EMTbravo

I've recently fixed a major problem with the registration system that has been going on for quite a while. If you've tried to register in the past and have been unable to, please try again. If you continue to have difficulties, please email me at seth@emtbravo.com I apologize for this issue, Seth

Just a friendly bump to remind people to "Like" posts. Why? Read the posts above.

Please answer these few short questions to help us provide a better site for you.

Members, Sick of looking at the same "Feature Photo" on EMTBravo.com every time you log on? I'm looking to update the feature photo on EMTBravo.com several times each week again.' To do that, I need members to submit that one photo that would make a great "cover shot" for the site. Mainly, I'm looking for photos from a wide variety of photographers of departments in action, or newly delivered apparatus. For example, these are the kinds of photos I'm looking for (examples): http://www.emtbravo.com/FeaturePhotos/index.html If you have a photo for consideration as feature photo on EMTBravo.com, please send to: seth@emtbravo.com (Photo MUST be YOUR photo that you took). Please include your name for credit and some details on the photo. Thanks! -Seth G. Please send only your BEST shots. If you've sent me a shot in the past that I haven't posted, don't take it personally. There are several reasons why it may not have been posted, and several of those reasons have nothing to do with you. So send them in!

Members, Today (Nov.14) marks the 12th year that EMTBravo.net (Forums) has been online. EMTBravo.com, which is what these forums were born from, will celebrate it's 14th year this upcoming January. (The name, "EMTBravo", originated from my AOL screen name which I had for years). Here's a little about me. I started at 14 years old, in 1993, as an Explorer with the Ardsley Fire Department in Ardsley NY where I Explorer Post Captain for almost the duration of my time there. I then continued on as a volunteer firefighter and Explorer post advisor with Ardsley FD when I turned 18. I took my EMT class at Irvington VAC, and went to work as an EMT for Empress EMS, which helped shape me and gave me a solid foundation for the rest of my career. I also worked part time in the ER of Stamford Hospital as an ER tech. I was lucky enough to get hired by 60 Control, where I worked as a Dispatcher. My dispatcher ID was 635, which is why I'm also known as "x635". During that time, I loved working for 60 Control and loved the people I worked with and the job I did. However, during the course of my employment there, my father was tragically killed and my Grandmother died a year later after a long battle with cancer, leading me to re-evaluate what I was doing and where I wanted to be in life. In 2003, I decided to go to college, and moved to Woburn, MA and attended Paramedic school at Northeastern University in Boston. After graduating in 2004, I moved back to Hartsdale and went to work for Westchester EMS, and worked the "45 Medics" flycar system, and dispatcher. In September of 2005, my dream of being a career firefighter came true, and I got hired by the Hartsdale Fire District. I was blessed to have academy instructors who served as great role models for me, and I did things I never thought I could do. To this day, I still use the lessons they taught me. In January 2007, I was injured severely. After several months, I was declared unfit to be a firefighter due to a traumatic brain injury and a spinal cord injury. My department did not have any light duty positions, so I was out of a job and couldn't work as a firefighter again. I loved being a firefighter in Hartsdale and the loss of that career was devastating, and still bothers me to this day. I decided to move to Round Rock, just north of Austin, in the central part of Texas to try and start a new life. I worked as a Police Dispatcher for the busiest sector of a large urban police department, and as a Paramedic for a busy rural/urban EMS service. However, a divorce dealt me another devastating blow in my life, but gave me my greatest gift, my beautiful daughter. I also had some health issues along the way. I moved back to NY for a job and other personal reasons, and I went through some more adversity which included a brief period of homelessness. A very generous person and great supportive friend went above and beyond, to say the least, took me in and got me back on my feet which was key. Another great, generous, supportive and understanding friend and mentor gave me a chance after all this, a job, another friend prepped me for the role I am in, and, for the first time in a long time, I am happy in my life and love my career (and my work family) with the leading firefighting equipment company in the area. Why am I giving you my bio? Because I feel that many people on here don't know me and there are some misconceptions. This site is an extension of me. Getting back on topic, the idea for a forums portion of the site sparked from the very successful "News" section of EMTBravo.com, in which people sent me news and photos and I posted on, what at the time was my personal small website (this is WAY before Facebook, etc even existed). From my apartment in Boston while attending Paramedic school at Northeastern University, the idea sparked and I pulled an all-nighter to get the forum going. It was meant to create an online community where those and those with an interest in the emergency services community could come together and communicate. And every day I log on, I am amazed that the snowball of this forum that keeps growing and has such a great, knowledgeable membership . We also have another EMTBravo forum, EMTBravoWest.com (Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, etc) Of course, there's been negativity and controversy on and about this site over the years, but the good FAR outweighs the bad. There have been members who wish to cause trouble or spread rumors or don't accept modern social media, but I believe that we have been on the forefront of trying to keep this site positive and on the right path. Before this site, nothing like this existed for the emergency services communities in the areas we serve. A lot of valuable information has been spread on these forum, friendships forged and reignited, and all the other benefits a website such as this provides. We will continue to spearhead a new path and become an even better resource for our members, using our member's knowledge and feedback as our fuel. We will bounce back from the past couple of years of, for lack of a better word, quietness. There are a lot of copycats out there with tons upon tons of different Facebook groups, but EMTBravo offers something unique and special, And we're proud that we don't depend on someone else's homogenized software and servers to run our site, we can define it however we'd like. I'd like to thank all the dedicated and loyal members of this site, who post, contribute, and read the site and make it what it is. Many have been with us since day 1. I'd also like to thank those that generously donate funds or advertise on the site, so I am able to afford to pay for this forum. And most especially, the active members of this forum who post and make use of this forum, and share their knowledge and opinions, for which if they didn't, this forum wouldn't be. Once again, THANK YOU to all the members and staff that make this site possible for the past 12 years, and I, with the EMTBravo team, look foward to making sure this forum is the best it can be for our EMTBravo members!! If you have any questions about EMTBravo.net's history, please do ask on this thread, and I'd be more then happy to tell!! And please check out our new logo below (and read the other new thread about it) Seth Granville AKA "EMTBravo" aka "x635" Here are some quick stats 12 years later: -1,000 member and guest visits a day -8,000 registrations -45,334 topics -266,665 posts -47,446,021 topic views -39,500 personal messages sent -Members from over 16 countries, and visitors from over 30 countries and still growing

Paul R. Gerardi, "LTFIREPRG" (retired Deputy Chief Fairview FD), came up with this amazing design for the site, almost instantaneously. I feel it really reflects the theme of this site, and carries the "Work Together Win Together" message. The details take into account what this site is for, who it is for, and ties it all together. There are a lot of little subtle details that make it even more awesome. I thank him so much for making this dream that I've had over the years and making it a reality. And I never knew talented artist was one of his many, many skillsets! He is a generous and frequent donor to the site, and this contribution to the site is just another way he has helped to make this site better. Thanks Chief for everything you've done for this site, for this, and for me. Another member, who wishes to remain anonymous and is a tremendous support, took this logo to the next level and digitized it and made it bolder. It was a craft that took him many hours I truly appreciate his dedication and talent in bringing this logo to the next level. Thanks you (you know who you are!)

If you've been having problems registering for an EMTBravo account, the issue has been corrected. Please try to register again. If you continue to experience problems, please contact me at forums@emtbravo.com Seth

Now that you don't have to log in to view the forums, we highly recommend that existing members still log in, and visitors register for an account, so you can take full advantage of the numerous features available as a logged-in member. Some of the features you get by logging in: -Automatically see which topics are new or have new posts -See which topics you've read and ones you haven't -Start topics and reply to posts -Follow topics and get notifications when people reply to your posts -Customize the way you view and read the forum -Get important emails about the site -Send messages to other members -Keep your account active and on the rolls Click Here To Log In To Your Current EMTBravo account -OR- Click here to register for an EMTBravo account - it's fast and free!

Like and follow us on the official EMTBravo.com Facebook page! Click below to visit and join the: Official EMTBravo Facebook Page And we're also on Twitter: EMTBravo On Twitter

There is a member on this thread who is obviously intentionally trying to hijack threads and create conflict. He's made several inflammatory comments in other threads on other matters, and I just removed a post of his in the Somers Firehouse Fire Incident Alert thread trying to start the same argument he's trying to make here. He's been warned before about this behavior, but seemingly doesn't care. His behavior and assertions are offending numerous members of this forum, intentionally creating hostility, and taking threads off course. Therefore, his posts must be approved by a moderator prior to being seen by the general membership going forward. This isn't just one post were talking about, this is a pattern of behavior across different threads and it needs to stop. I don't care if people accuse me of censorship regarding this, something needs to be done since this type of repetitive behavior without regard for its consequences damages this forum and inhibits constructive and interesting discussion and dissemination of accurate information. The dispatchers on duty at 60 Control did an excellent job during this overwhelming and unprecedented incident. Many people don't understand what it's like to work in a multi-jurisdictional multi-discipline communications center, and the complexities that come along with it on a normal day, let alone during something like this. This forum, and I, will not stand by them and not let a member purposely use this as a venue to try and tarnish and second guess such strong and solid work with such unfounded, unfair, and intentionally inflammatory claims. I ask that this issue ends here, and constructive discussion regarding this incident resumes. If you have any concerns regarding this, please contact me.

Congrats to x2321, EMTBravo's September 2014 Member Of The Month. x2321 has been a member of EMTBravo since July of 2004. x2321, AKA Frank Becerra Jr, is a Westchester/Putnam Fire Service Icon. He is a award winning Photojournalist with the Journal News (well...actually before the Journal News existed when it was Gannett Westchester Rockland Newspapers), and has been on the staff for over 30 years. He has covered (and still covers) almost every major incident in Westchester and Putnam. Thousands view his photos every day, which cover not only emergency services, but extends to sports and nature, well just about everything, as well. I remember when I was a kid, looking forward to getting, at the time, the "Reporter Dispatch", and seeing Frank's awesome talent every day as he owned that front page cover shot. I really liked how one day it would be a fire, and the next day it would be some beautiful shot of deer grazing at dawn. He is one of my inspirations in the photography world and just an all around great guy. Frank is also second generation at the Journal News. You can see where he gets it from. His father, Frank Sr, was an award winning cartoonist and illustrator for Gannett Westchester Rockland Newspapers. Amongst one of his hundreds of notable works was creating "Flora", which was Westchester's version of Smokey The Bear, and encouraged parksgoers to not litter, and be safe with fire. I can see where x2321 get it from. x2321 is just one our many, many excellent, dedicated, and valued members who are deserving of this recognition, and we will continue to recognize the members who make this forum what it is every month. -Seth G AKA x635

Congrats to snotty, EMTBravo's August 2014 Member Of The Month. snotty has been a member of EMTBravo since October of 2102. He makes many fascinating posts often giving great insight into old school firefighting with a very unique sense of humor. Last year, there was even a thread called "snotty Quotes". Click here to read that thread. Or click here for an example of one of his recent posts. He is also a very well respected Westchester firefighting leader, legend, and icon, and we are honored that he posts on EMTBravo actively, as many members enjoy reading what he has to say. snotty is just one our many, many excellent, dedicated, and valued members who are deserving of this recognition, and we will continue to recognize the members who make this forum what it is every month.

Members, We've recently expanded a section of the forum based on responses from the survey responses we collected earlier this year. Our Local Emergency Services forums, intended for discussion of emergency services issues in the specific areas the forums covers, have been expanded. They now include separate sections for local discussion in: -Hudson Valley -Connecticut -NYC -New Jersey -Long Island -National & International We've also recently "Un-lumped" our Fire-Police-EMS-911 section back into separate sections: -Fire -Police -EMS -911 Communication -Disaster Preparedness & Response (Coming Soon) -Apparatus (Discussion of general apparatus issues) -Scanning We continue to make changes to better the forum based on member feedback. If you have any ideas or suggestions to make this site better, please email me direct at seth@EMTBravo.com or PM me at my x635 username or Rob at the RWC130 username. Thanks! Seth G. & Rob C.

Follow us on the official EMTBravo Facebook page! Click below to visit and join the: Official EMTBravo Facebook Page

Historically on this forum, an Incident Alert post was singular, with no replies allowed. That's changing now. You can post UPDATES and CORRECTIONS to Incident Alert threads simply by replying. We hope this will make posting IA's more interactive. The original poster can then choose whether to incorporate those updates into the main post while giving credit to the source. If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns contact me at seth@EMTBravo.com or Rob@emtbravo.com