Dinosaur

I'll grant you that some people don't understand their role in rehab and can be too big for their britches but your attitude makes me glad you weren't assigned to one of my companies.

It is really pathetic that nobody can/will step up and educate the members here about what's in those stupid trailers. There are over a 100 members of DES counting the team members and a lot of them are members here too. It speaks volumes about what DES is all about when they won't confront an issue like this one head on but rather hide in the shadows just reading these threads.

Thanks for the info, I didn't know that about the airport. Have they ever tested that plan?

For planning yes but I think for response the SEMO expectation is that the cities will coordinate with/threw the County not go directly to them. At least that is what I was told back in the day.

What do you expect with 500 fire departments in the metro area? A couple hundred on Long Island, 50-60 in Westchester, plus countless others in the other suburban counties. Only NJ has started to regionalize and they've had some success with it. Westchester could be well served with 5-6 FD's not 10x that. Imagine the savings if we aimed for that. Big, busy combination departments with all sorts of possibilities for hiring, advancement, training, experience. Wow, just like most of the rest of the country.

So long as there are two different standards there will always be problems. One standard, one title firefighter. Anything else is an opening for naysayers wehther they're right or not.

Thanks for the info. I thought it was something relating to tire wear from lack of use. I hope they have a big air compressor up there with logos and patches and reflective striping so they fill all the tires on all the vehicles that never move when the feds come to collect all the waste.

3 pages of posts and still no answer on what is in those trailers or what they're used for. Sounds like a DES gag order at work.

So now it is up to Bee Line to be 24 hour emergency responders in addition to bus drivers? In downtown New Rochelle there must be a building that can be used as a shelter without expecting the bus company to keep drivers on duty around the clock in case an emergency happens. Who's gonna pay for that? There just needs to be real municipal emergency planning.

I would never use zip ties. They're too narrow and can cause soft tissue, circulatory, and/or nerve damage. It can also become a real challenge to remove them if they're really tight.

Probably a bad idea. Look at the stupid debates started on this forum by a single picture. Documenting that four point restraints were used and circulation was checked to insure that they were not to tight is enough. You'd probably start a riot taking the picture in some places too and then we'd all have to be issued cameras. Just not worth the crap.

If they have the exact same challenges why aren't they required to have the exact same training? So much of this volunteer/career crap would go away if the volunteer's didn't lobby for no minimum standards while there are minimum standards for initial and ongoing training on the career side. How many of those line of duty deaths are due to the fact that the volunteers are treated differently? I know this is a tough question and will start a wild debate but don't you think that if we held them more accountable we could reduce those deaths? If the police didn't turn a blind eye to the blue lighter speeding to a call "because it's a volunteer" maybe a future accident would be prevented. If fitness requirements exists maybe a future heart attack would be prevented but we ignore that "because they're volunteers". Then, quite simply, they should be held to the same standards as their career counterparts. All this brotherhood BS is just that, BS. We segregate our selves by qualifying our service with "volunteer" or "career". I hate seeing "100% volunteer" painted on the sides of trucks or buildings. Who cares? Only the people INSIDE that truck or building because all the public wants is a quick response to their emergency. You want to be an EMT or police officer or paramedic or nurse or doctor it is ONE training program. Why is it different in the fire service? Until you answer that question and fight from within your glass house to change it this is all just hot air!

LOL, this is a good one...

Is this County Car 1 the position Smith got or is that the fire side line-up? This is more than a fire position. The boss at ER has to be able to run the department, manage budgets and deal with people inside and outside the department, work with all the different divisions not just fire. I'm sure they're people in Dutchess who are good managers but Smith was working inside the department for the past 4 years, learned the County system and got the job. He has been around the block as a paramedic and instructor not only an EMT. I never worked for him personally but I've heard of him and it was all good. Why don't you give him a chance before dumping on him? If they had picked some fire fossil from inside the county nobody'd be happy either. Why'd the pick someone from Pawling or Poughkeepsie or Poughquag and not Red Hook or Rombout or whereever? We're much busier then them it should have been our chief or this one or that. Of course its a good ol' boys club. That's why they call it politics.

ALL firefighters would include exterior only ff no?

"Exterior" members is just another way of catering to people who won't get trained to do the full job. How long do you let a member stay exterior?

Bu11$hi7!!! Volunteer organizations can and should mandate and enforce rules, regulations and above all training requirements. If a member doesn't want to abide by the rules what good are they anyway? I've been a member of volunteer organizations that required training, attendance at drills, a duty night, work details, etc. If I didn't meet the requirement I got a "gentle reminder" from an officer the following month and if I didn't square it away I got suspended from riding and barred from social activities at the department. If I still screwed off and didn't meet my required activity, I would be brought up and disciplinary charges and could be expelled. Just because we're volunteers doesn't mean we can't have discipline and requirements. Most often when a member votes with their feet as you put it they're no big loss.

The fact that you have to distinguish being a dedicated "volunteer" firefighter and not simply a dedicated firefighter shows the hypocrisy of your position. You're as anti-career as the people you allege are anti-volunteer. I'm no lawyer, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I don't believe that the Declaration of Independence is legally binding like the Constitution. Your argument may be flat out wrong. Ding, this round to the framers of the Constitution.

55 years? Maybe the guy should step aside and let someone who is willing to be trained do the job. Jeez, that's more than TWO full careers and 48 of the 55 years were chief? Seriously, this is his argument from the article: He can't document his training so who's to say what his qualifications really are. "Experience" needs to be documented too, that's why task books are such a good idea for credentialing personnel. You know what they've done and can document it. Personally, I don't see any merit to the chief's argument. As a chief he's responsible for a lot more than just "fighting fires" and I don't think fire load is off the charts in Spotsylvania. A lot of activity 40 years ago doesn't equal experience in the contemporary fire service. Essentials has been replaced with FF 1 in just the time that I've been around. What was it like in 1955? Two hours?

People always throw the Constitution up in arguments. Please tell us where in the US Constitution it says that you're entitled to volunteer in a FD even if you're a career FF? What Constitutional right is being abridged? Be specific because I must have an outdated version. Mine is dated 1787.

If you've got a flycar sitting outside for a week and a half without going anywhere you probably have to rename it. Or sell it!!

Can't we just agree that they're ALL important?

I see lots of people wearing turnouts that say "EX CHIEF" or "EX CAPTAIN" or "EX LIEUTENANT" and I was wondering why? Are you a chief for life? Does an ex-officer have to maintain any credentials or training? Why recognize ex-officers like that?

Amen brother. Remember who we work for!

Get over yourselves. Stop arguing with each other. Start treating the victim and then get off the road. There's no reason to stay there with four trucks blocking half the road after the ambulance leaves. The fire service isn't better than the police, just different. Law enforcement isn't better than the fire service, just different. EMS isn't better than either, every minute just sucks. And a personal note for someone in this thread try spell check or a dictionary.