Dinosaur

Hahaha good analogy. People have to get with the program. Its 2010 and we still call for stuff by name instead of by kind and type. Its just plain stupid to be working that way. Funny how NFPA gets used when people want a bigger better truck but they ignore the stuff that may make them better or keep them safe. Most volunteer agencies cant staff 3 buses and a rehab unit at the same time. What is "full staffing"? Two EMTs or an EMT and a medic is full staffing. You don't have to be like a circus clown car to be fully staffed. If its a paid agency the buses are staffed already so I don't know what you mean by saying they cant get rigs out. Maybe they dont have any more left to send you but I believe most have more than 3 out so your comparison is flawed. If you are driving by an incident just hold it down until the resident agency gets there and then leave. If you ask for permission and are turned down so be it. Go home and watch TV, it isn't your problem. If somebody is too stupid or has to big an ego to take help thats there problem.

Scene size-ups have to be done and with the exception that efd points out there's no excuse for not doing them. Dispatch should prompt people to give them. If a unit calls on but doesn't offer a size-up with the next 60 seconds, the dispatcher should ask for it. Dispatchers aren't parrots. They can use their brains a little bit too.

Amen, brother. They call it "mutual aid" when it is really more of contract for back-up service. Somers pays WEMS more than 1/2 a million bucks a year to staff their first ambulance and dispatch them from their own facility. Since Somers is a political subdivision did they bid this out or just give the contract with WEMS? Does WEMS a private for-profit business pay for the space they use at the district? Why are Somers taxpayers underwriting their operation? Didn't Mohegan split their EMS operation from the FD and create a VAC that can now bill for service? Why doesn't Somers do the same thing? Then users of the system can subsidize it instead of just their local residents. How many accidents does Somers go to on 684 or other roads that involve non residents? The whole dispatch thing makes no sense at all. 60-Control could dispatch Somers in a heartbeat. They dispatch tons of busier agencies. Its like Somers wants to be its own private little empire. Does the WEMS crew at Somers go out of the district on mutual aid if that's the first call?