EMTbravo

Please note if you sent email to the x635@EMTBravo.com or EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com email addresses within the past 24 hours, I may not have recieved it due to the switch. Please re-send the email, and I will answer it as promptly as I can. Sorry for any inconvience. Also, EMTBravo.com should be starting to load faster and not time out for most users with a broadband connection. Please see new thread on this issue for further information.

I have moved EMTBravo.com onto a new server with a different webhost. This change should "propagate", or take effect, over the internet within the next 72 hours. During this transition, the site may not load or be completly inacessible at times for some members. Hopefully, this will put an end to the issues that people are having with EMTBravo.com loading slowly or not at all. Please bear with me while we undertake this, and remember to keep checking EMTBravo.com when we're back up at full speed again!!! PLEASE do me a favor, visit http://www.emtbravo.com and then post on this thread how EMTBravo.com is loading at this point for you, and please let me know how fast (or slow) it loads if it does.

Are you guys still experiencing this issue? It seems it loads really fast or doesn't load at all, still. This issue doesn't seem to be resolving itself as I had hoped for me, and the hosting company isn't much of a help. It's basically a traffic jam. The site's traffic has spiked, and the host has us on a shared server without any real monitoring or controls, and trying to get help is fruitless, which is why this week I will be switching the site to a new server on a new host, that should be able to handle the increased traffic at a reasonable cost. I'm sorry for the inconvience or frusteration this has caused. Once again, just to make sure-you guys are still having this issue with EMTBravo.com loading?

Thanks for the feedback. Just want to go over a couple of points.... -There won't be any special forum for Alpha members. -If you have 350 posts or more already, the next post you make your group will automatically upate and reflect in your profile. You may make that post in this thread if you don't want to wait until the next time you make a post. -For those in the 14-17 class, it's not about quantity so much, it's about quality. Threads and posts that are vague or clearly made to increase post counts, will be deleted and you will be docked posts in your post count Please do not post unless it is something of substance. Example: Don't post a bunch of posts with links, or make a thread about "Who Are You Dispatched By?". Neither accomplishes much IMO other then to add clutter to the topics list and takes away from other members topics. I'm sleepy, so more tommorow, and I'll give more details about a couple more changes to membership levels on this forum.

UPDATE (Sorry, meant to do this before but got caught up): You are correct. After studying some numbers, I determined that there were some loyal and steady contributors to this forum that had a post count of less then 350. They were way short of 500, so I wanted the number to be fair and obtainable to the majority of the Verified Members. Also, I reserve the right to promote any member who I feel contributes positive and constructive information to this forum but probaly won't reach 350 for years, such as SNOTTY and johnvv, who contribute excellent postive and constructive information on a steady basis, although not that frequently. (To be fair, requirments are: Must be a member for 2+ years, log on at least twice a week, and have 15+ posts spread out over the duration of membership) YOU CANNOT REQUEST THIS, IT IS TO BE DETERMINED BY EMTBRAVO NETWORK WEBTEAM!

Yes, the second phase of this program will give Alpha Members additional features. I'm not sure what they will be yet, but it will be along the lines of they can store more PM's, can start polls, along with other enhancments to current features and additonal privledges, etc.

Members- The Incident Alert forum is provided and maintained for free for our members to log and keep track of the various incidents in the area. Recently, we've noticed several, for-profit, commercial paging services either stealing our members Incident Alerts to send over their paging systems (to which people pay to subscribe to), or worse yet to me, trying to "poach" our IA writers to "Dispatch" for them. Our members that post IA's often use information that's not available on a scanner- such as friends and connections in departments, and sometimes they were even the ones on scene and come back and file an IA. Our IA Mod and Deputy Admin Truck4 often reviews and edits these IA's for accuracy and completness. For these commercial paging companies, who profit off this information by selling it to subscribers, to come on here and not only basically steal and retransmit our information is bad enough. But for a member to PM another member to try and "recruit" him or her to not post on here and "dispatch" for them with the lure of "prizes" or "points" is just insulting and unscrupulous. Basically, we could make money off the IA system, but we don't...and they take advantage of that. I am aware of some of the members that are involved in such, and their dispatcher ID's. It's quite apparent when you post something given information only certain people could get, and then it gets retransmitted over the paging system, word for word. After subscribing to one of the "big three" paging networks in the area to investigate this after a few tips, the only pages I was getting for Westchester was what was posted on this website. If any member has more information regarding this, please email me EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com. -EMTBravo P.S. We'd like to do our own "Buff Page System", but that's not what Incident Alert is about or is going to be. It's an Incident log.

Members- I want to create a new level of membership, a step up from Verified Member. I want it to be like a "V.I.P" kind of thing, something to recognize members for their positive, constructive, respectful participation in this forum. More information will be put out once a name for this program is selected. To attain this status, you would be selected by me, or nominated by another member and approved by me, based on criteria that I will release as soon as a name is chosen. I need help coming up with a name for this level of membership...any ideas? (I don't like VIP)

Both the above are correct, I started the website from my apartment located at the corner pictured, in Woburn, MA. The entire first year of EMTBravo.com was produced from there, and a lot of the local area and people inspired me.

Despite the outdated link issue, I have decided to enforce this issue/rule above effective immediately. The republishing of entire articles on this site is a violation of many other website's copyright and rules.

Members- Today marks 4 years that the EMTBravo Network forums have been online. (EMTBravo.com will celebrate it's 5th anniversary in January) These forums started from scratch, with 0 topics, 0 posts, and 0 members, and as you can see, has grown tremendously. For those that don't know the story, a popular feature of EMTBravo.com was the "News" section, in which readers would send in information about local apparatus deliveries, synopsis of incidents, upcoming tests, etc. In November of 2003, EMTBravo.com launched the EMTBravo Network Forums, something to expand on the news section. The forums were intended to replace the news section, and give readers of the site membership in a positive, constructive, and freindly enviroment in which to exchange knowledge, information and ideas. This forum has and is criticized for it's heavy moderation and zero tolerance for typical forum nonsense, and as a result has grown into a community of over 6,000 registrations, 19,000 topics, and 106,000 posts at the time of writing. Our membership has a wealth of knowledge to share, and we continue to work hard to cultivate the forums and try to make it one of the best communities on the web. One of our most popular forum features, "Incident Alert", a log of breaking and recent incidents kept by our membership, is overseen and coordinated by Truck4,who developed the idea intially and is the Deputy Administrator for EMTBravo.net Incidents Alerts. Our moderators and support staff also help tremendously in monitoring these forums, guiding and cultivating discussions, and provide assistance to members who need support with the forum features. This past year has seen tremndous growth of the forum, a reorginzation of the Incident Alert section, and a software upgrade, along with a host of other changes and upgrades. I'd like to thank all members and staff who continue to contribute to this community, for making it what it is. I'm very proud of these forums and what they've become, and hopefully we can make this next year even better! -Seth

Thanks for the feedback, I have an idea what may be causing the issue, and I'll attempt to correct it tommorow. The only thing that has changed in the past few weeks regarding the main page of EMTBravo.com is the amount of traffic, which has spiked to an all time high. EMTBravo.com has to load (or call for) a lot of syndicated content. When a lot of people are reuqesting EMTBravo.com to load at one time, it causes a slowdown calling for the syndicated content, therefore causing the load to time out. I think if I clean up some code, and make some adjustments, I'll be able to resolve the issue tommorow. I'll also be taking a look at the server and hosting. I'll keep everybody updated on this thread, and I'll need further feedback once I make the changes. Thanks for your patience, and I apologize for this annoyance....

Anyone Wishing To Make A Donation In Honor Of Matthew Lamb, an official fund is in the process of being established: Make Check Payable To: Carmel Fire Department Send To I/C/O Chief Daryl E. Johnson Carmel Fire Department 94 Gleneida Avenue Carmel, NY 10512

I just wanted to take a moment to apologize to numerous members that I have promised things to and have been slow to deliver on. I know I am a chronic procrastinator, but I want to end that ASAP. To be honest, I'm completly swamped with projects and a million things going on with this site, as well as my personal life. If I haven't replyed back to you, or you haven't recieved a photo or photo CD that was requested, I will get to it. I just am overwhelmed on every angle, and so much to do, it's hard to really figure out what to do when. If I had the money, I could definetly justify hiring a few administrative assistants! It's a wierd balance, the more time I put into this site, the busier it gets and the less time I have to work on it! I know, doesn't make sense. And, just the content production alone, such as the photo features, consume an enormous amount of time, not to mention the member support, handling these forums, and other tasks. I'm currently undergoing a massive reorginization project for my office life and the website, that includes significant decluttering and will make it easier for me to handle a lot of the daily tasks that are required to keep this site going. It includes a variety of tools and techniques I'll be putting into place, so I need time to implement that. So, for the next few days, I'm going to be focusing on decluttering, and getting organized. Hopefully, I'll get rid of my terrible procrastination habit too. I just ask for members to bear with me while I undertake this "mission", so I can continue to provide the best service I can. Please understand if I don't get back to you right away. Thanks in advance for your cooperation. (This includes x635 Photos as well) -Seth G. AKA EMTBravo AKA x635 Administrator, The EMTBravo Group

10-4-Buff, I read your post and understand your concerns, but am too tired to explain the program now. This won't be a subjective class program. When I launch this latest quality initiative, I will justify it, and take input from members. But first, we need a name for this project. Here's some I've been thinking of, and are basically now the real choices. To anyone reading this post, let me know your choice: -EMTBravo Ambassador -Premier Member -Outstanding Member -Alpha Member -Super Member -Stellar Member As for my choice, I kind of like "Alpha Member" the best.

Members- We currently have processed 958 Verified Members since starting the program in April of 2006. That's 958 EMTBravo members who have posting privledges on this forum out of the thousands of Registered Members and guests who visit this forum each day. As you may know, you MUST be a Verified Member to post on this forum. Please click on the link below for more information and to apply: http://emtbravo.net/index.php?autocom=dstaffapp The Verification process isn't instant, and usually takes 1-3 days to approve. So, help us break 1,000 Verified Members and become one today! Don't wait until you see something you want to reply to! -EMTBravo http://emtbravo.net/index.php?autocom=dstaffapp

I'm very doubtful of that. If what you say is actually true, then those people aren't submitting their applications or not doing so correctly, because I'm not recieving any that I don't take action on......with the new system, if you're approved to join the Verified Member program, you're sent a PM. If you're denied (for missing information, or incorrect information), then you are also sent a PM asking you to resubmit the application with the required info. I have gotten no complaints from anyone regarding not being able to get Verified. Please note that there will be a Verified Member audit done soon. Random members will be asked to resubmit their Verification information. And, anyone who doesn't have the required information displayed in their profile (Age Range, Location, Affilliation type AND rank) will be removed from Verified Member status and have to reapply.Also, an active email address must be tied to the account. So, make sure that all your profile information is up-to-date, and you'll be fine. ANY MEMBER WHO IS HAVING TROUBLE GETTING VERIFIED OR NEEDS ASSISTANCE GETTING VERIFIED SHOULD CONTACT ME ASAP VIA EMAIL AT EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com

Members- It's apparent that some members have complete disregard for this forum and other members. So, to be clear on things: -Flaming or bashing another member WILL NOT be tolerated. This will result in a 7 day posting suspension first offense, and 30 day account suspension second offense, and third offense banned. -Making a one-lined, non constructive post will be deleted. Second offense 7 day posting suspension, third offense 90 day account suspension. -Attempts to incite conflict WILL NOT be tolerated. This will result in a 7 day posting suspension first offense, and 30 day account suspension second offense, and third offense banned. -"Hijacking" a thread to insult the members discussing it WILL NOT be tolerated. This will result in a 7 day posting suspension first offense, and 30 day account suspension second offense, and third offense banned. Thanks for your cooperation.

If the time comes, EMT Lamb WILL be honored and funeral information will be posted on EMTBravo.com. Some of you have emailed me concerning this, but I don't think it's appropriate until someone notifies me that it is official (and if someone will, that would be appreciated). Also, if anyone has a photo or photos of him, please email them to me ASAP at EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com. Thanks. Thoughts and prayers are with Paramedic Lamb's family and friends, RIP.

The EMTBravo.com Media Day Seminar scheduled for this Saturday, November 3rd 2007 has been postponed until Spring of 2008. We regret any inconvience this has caused anyone. On a side note, we hope to hold a few unique and educational seminars this Winter. Stay tuned to EMTBravo.com for details.....

"The EMTBravo List", an free email list newsletter that goes out a few times every week and is produced by The EMTBravo Group, is looking for reporters and columnists. We need reporters to find and provide to us information on upcoming events, new deliveries, and other area emergency services news to provide in our email newsletter. If you have any of the above knowledge, and want to pass it on to others, please email x635@EMTBravo.com. Please include your EMTBravo username so you can be credited with providing the information. We are also seeking anyone who wishes to write a column (once a month or once every two weeks). Anyone who is interested in writing a column should submit their idea/proposal via email to x635@EMTBravo.com Email sponsors and classified ad oppurtunities also exist for commercial and business interests. CONTACT: x635@EMTBravo.com (EMAIL)

OK, so the answer is NO, there won't be a politics forum, and this thread reinforced why. Thanks to the members for their time. This thread is now closed since a decision has been made. WolfEMT, I'm not going to even respond (other then this) to yet another one of your invalid, fabricated complaints about this forum........

Members, As you see on the portal page of http://www.emtbravo.com, there are several ads. These ads are paid for by our sponsors, who enable EMTBravo.com and the related websites to remain online and free. Although EMTBravo.com continues to bleed my personal funds and is very much a money-loser, these sponsors help offset the cost tremendously. EMTBravo's intention is not to make a profit, so every dollar is in turn reinvested in the site. Our latest investment was in email list management software so we could revive "The EMTBravo List". Other investments include computer hardware, cameras, webhosting, travel, fuel, etc. So, we ask that you prefer using our sponsors if you need something they can provide. And tell them you saw their ad on EMTBravo.com- it will let them know their ad is working and therefore they'll continue to support the site which in turn allows us to continue bringing it to you. Plus, by supporting our sponsors you help support this site, too! Oh yes, and sponsorship oppurtunities always exist. We need more sponsors. Interested? Contact x635@EMTBravo.com for details- we'll even design your ad and a custom campaign for FREE. Thanks! -Seth AKA EMTBravo AKA x635 http://www.emtbravo.com

Members- The EMTBravo List Is Reborn!!!! As some of you may know, this site was born from a rudementary email list nearly 5 years ago. "EMTBravo@*****.com" would email news of new deliveries, job openings and tests, etc to friends and others who wanted inclusion on the then-private list. The origins and idea for EMTBravo.com grew from those simple emails. This new list will pass along to subscribers all the information we recieve regarding various Fire, EMS, and Police events and happenings. We'll also be sending along news, job oppurtunities and tests, etc. This email will come a few times each week, more if important information comes along. You must opt-in on this list, so click on the link below to sign up! Click Here To Subscribe To The EMTBravo List

He's at it again? He's banned....again. Thanks for bringing this to my attention Chris, and I appreciate the way you handled this, and hope some members will learn from the above message.