EMTbravo

We encoruage open discussion, and any member is welcomed to start a spin off thread regarding rig safety or placement.....but what would members rather do...yup, that's right....complain. This thread was locked because more posts end up being like "That Cop was a dick", "pig", and various other comments that contribute nothing to the discussion. After speaking with someone in the affected area, there's more to this story then is being reported. Many members commenting don't have all the facts, therefore we feel that the BASHING of the state trooper and immediate defense of the fire chief, just because he is a fire chief, was unwarranted. This is also an internal policy issue with this FD and the NJSP, and nothing is accomplished by speculating on this forum. There is a lot you don't see with the moderation of this forum. For instance, the comments that were deleted from that thread accusing the officer of being a "pig", etc. Or us making calls to various contacts in the area departments to find out whats really going on. Fire and Police both have roles to play in this business, and jobs to do, and supervisors to answer to. It's a shame theres tension between the two roles sometimes, and we won't allow this forum to breed that tension. I understand the seriousness of this situation, and that it has happened before. If you truly feel strongly on this issue, feel free to start a neutral topic on this issue, but not this specific case. However, we won't allow a thread that is going to openly bash a police officer, especially when many members dont have the complete set of facts. This forum will be maintained as a constructive place to communicate. I will try and make myself perfectly clear here. Posting on this forum is a privledge, not a right. We WILL NOT allow this forum to become a rantfest or open forum to bash anyone. We DO NOT just simply "lock" important threads.

This was posted in another thread. I split it into this thread, so we could avoid getting off topic and I can address this question. If there are issues that need to be corrected and the brothers on this forum can help, that's one of the reasons this forum is provided. No one has been blocked out or censored here, the only time we will delete or edit posts is when they violate the forum rules, such as bashing an agency or person, or posting confidential information, posting nonsense etc. If an agency or official requests a post or thread be deleted, then we will address that on a case by case basis depending on a variety of factors, and the member will be notified. When something is posted constructively, in a positive manner, this forum will support that thread as best as we can in hopes that change will occur from stemming from the forms of communication this forum provides. We want this forum to make the local Fire,EMS and PD services better, but don't want this forum used as a rantfest. We are against the whole "keep things quiet and everythings ok" policies of many departments, and want to work against that, yet again don't want to turn this forum into a rantfest, nor do we want anyone hiding behind a screen name to run amuck on here. There are rules to this forum, and posting is a privledge, not a right. I know some people hate me because of the moderation of this forum, but I feel the moderation is one of the things that sets this forum apart from the others. If you'd like to discuss further, post on this thread or always feel free to contact me at EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com Due to the large volume of emails I recieve, my response may be delayed.

I'd like to also add this forum isn't for the airing of greivances- for just the airing of greivances and that's it. Let's save that for the upcoming Festivus holiday. The pole is up in the EMTBravo office!

The EMTBravo Group is proud to announce the launch of our latest site, http://www.emtbravowest.com EMTBravoWest.com was launched to give our friends in the Fire And EMS service in Southern California, Northern California, Arizona, and Nevada a positive, constructive, and friendly place to exchange information online. The EMTBravo Group has also assumed webmaster and operations of LAFirePhotos.com, in association with LAFirePhotos.com -EMTBravo

I'd like to take a moment to reach out to the youth of this forum. THE biggest complaint I recieve about this forum is about our younger members, the teenage crowd, who speak beyond their knowledge or place. Please don't get me wrong, we weclome EVERYONE to this forum, and I'm in no way discouraging anyone to post. I just want to point out to our younger members that's there's a great deal of members on this forum who have a wide array of knowledge and experience. Many of these member are people to look up to, and learn from. Instead of posting your reply, take a moment to read the thread, ask questions, and give members with the factual information or information based on experience a chance to answer. Think about it this way: You've been a career firefighter for 20 years, in a busy city, and come to this forum to share information with those with a common interest. However, you are outspoken and.......outnumbered.....by members that are much younger then you, fresh out of FFI or haven't even taken a class, who speak about your job like they've been doing it forever as well. How would you feel? Wouldn't you be turned off? I, and I want others to realize this is the internet generation, and this is how many teenagers and young adults communicate. Many are familiar with communicating on the internet, and it's part of our daily lives. Whereas the 20 year vet may not be as familiar with computer, and is still getting used to it. Also, keep an eye on your spelling and grammar- it reflects a great deal on your age and maturity. These members have an incredible amount of knowledge and experience to share, and I want the younger members of this forum to realzie and respect that. Encourage their posting by asking questions, soliciting feedback on your experiences, etc. Also, be aware of how your behavior reflects on you. No one is impressed by how much you know, rather they are impressed by how much you WANT to know. Get it? Thanks for reading that little tidbit, and I hope some members will take this advice. Also, you can now see everyone's rank and affiliation type in their post. Thanks -EMTBravo P.S. I do love all the members of this forum, and appreciate everyone's contributions!

I know we've given the members of this site a lot to chew on lately, but here is yet another thing we are working on to better the forums. I would like to develop a "Code Of Conduct", to replace the forum rules. This would serve as a rigid and clear guideline for member behavior. Give us some input back on this thread on what you think should be included in the EMTBravo Network Code Of Conduct.

Members- Moderators are also members of this site. They can participate in the discussions on this site, and freely express their thoughts, just like regular members. There posts DO NOT represent the views of this site, except for when acting as a moderator. Moderators are here to help members, and be on patrol for those who are here with the intent of causing trouble or "stirring the pot", to encourage discussion, and to help members with any issues they may be having in using the forum. If you have an issue with a moderator or the moderation of this site, PLEASE contact me, via EMAIL at EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com, not through this board, not through PM, via your email to my email. Thanks -Seth

Thanks for the nominations, but please tell me WHY the thread deserves to be "Thread Of The Month", like ALSFirefighter did when nominating the Nozzle thread. i.e. I learned that you could do such and such with a so and so.

Members- Our Global Moderators are here to help you use this forum. If you have a question about this forum, how to use a feature, how or where to post something, etc, feel free to contact one of them. Our Global Moderators were selected for a variety of reasons, and all of them have the best interest of this forum in mind. They have no problems with helping the membership of this forum in any way they can, especially if you're new to the forum and want to start posting. Also, if you have a complaint or issue regarding a thread or member, please contact a moderator for assistance Global Moderators are also here to keep this forum positive, constructive, and friendly, and to encourage discusson. Here are our Global Moderators: http://emtbravo.net/index.php?act=Stats&CODE=leaders We are still developing the moderator program, as well as many different things on this board, so please stick with us as we work to make this forum even better -EMTBravo

Members- We have implemented another new "Of The Month" program. We want to spotlight the threads that make this board what it is. Please nominate the thread you feel was the most positive, constructive, friendliest, and/OR informative. This thread MUST have been started during November 2006. You CANNOT nominate your own thread. You MUST make your nomination via post on this thread.....emails and PM's WILL NOT be accepted. Please post the title of the thread, and the link to the thread and why you are nominating it in your post. The moderators and myself will then decide which one gets "Thread Of The Month", and will announce it once we have enough nominations and a decision is made. "Thread" Wikipedia Definition: A topic thread (or simply "thread" when used in context) is a group of messages or postings to a Internet forum, all relating to a single topic.

Members- An idea I've had for a while that was re-suggested and therefore implemented by RWC130 and the rest of the staff on this forum is to have a "Verified Member Of The Month" program. This program will spotlight members who contribute to this forum in a positive and constructive way, and make it what it is. The moderators will each nominate one member per month. I will then select a member from that pool. Then, I will seek permission from that member to spotlight him/her, and do an interview. Result- An article and photo on this forum about that member. The Member will also get a special EMTBravo Network Member Of The Month avatar. December's "Member Of The Month" will be announced early, next week. From then on, the "Member Of The Month" will be announced during the first week of each month. -EMTBravo

I am at 110 emails and private messages thus far from members showing their support. Although I can't reply to everyone, I really, really appreciate it.

After a flood of emails (Over 75 in just under an hour) from people giving their support towards me and this site, I have reopened EMTBravo. It was an impulsive move for me to shut down the site, but I've been under some stress lately, and some of the things going on with this site have added significantly to that. I want this site to be the best it can be, and I work tirelessly and give my all to make that happen. To hear some of ignorant comments, both posted and emailed, I have heard recently bashing this site really got to me. To the point where I made myself physically ill over this site. This site consumes a large portion of my time, and I am very proud of it. I'm going to refocus, I have some health issues lately and other stuff going on in my life unrelated to this site but that contributes to my stress, so that's a factor as well. So, to the members who sent in their support, I appreciate it, and I am sorry for the impulsive move, I regret. Thanks again for the overwhelming show of support, I really needed it. I realize what this site is to a lot of people, and it was unfair and irrational to make the move I did. I have trouble telling people to back off when things are overwhelming me, and I constantly try to make everyone happy, and that's going to need to change. I realize there are some not very nice people out there who enjoy causing trouble for me and this site, and are miserable and impossible to please, and I will be working to phase those people out of this site. The numbers for this site keeps growing, so I must be doing something right, regardless of what some people say. I also have witnessed personally the benefits of this site, and it's effects on the community, and it's hard for me to walk away from after seeing that. I will be working in the next few weeks on some things which will hopefully improve this site for you and me. Thanks again for everyones support, and I apologize for my breakdown.

res6cue, you're also doing an awesome job, as I have told you. That's why I hate making posts like this...it always offends someone.

Yet another thank you I want to send out is to Truck4. Truck4 is one of the driving forces behind this site. He currently runs and develops our Incident Alert forums, and is the biggest contributor/reporter in that forum. I really apprecaite and value Truck4's hours upon hours he spends working on the IA's, and it really has helped to attract members to this site. Aditionally, Truck4 provides me with a lot of advice, monitors the forum while I am away, and compiles the yearly "Top Ten IA's", among the many other things. So, thank you Truck4! I would ask the members to post their thanks on this thread or PM Truck 4 to show their appreciaton. If it wasn't for him, along with our numerous IA contributors, the Incident Alert forum probally wouldn't exist!

As we approach the third birthday of this forum, I just wanted to thank a moderator who has been here since the beginning yet is often neglected by me. RWC130 is member #2, being one of the first to sign up for this forum. He has always created and encouraged posting, and given me feedback and ideas for the forum, and I do appreciate it. RWC130's main section is the communcations, where he works hard to keep our freqeuncy listing up to date. I apologize if I haven't made this post sooner, but I do apprecaite all the moderators and members that contribute to make this forum what it is. So, Thanks Rob!

I absolutely agree with you. Believe me, I wish more of the younger members and those "lurkers" would participate in more of the professional and educational discussions as well, but that's up to them and beyond my control. I'm doing everything I can to encourage it, though. I too feel that some aren't really truely interested in learning more, but that's not just an issue on here......

We have noticed an increasing amount of Law Enforcment personel using this forum. To better serve this sector of the Emergency Services community, we have started a Law Enforcment forum section. To gain access to this forum, you MUST be employed in the Law Enforcment field, OR be a verified member (non Law Enforcment but with an interest) with your complete name in your profile. If you meet the above, please email me with the following: Non-Verified Law Enforcment Members: Email EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com with your name, rank, and agency. This information will NOT be shared with anyone, and you will be emailed the forum password. Please include that you will not share the forum password with anyone else. Verfied Members: Email EMTBravo@EMTbravo.com for the password. You will be emailed the forum password. Please include that you will not share the forum password with anyone else. We are starting this forum as a trial, and hope that members of the local law enforcment community will find it beneficial. -EMTBravo

Thanks, res6cue. You hit the nail on the head. I, or we, do everything we can to encourage professional, insightful, and constructive discussion on this forum. There are a great deal of different topics being discussed here, and just because some of them are off-topic, please don't generalize the entire forum that way. The "Younger Firefighters" are more in tune with using the computer, that's why you see them here so much. I try hard to recruit and retain the more experienced vetrans of the fire and EMS service, to keep a balance and so that everyone can keep learning. However, a lot of the older members have trouble using a computer or the forum, which keeps them from posting as much as the younger members. Capt. Benz, I am glad to have you on this forum. Thank you! That's what this forum is primarily here for. If you want to write an article for FireEMSAlpha.com, please contact me at EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com Please don't bash this site's intentions or motives. The forum section you are referencing is called "The Lounge". It is intended for off-topic discussion. Off topic discussion forums are practially standard on many forums besides this one. It gives the members the chance to discuss other things amongst the community on this forum. This is a popular forum section, and provided to compliment the rest of the forum. If you don't like it, then you can toggle "The Lounge" off, or don't read the threads. Additionally, if you have comments or concerns about this forum, you can always contact me EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com. And please include a suggested solution to your complaint or concern. Please do not bash me or this site without giving me a chance or the benefit of the doubt. And it seems no matter what I do with this forum, I cannot win or please everyone. But please know that I try. This forum gets bashed, all the time, mostly by those who are misinformed. I, and the moderators, spend hours and hours working on this site for everyones benefit, and it's only as good as the members make it to be.

Well, after being on the drawing board for over a year, http://www.x635Photos.com has been launched. x635Photos.com is produced by The EMTBravo Group, and contains albums of x635's photos. Many are never before seen photos, and come from x635's ever-growing collection of photos from all over since 2003. New photos are continually being added, so please keep visiting. We hope you enjoy this site. -EMTBravo EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com http://www.emtbravo.com http://www.emtbravo.net http://www.fireemsalpha.com http://www.emtbravonewengland.com http://www.x635.blogspot.com http://www.x635Photos.com

It was removed for several reasons. -Low Usage. Not only the low usage was the issue- the same topics and same arguments kept popping up over and over. -To make space for new forums, such as Videoshare and the Cars forum. -The (majority) of juniors on this forum really didn't see themselves as juniors, so they would participate in the regular firematic discussions and completly disregard the forum that was there for them. If there are juniors that want to see it back, show your support. I will bring it back if enough people want to see it back

More new photos have been posted at http://www.emtbravo.com Photos from: -Nyack FD's Chiefs Parade 2006 -Spy Shots- Yonkers Police New Dodge Durango -Rye Fire's New Utility 49 -Stiloski's Big Rig Rescue Class Photos 11-4/5-06 (Over 115 Photos)

Once again, now that this number has been reached. With this number, I have some goals in mind that I hope the members of this forum will help me with. -More of our current members will enroll in our Verification program. -More members from Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, CT, NJ, and the NYC Metro area will share information from their communities. -That our current members from Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, southeastern CT, northern NJ, and the NYC Metro area , and any other areas will pass along this site to people they know and encourage new active members. -And most of all, more of the very active "lurkers" we have will start posting and share the information we know they have, and particpate in our discussions.

Over 115 photos from the Big Rig Rescue Class sponsored by Stiloski's Automotive are now posted: http://www.emtbravo.com Special thanks to HFD201 for taking and submitting the photos, and to HFD23 for burning and delivering the CD.

Today, we posted several new sets of photos that we think many of you will enjoy. And in case you haven't noticed, we're back to posting photos in the format we always have. Some of the newly posted photos are: -Bedford Hills Fire NEW Car 2031 -jjpinto's Classic Westchester Rescues -Verplank Tower Ladder 46 In Action @ VFD Open House -New Rochelle PD's New Prisoner Transport Unit -Spy Shots- Darien, CT FD New Engine 41 -New York State Police New Dodge Charger And some of the photos posted over the last week include: -Westchester County PD's New Air 2 -Spy Shots-Eastchester's New Command Cars -Eastchester FD's New Car 2105 -Tuckahoe PD's New Dodge Charger -Spy Shots- Scarsdale FD Utility 37 -Westchester County PD's New Car 1634 -Spy Shots-City Of Poughkeepsie Engine 1 Enjoy! And don't forget, we're always looking for good shots of recent EMTBravo area spy shots, recent deliveries, incidents, classic photos, and more! If you're interested in submitting your photos, contact via email EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com! (P.S. If you've submitted photos whenever and haven't seen them posted yet, please contact me via email)