pay for. Should we let each individual pay for and make that decision for themselves ? Or is it to all our advantage to pay for the best protection, that will benefit all of us. And just like that 7.0 earthquake in Westchester, is it possible to have the same odds as a War involving the Westchester area ? Yet without question, we all pay for the BEST Protection we can get.
Yes, paying for the fire service is a roll of the dice. But if the number just happens to come up and affect our own family members, our friends, then we may ask why didn't we get that better policy. For years I paid for medical insurance. Never had to use it. Yet I paid for the best I could get. Then one day it came. I spent two days in the hospital that cost the insurance company $22,000. Just a few years prior to that I spent 16 days in the hospital due to an illness that those highly skilled, high paid doctors corrected for me. I have no idea what that hospital stay cost. But I sure am glad I had good insurance.
When there is a fire in a house or apartment, the most important factor is time and manpower. Getting there quickly with enough help to do the job. For firefighters, especially ones that have been around for awhile, they understand that. But for Mr or Mrs Citizen, they just don't understand it as well. Sometimes, the F.D. experts in the field have to think for them. Why spend a dime on fire protection. Why waste all that money on something we may never even use. There was a time when I didn't use my medical insurance either. I thought why should I pay for it. But I sure am glad I did.
We pay for education and the school system. We all pay the same in our own cities and towns. I never had any children so why should I pay for yours to go to school when I don't have any. Why don't you pay instead.
I think you can catch my drift here. In a perfect world none of us would have to pay for anything. Fires happen whether its one a year or one every 10 years. I guess it's okay as long as it's not my house. But if it was, I'd want the best to put that fire out and just maybe save my life in doing so.
I hope our military doesn't have to fight another war ever. And I'm willing to pay for that. The same way I'm willing to pay for our fire fighters whether they fight another fire or not.

That's certainly subject to debate.

This is the only way to make it work, but as with all change there's always a trade off. Some areas would benefit with paid crews available 24/7 right down the street, other would suffer from the longer wait for anyone to show up at all as stations are consolidated to gain savings. Most county systems work and save money because they are combination in one form or another, but the ones that work best require 24/7 staffing utilizing both career and volunteer personnel to ensure there's always crews on duty in house.

It's about professionalism, standards, and supervision, or lack thereof, and this reflects on the organization as a whole that this is acceptable behavior. This is not the first time something like this has occurred (Squuuaaad 15), and not the first time someone has called in and their terminology has been rephrased by the dispatcher to sound more "buffy". What would happen if the dispatcher decided to dispatch decided to pronounce street names his or her own personal way, and units went to the wrong address? When you have a voice that everyone is listening to, you are in the public eye. As a dispatcher myself, this would never fly in my organization, and the Chiefs of our agency would not find it acceptable. It's ok to sneak in humor here and there when appropriate, but the initial dispatch should be consistent and professional agency wide. What happens to a callers confidence if their town is mispronounced? Or the responders in that town that their name is being mocked? Dispatchers have to work extra hard to gain respect, and it takes one bad apple to ruin the whole bunch's reputation.

I remember back when we used to just take the test and hope for a letter. This back and forth about possible scenarios is ridiculous. If you get a letter, great, follow the instructions. If you don't get a letter, you weren't good enough. Take another test. End of story.

If you are old enough, you would remember the County Police when they were 'just' the Parkway Police. Then their leadership moved to make them a real force in the County, expanding their capabilities and equipment and transforming them into the pre-eminent department they appear to be today.
Reading the incident report from this morning, it was clear that the County officers assigned to Mt. Kisco had a major incident with potential loss of life, so the County PD responded by sending the appropriate support.
Good for them.
Is the County really so poor that it can not have 24/7 paid fire personnel able to respond specialized County equipment and apparatus to emergencies?

Before you knock the unions ( who keep pushing for increased training and manpower) about blocking Home Rule why not lobby for one standard for all firefighters in the state, paid or volunteer. That would include new firefighters, in service training for all firefighters, response times, manning on apparatus, promoting officers on qualifications not on election results. Not to mention mandatory retirement age so we don't have a rig responding with 3 or4 70 year old men on it with a 19 year old lieutenant because that was all that was around.

Don't you mean FASNY, which lobbies against same standards of training for professional career staffing, and volunteer members? If I was a betting man, which I've been known to be, I'd place my money on the non-uniformed training standards of volunteers, vs known and required training of career firefighters as the reason for not being called into Mt. Vernon and a majority of other career/combo departments.Why would I roll the dice with the qualifications of those coming in, vs knowing when I call for an engine, I'm gonna get exactly what I asked for in terms of manning and qualifications?

There are many large non fire proof multiple dwellings in our area, built between the world wars, without exterior fire escapes, the trick is getting from your flat to the protected stairway under fire conditions which can get pretty snotty,
Reading the article, is this for safety or beauty.??? On the plus side many fire escapes are being held on to the structure with bolts over a hundred years old and poor up keep of rail, treads and drop ladders make for dangerous situations,
On the other hand they have been our friend, evacuating tenants, searching units, venting ,stretching lines. getting the roof and plain old firefighting so list me as perplexed.