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Always up front...belted and the compartment alley is blocked. Had the misfortune of a pt. codeing suddenly with wife upfront. It wasn't pretty I fought her with my right hand and drove with my left. Had the compartment been available she certainly would have interfered with the medic and crew in the back. We got him there alive..unfortunately he did not survive. Two weeks later she sent a letter thanking us for all we tried to do.

OFD to the rescue.............."thanks for volunteering guys"

In our district we are very busy. Often two rigs out on jobs with no backup in sight. I said that PD should first respond to a lift assist with no talk of injury. we have a very well trained PD who have been responding for many years along with ems to all calls. times change and the volumn of ems calls has exceeded coverage so all the more reason for pd to be dispatched first to non emergency lift assist requests. i never said they were nuisance calls. ive been on many lift assists both needing and not needing medical care and know the priorities. we do not have the luxury of having more than 2 ambulance crews available and mutual aid just strips neighboring towns who have trouble just getting a crew together for a daytime call. in urban sectors most lift assists are handled by fd because they have the units available in rural areas both ems and fire are volunteer so that is why pd should be first to go.

Sorry but I have to comment. In a VOLUNTEER district when a call comes in for a lift assist it should be first answered by police. They take the call and do the dispatch. There are many more police officers on duty in cars than there are vehicles for ems. When the call comes in IF the caller indicates that there is an injury or medical need then of course dispatch the ambulance. If the call is just to help the party back into a chair or bed then the call can and should be handled by police. Once again...should the called indicate a need for medical treatment fine then send the ambulance but DON'T send them and tie up the only EMS crew in the district for a LIFT unless the first responder requests one.

yeah sure they are police....hahahahaha...when they are not sleeping or driving around in circles in the parking lot. many of them have been there forever and ever and ever......pay to see them chase a mugger.....

To John and his family and all my friends and members of BMFD deepest condolences.

Whoa there big fella! I meant no harm to Briarcliff Amb. It's people like you who live in Briarcliff who think their special that cause all the unrest! When I first moved to Ossining 25 years ago I was at a scene on 9A and Chappaqua Road (I hadn't joined OVAC yet). It was three in the afternoon...a woman hit the light pole and was pinned and injured badly. I was first car stopped. The Briarcliff Manor Police were there in three minutes...The fire department showed up in 10...with 4 men....the ambulance NEVER SHOWED UP...couldn't get a crew....OVAC saved the womans life!!! I joined OVAC one month later...WHY?... Because that could have been my wife or kid in that car. I averaged 125 calls for the next three years....some were mutual aid to Briarcliff or Croton but most were to Ossining. In the years that followed OVAC grew to THREE RIGS and covered 99% of their own calls. Nobody said that OVAC continuously covers Briarcliff calls..that is not true..and yes as a matter of fact every once in awhile Briarcliff comes to the BLS Rescue when OVAC is out on other calls or heaven forbid is having mechanical issues with a rig. Oh and the flycar....IT IS OPERATING ON OVAC'S LICENSE...GET A LIFE MY FRIEND!

OVAC has been in the ALS business for a very long time! There used to be 18 Volunteer medics covering all shifts 24/7. There was a time when member requirements were 60 HOURS PER MONTH...and you had to beg borrow and steal for a shift! Through no fault of there own many of the volunteers either burned out or moved away. Thankfully, a talent pool exists where the excellent care OVAC is famous for is being carried on....though at a price. The volunteers at OVAC are a proud bunch...I am proud to be a retired life member of a great corps!

Croton is not alone...Briarcliff has the same problem...spotty coverage of calls...OVAC to the Rescue. 15 years ago OVAC was mostly volunteer with few shifts being covered by paid personell. Now due to erosion of the volunteer base OVAC is covered nearly 24/7 with paid crews both ALS and BLS. OVAC also contracts with Briarcliff and Croton for an ALS flycar. Call volumes are thru the roof and even with 2 buses and the flycar OVAC is sometimes stretched too thin to cover calls in either village for transport. Solution, hire a paid driver in both communities and they will have coverage.

Unless I am seriously blind the lettering on the two OVAC rigs say 74 A1 and 74 A2 despite what stealth medic said.

the lettering is 7481, not 74B1! Ok stealth don't have a baby.........

The correct lettering is 74-B1. OVAC now has 74-A1 and A2 and B1. The A's are ALS busses and are staffed 24-7 with PAID crews of 2. EMT and Medic on A1 and B1 is the BLS bus is EMT x2. We also run a 24-7 ALS paramedic flycar that is contracted out to Croton and Briarcliff EMS and responds to all calls in those districts and mutual aid to Ossining as a medic as needed. We also house a Paramedic Supervisor who oversees the Operation as well as a Captain and two Lt.s none of whom are paid who keep the volunteers going. In former years OVAC was ALL Volunteer but now due to the economy has lost so many volunteers that it is impossible to staff an all volunteer Corps. Call volumes are pushing 3000 calls per year. It's not the OVAC many of you were associated with....but its still great!

Eastchester needs a rig this big....what a joke? Thats why everybody is questioning FD apparatus spending in the burbs!

Another victim of the Sprain 500. The daily sprint down or up to 287 and beyond. This one may be the highest yet. Once saw a vette up in the limbs southbound at about the same spot. Good job by all!

Am a VAC retired life member. We run close to 2500 calls per year. Ever been to a firemans parade? Check out how many ladders are in it? Every department does not need 2 ladders...some have 2...most have one....most need none. If there is a ladder company in the next town which most likely is only a mile or two away there is no need to have 6 ladders within a 5 mile radius in the suburbs of Long Island or Westchester. Ever look at the size of the Rescues...same deal....don't need a rescue in every town, village or neighborhood for less than 6 extrications a year and rarely if ever a double call within a 3 town radius. I love our volunteer fire department...they are top notch..but they are over equipped for anything we are ever going to need that can't be gotten just as quickly from mutual aid without stripping the neighboring towns.

All the comparisons between Westchester Departments and FDNY are stupid. If something like this tragedy happened in Northern Westchester it would take alot of time to get as many EMS busses as they needed to the scene. Probably at least half would be Volunteer BLS busses who thankfully now would be backed by plenty of ALS flycars in the area. FDNY is the "Cream of the Crop" when it comes to this type of operation. There are plenty of dedicated volunteers (many of whom are FDNY members) that could have handled this event tho not as swiftly as FDNY can. Stop comparing the two you can't. Additionally, there would have been at least two and maybe more helicopters at the scene which undoubtedly would have been able to transport multiple patients quickly to nearby trauma centers. I would hope that IF a similar incident occurred within a 10-20 radius of New York City that FDNY resources have been asked to respond.