SteveC7010

That is going to depend on agency rules and requirements. You will have to talk to someone who can speak for the specific agency which you are interested in joining. FWIW, most (if not all) VACs have an intake path for non-certified people, but what you will actually be trained for and allowed to do without holding an EMT card will again depend on agency rules and procedures.

Seth, sadly I think that there are still a lot of departments out there who believe that the rules just do not apply to them. It should not have taken the death of a firefighter and subsequent OSHA investigations to bring about these changes. For example, I just finished advising a fire department about matters related to 501©3 tax exempt status and it was a real horror show. There are influential members in the department that still do not believe that they will have to file full 990 tax returns even though their annual income is clearly large enough for returns to be required by law. (Federal tax law requires complete tax returns for income $50,000 or more per year. Under $50K, you file a 990-N which contains no financial information. It's a simple affirmation that your agency's income was less than $50,000.) They don't think their annual reports are public information and must be disclosed promptly without the need for FOIL requests. They truly believe that they will receive a very large gift from a donor without being 501©3. Luckily, one or two much cooler heads have prevailed and they are on the right track.

That's the message I have been getting from BEMS, too. It's probably why we're not seeing any discussion on this thread.

I'm no where near Putnam County, and had no part in providing that information to Radio Reference. Whatever is there was provided by scanner folks down in that area. You'll have to verify this with someone down there. All I have done is pointed you at a very useful resource.

Here is a link to the RadioReference.com page on Putnam County. The info there is updated by scanner enthusiasts on a regular basis. There is also quite a bit of info on individual department frequencies, and there is a link to the FCC's complete database of radio licenses in the county. http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=1864

It does not matter. Age was not part of the job description so it has to be disregarded by law. And, realistically, these days there are an awful lot of very healthy and active people in their sixties who are fully able to perform as well as they did in their forties. I am one of them. Conversely, there are a bunch of mid-forties to mid-fifties paid men in terrible shape in departments all over the country. I'd also want to see the job description before arguing this point any further. A lot of departments like this hire "paid drivers" or similar titles rather than full firefighters even though they're required to be certified. Since it is possible that the job description may not have required full firefighter physical ability, until we know for sure, debating that point isn't accurate or productive. Interesting point for everyone, the plaintiff was among the top five on the list, but they hired none of them, picking someone lower down on the list. NYS Civil Service law generally requires hiring from the top three on the list. Sounds to me like they shot themselves in the foot several times over.

Nearly 30 years ago, I built a log home. I specified full 3/4" plywood for the main subfloor with 2x12's for floor joists. Being a log home, we used double thickness 2x12's for the rim to support the extra weight of the exterior log walls. I also spec'd the joists to be 18" on center instead of the usual 24" that most builders will do unless told otherwise. That also contributed to more load bearing capacity on the rim. I did consider the OSB "I" beams as they were just gaining acceptance in the manufactured housing industry at the time but rejected them as being too susceptible to water damage and possibly fire damage. Guess I made a good call.

Does anyone have any current info on which standard NYS DOH might be favoring for adoption? Is anyone paying any attention at all to either of these specs if you're looking at a new unit in the next year or two? We're looking at purchasing a new ambulance on a 2016 chassis to replace our 2006 type III. The search team just got started and we have yet to even begin to compile a list of what we want in the patient care area. But we're concerned about the effect of a new standard on what we'll be buying. I'll be seeing our BEMS reps on the 19th but thought I'd toss this out for discussion now so that I've got a broader view of what the EMS community is thinking on the subject.

From the picture, it looks like the 2x stock portion of the wood I beams didn't even char very much. I can't tell from the black and white pic if the OSB portion is burned away or disintegrated from being soaked in water. Either way, the hazard is obvious and severe.

It look like a Larsen Golight. If it is, most of their models come with a removable cover plate. It would make sense that the first pic might still have the plate in place, even though it might be later removed and tossed aside. It's not really a hood, just a plate that snaps in place over the lens.

I think you are correct on this. I have never heard of such a law here in NYS, but, as you say, many departments have self imposed maximum memberships. I belonged to a unit like that early in my career. I also did some googling on the topic and came up emptyhanded. Presuming that there is no state law on the subject, that begs the question of how the newspaper article ended up reporting that the Commissioner told the Town Board that there is a state limit. Did the reporter misunderstand or ignore a more accurate statement? Or did the Commissioner give inaccurate info to the Town Board? Given one glaring inaccuracy, I wonder how much of the rest of the article is reliable?

A lot of inconsistencies in the article, and then the comments open up a bunch of info that was not presented in the article. Two fire houses within a quarter mile of each other? Hmmmm!

There have been and continue to be deployments from the Capital Region. One department in our county sent their Argo and 3 guys. Another sent a Polaris off-road vehicle and men as well.

Seth, opinion only: AHA just teaches high quality compressions and rate along with ventilation and defibrillation (acknowledging the 2015 AHA changes are about to hit the street) even for rescuer level. REMSCO protocols just specify the need for CPR and, much the same as AHA, just rate and quality, defib cycles, etc. Neither has anything to say about how one gets the patient into a position where "ideal" CPR, defib, and other measures plus transport can be performed. In my view, it's the kind of thing that could be adopted and practiced at the local agency level. Nothing in the procedure appears to be contrary to AHA or REMSCO protocol. It actually calls for and requires continuous, high quality, uninterrupted CPR. I showed the video at our monthly ambulance squad meeting this evening. There was a lot of enthusiasm and interest from all the folks present, including our local fire chief.

The situation is even more blurry now looking at other items that emergency services purchase, especially radios. Radios assembled here in the US are probably 95% composed of overseas components. Ownership is, well, who knows anymore? Motorola Solutions is still based in the Illinois, but production is world wide. Other brands may be based in Japan, but have huge distribution, repair, and dealer networks in the US. Most, if not all, new and innovative products, while developed in the US by Americans, are all manufactured in another country. Given the globalization that is so wide spread these days, I suspect it's not possible to simply "Buy American" anymore. I know there may be some exceptions, but having purchase rules in place that specify US made only is overall, an antiquated concept that can no longer be blindly applied across the board. Wasn't it a kick when, by its own rules, NASCAR had to add Toyota to its list of manufacturers that could compete in their programs? I think that woke up a lot of people to the cold, hard facts of globalization.