GBFD111

The department in which you are giving mutual aid to, not your original department

Not sure if this is much help but I was a Mutual Aid member of a Volunteer Fire Department from 2009-2013 when I was in college in Upstate NY. I was already a member of another fire department in Westchester so I had to join their "mutual aid membership." We wouldn't pay annual dues, weren't allowed in meetings nor allowed to vote, but had to abide by all of the same standards as their firefighters, such as physicals, annual interior requalifications, etc. This was perfect as I was able to volunteer and able to serve the community of my college town and did not have to deal with any of the politics or drama from the meetings. As a mutual aid member, I was allowed to use my home department gear or would be issued gear from the mutual aid department. As for insurance, my understanding was that I was covered under the Mutual Aid departments insurance, similar to if you call mutual aid regularly from another department.

Just leave the state of NY...best thing i've ever done

He is not referring to the article. If you look at the "comment" section there is an individual who wrote this, "The joke is the fact that these hobbyist hero volunteers didn't find him as soon as they got there. The story was changed to say after the fire was out he was discovered. Make sure your smoke detectors work constantly! Put one in every room, heck, put two!" Who has the audacity to say this crap... Hobbyist volunteers?

While working in St. Lawrence County we used the ambulance as a "flycar" for ALS intercepts all of the time. We would take the on call driver and the ALS and drop off the medic. There were actually many times where we did have to transport in our ambulance due to the other ambulance getting another call while we were on scene so we would handle and transport the ALS call and let the BLS rig go to the BLS call in their district. It worked very well actually.

I want one! hahaha

I have heard that many VAC's in Westchester already have completed their in-service training for Nasal Narcan and already have it. I would rather BLS crews have Glucagon over the Narcan. BLS providers can use Glucometers though cannot give glucose to unresponsive patients. During a Diabetic Emergency minutes DO matter and if all of the Medics are out on a job we can't give D-50 the VAC's are stuck. Lets try to save those who have an actual medical emergency instead those who overdose on narcotics.

Here are some pictures that I took after the fire. Here's what was left of the Willy's... what a tragedy Tarrytowns Former Engine 80 which is now going to be acting as Rescue 24. Sorry for the bad picture quality. Towing Rescue 24 from the Scene

The tanker was NOT empty. A past chief dumped the water right away into a porta-tank. The smoke detectors were working just fine

Breezly, You are missing the overall point of what this initial post is saying. The topic here is consolidation within the fire districts that we live in, not to put down any department, individuals, etc. Relating to the fire that you are speaking of, I personally was not there because I have moved away but as most people know there is more gossip and rumors that go around a fire house, or firehouses, then a teenage girl in high school. Anyway, going back to the topic in hand... I have recently moved away from Westchester County and I am seeing this issue that RES24CUE has brought up in the department I am affiliated with in St. Lawrence County. We though are on the other end of it. Many of these rural departments near us can practically NEVER get a rig out of service and always depend on us for mutual aid. First off, if we go to one of these departments (which do not have a lot of money) and crash one of our rigs THEY will have to the cost of it. This will indubitably create tension between firehouses. One of these rural departments I have heard had to borrow money from the town to put new bay doors on their barn, I mean station so they can keep fixing their trucks they never use. Now what happens when we have an serious call in our district when our apparatus is covering what you can't handle? Call mutual aid again? Some of these departments only have maybe 15-20 fireman and are on the outskirts of our township, maybe 6-7 minutes away. If we consolidate these departments we can consolidate all of our resources, and have nicer toys to break. Its sad to say but I am seeing a full volunteer fire department a thing of the past. Here in Canton, moving towards the Ambulance side, we now have a paid ALS provider for our ambulances between 6AM-4PM Monday through Friday, and have been relying on volunteers to drive. All other hours of the day is solely volunteer ran both BLS and ALS. This worked for a while but during the regular work day it can be hard to get drivers and people who can volunteer their time for an hour and a half, praying that there will not be another call right before you get back in service that you will get forced into taking. Now as a department, we are talking about hiring a paid driver during the day and to be all volunteer during the evenings. We need to start looking into consolidation between departments, using money that we will save in rig costs as well as other budget cuts, to cover larger fire district with paid adequate manpower during the day. One can make the argument of "well you aren't going to get there faster." What is better, having a fully staffed rig and taking a little longer to get there, or having a half staffed rig exceeding what they can initially handle. After the work day ends, let volunteers come and volunteer within their community that they are proud of serving. Thoughts?

From the previews that I have watched, it looks like it is going to pretty much be the same thing as the UK version which only lasted one season. http://www.watchseries-online.eu/category/sirens-uk ^^^^ Thats the URL i found to watch the UK version of Sirens. Its pretty funny and definitely entertaining.

I just took my NYS Recert and had my onsite test last week. For my class it was not mandatory to buy a new book. I used the same book that i bought in 2010 when I took my original EMT-B. I also have not heard of any classes for a recert that it was MANDATORY to buy a textbook. If for some reason that it is the case, my opinion would be to talk to your FD and see if they would purchase it. I am definitely going for CME's the next go around...

The media should just get out of the Chief's face. Let him do his job as IC and talk to him after he has the fire under control, after the call is over, or overhaul

I have to respectfully disagree with you. You should be able to read the conditions around you to make good decisions without having to "feel" the fire. BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS CONSTANTLY. God forbid you need to bail out or a mayday is called and you are not in an ideal location, I would want myself and the other members of my department, or any department for that matter, to have the BEST PPE to give the best protection to that firefighter until that brother is safe.

As stated earlier, and I agree that to "expedite" is a phrase we use to make ourselves on scene feel better in an uncomfortable or serious situation. It can be beneficial to get across that the call is serious and we need all hands on deck as soon as possible but at what cost? For example, you have an ambulance driver who just got cleared 2 days prior to drive the ambulance. This is also the first time that the driver has ever drove anything bigger than a Toyota Prius. Now the driver hears the word "expedite" and pushes the gas pedal through the floor without using "due regard" on his/her response. Keep in mind this is the first time he/she has ever responded to a call, want to impress the other members on his/her "savy driving" and then rolls and crashes the ambulance. (I know arguments can occur that "well that person shouldn't be driving the ambulance but lets forget about that because it DOES and CAN happen, especially in the world of volunteers) Words like "expedite" may very well be uncomfortable for incoming responders. What should be done is to either communicate with Dispatch or to the Incoming Units on the patients current condition. Now you are NOT telling the new driver how to drive which will make the driver feel more comfortable. Also you are giving crucial updates to the EMT's/Medics/First Responders to help in best outcome of the patient. Will everyone stop saying "expedite?" No. Its a good discussion, especially for officers and those who really do care, but radio etiquette and proper word choices that should and should not be said over the radio is way too long of a discussion and will never end. Just my 2 cents...