JackEMT

I wonder if anyone noticed who he actually was.

I believe they said the one MassDOT uses can clear 2.5 lanes in one pass.

Mass DOT has a trailer like this that is used on the Mass Pike. Neat concept and fun to watch in action.

It has potential, I'll watch the first few episodes. I wonder if they got story lines from the "real world" of EMS.

I worked the area over 15 years ago, very few cases where you need 4WD ambulances, especially in the metro area. Sure there were times you wish you had one, but it's not really worth the added cost and operational expense for a commercial service. And no, they do not plow very well up there, in fact some of the worst I have ever seen. I hope they have gotten better. I hope the rigs are more functional than they are looking.

Increase in gas prices nudged many to change the vehicles they drive (hybrid/electric/diesel/etc). Would dramatic increase in electricity prices do the same? I don't know about many others, but for my home, the delivery charge is far more than my generation charge. (I live in MA where I can choose my electric company so the charges are separated.) I agree, CFL do not give the same light but I think the more recent LED are getting much better (but still too expensive).

Tragic. Thoughts and prayers to the family, friends and follow troopers.

It's a tough situation, but I side with the mayor on this one (as long as he is within legal bounds). 1) They are on the clock as employees, they were hired to do a job and be at the job. Yes, they might be late because they are at a structure fire, fine. But leaving the job for an alarm? I would consider that "off the clock" and they don't get paid. 2) Liability, if they respond to an alarm during their normal working hours, they get injured, is that considered "on the job" since it's during their work shift, they are getting paid and they got permission to respond to the alarm? 3) Do they have to respond to the alarm in their POV or do the DPW employees take the town vehicles to the alarm and in essence out of service? 4) If they are able to do this for fire and EMS personnel, then someone who volunteers at the school as a tutor, crossing guard or with Salvation Army, American Red Cross, DMAT, physicians without borders can sue for paid time off to volunteer also. Just opening a can or worms. I understand the need to staff volunteer emergency services. I did it. When I was working at home and the pager went out, if they couldn't staff the rig on the first or second set of tones, I left my paid job to take the call. I had an understanding manager that allowed me to do this, but he had the right to tell me that I could not do that and I would have had to comply.

I was disappointed in the local (Boston) news outlets that didn't really didn't cover this anniversary well. But I was glad to see that thousands of people made the trip to the memorial site in Worcester yesterday.

I believe this came up on another topic thread, but here is a link to the actual suit filed this month. "Uninitiated deployment of deck spray gun" That might be interesting crowd control on unassuming pedestrians.Blog: http://www.universalhub.com/2013/lexington-wants-nearly-1-million-replace-what-it Lawsuit: http://www.universalhub.com/files/lexington-complaint.pdf Lexington wants nearly $1 million to replace what it says is the little fire engine that couldn't By adamg, Sun, 11/24/2013 - 6:23pm The town of Lexington has sued a Louisiana firetruck company, alleging the company sold it a lemon of a firetruck that has problems ranging from steering, transmission and brake failures to a water gun going off by itself. In its suit, filed earlier this month, the town wants Ferrara Fire Apparatus to reimburse it the $500,000 cost of Engine 2, the $465,000 Town Meeting appropriated earlier this year to buy a replacement, the money the town's already spent on non-warranty servicing and lawyer's fees. Plus, the town wants "multiple damages" for its problems with the troublesome truck. The town originally sued Ferrara in Middlesex Superior Court; Ferrara last week had the case transferred to US District Court in Boston. In its suit, the town said it's been forced to take Engine 2 out of service at least 24 times since it accepted delivery in 2010 - including eight times this year - and that it's been forced to use an old engine at the East Lexington fire station as a substitute for the 274 total days the vehicle has been in the shop.

that looks like a lot of damage. They are made to take a bit of abuse and off-road terrain, but that must have been one hell of a ride.

IMHO, one real ugly looking truck. Dodge has some nice designs, but they missed the ball on this one. The headlight and hood remind me of a Fiat.

Interesting concept, but a very purpose build vehicles. It really steps things up from stuffed animals that most rigs have in their peds bag. I wonder if they can install a Federal Rumbler altered to sound like a swarm of bees! I drove a rig for a children's hospital for years. I spend hours sitting around at the transferring hospitals while the staff was stabilizing the patient for transport. I would have put the TV and video games to use!

I am not sure it should be a requirement but it should be part of health ed class. I did it as part of freshman health ed. My college had a minimum swimming requirement for graduation.

Many homeowners have gotten emergency generators during or after Super-storm Irene. But as you seen in LI, that drives a demand for gasoline the longer the outage continues. Have neighborhoods figured out how to get power to fuel stations during extended outages? (This is assuming public safety sites like PD, FD, hospitals, etc are taken care of first). Have departments set up or conducted safety classes/inspections for emergency generators? In New England, there were a couple house fires due to generators. Obviously stand-by generators (hardwired into the house) should be inspected, but portable emergency generators can be bought and used without inspection.

I think the one aspect they fail to mention is, personal safety. We know the most dangerous aspects of flight is take-off and landings. If there is an emergency, the crew needs to relay important information and directions. If people are fiddling with their personal electronic, they are less likely to pay attention to their surroundings. I think any distractions should be banned during take-off and landing, especially electronic devices (and not for the technical reasons).

oops. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/automobiles/ford-issues-recall-for-focus-ev-and-ambulances.html?_r=2& In a second action, Ford will recall about 3,100 Super Duty ambulances from the 2011-12 model years for a problem that could shut down the 6.7-liter turbocharged V8 diesel engines. The automaker said a problem with an exhaust-gas temperature sensor could cause the engine to stop “and not be restarted for at least one hour.” The automaker said it was not aware of any accidents or problems for patients related to the problem.

Any ideas what ConEd and the MTA purchased? (Did LIPA go bankrupt or did they make changes after the storm too?)

If my garage was only big enough. A beautiful rig.

Or he's in the gym. That's too bad. The business has to be a lot of work, but it's a family business.

NY Post has a sneak photo: http://nypost.com/2013/10/22/jetblues-secret-new-fdny-plane-leaks-online/

Got the DVR set to record the rerun, missed the show last night. Did he hire some of the guys back for the peak season?

My wife keeps telling me that I'm not funny and it's even harder on-line. I was joking in light of this discussion: http://www.emtbravo.net/index.php/topic/49497-paving-to-reduce-saw-mill-parkway-flooding-set-to-start/

Will it be stationed on the Saw Mill Pkwy?

Is that a chief or safety officer at the front door?