GAW6

Not to mention, is 37M1 going to be responding to calls on the Reservation at night? This would be stripping the Town of a a Medic - and the taxpayers of Mount Pleasant are paying for this service! Also, no one has mentioned the burden on Pleasantville. What happens when HFD can't respond - PVAC is their first due mutual aid. Nice that someone mentioned about VVAC and HFD getting some $$$ for this, but what about PVAC who is HFD's first due mutual aid. P.S. Unlike VVAC and HFD, PVAC has NO paid staff.

As a responder that day, one of the things that got me through was that I kept telling myself that those poor children didn't know what hit them. When the toxicology report came out, it broke my heart. Those kids had to be so frightened in that car with that drunk/high maniac. I also firmly believe that Dan Schuler said or did something to his wife that morning that caused her to go over the edge - I only hope that one day the truth will come out. By the way, I thought HBO did a terrible job!

There should always be a minimum of two ambulances, one for treating and one for transport. That is in ADDITION to a Rehab Unit.

Not in favor of this at all. If you look at Somers, for an example, where it states that they have a $2.7M budget, and now you are going to bill the residents on top of what they are already paying in their property taxes?

Sorry I wasn't more clear; that $$$ IS for BLS AND ALS service. A bit high? I don't think so considering we are in Westchester County.

Well said. Couldn't agree with you more! Whenever someone brings up about flaws in a "vollie" department/system - it always turns in to the paid vs. volunteer discussion. I personally am tired of the "Certain Ones" on here constantly saying that volunteers/departments suck! Put your money where your mouth is BNechis and show me how a paid department will cost me less than the $280/year that I pay for fire and the $35/year for EMS??? Especially when both VOLUNTEER agencies in my District have excellent response times with well-trained, experienced members!!!!!

I, too, have sat back long enough reading these posts and feel the need to finally comment: 1. As far as the "said" department, they need to work on a schedule system so that they don't have to keep relying on their mutual aid departments. 2. As for the "facility" that the "said" department keeps going to, they HAVE spoken with the "head honchos" and they HAVE given them fines. I happen to work at the "facility", so I know this for a fact! The "facility" does NOTHING to correct the problems. 3. LOSAP - how can you compare that to a regular pension? I certainly hope your "real job" pension is more than $300/month! 4. A paid department in the Town of Mt. Pleasant? Are you kidding??? As a life-long resident of the Town, I for one would get on a bandwagon to vote down such a proposal. To increase our already high taxes to cover false alarms - which, yes, that is the majority of calls, would be totally ridiculous and would run every "old timer" out of the Town. My suggestion - grow a set of "balls" and start cracking down on members who are refusing to drive and/or respond. Or go back to the automatic dual response. 5. I think most departments have "frequent flyers" or facilities that call on a regular basis. Unfortunately, you are required to respond no matter what. The standpoint I take is when the call comes in, just think if YOU were that person or your family member waiting for that fire truck or ambulance, how would you feel if they didn't show up??? By the way, I sympathize with the "said" department because I believe most departments have been there at one time or another. They just need to address the issues head on and come up with a solution, so that people like problEMS don't get on here strictly to "stir the pot".

LOVE IT!!!

You do not have to re-bid it if everything is in line with your specs and within your budget, nor do you have to accept that one bid. No, they may not be involved if they do business with any of the bidders. That would be a major violation of the "Code of Ethics" which each Fire District was required to adopt.

EMT-B class starting in May at Phelps also.

As far as I am concerned, Aaron SAVED lives that night. What would have happened if DJ Henry drove off and killed one of the hundreds of kids that were running amok through the shopping center? Or an innocent person if he managed to get out on the road? The Henry Family is obviously not seeing the "what COULD have happened"! They could have easily been on the "other side of the fence" and being sued by a family who's loved one was run down by their drunk son - because as we all know, drunk drivers have been known to kill or mame. I just hope that Aaron makes a full recovery - I, for one, have missed working with him!!!

Just because you "don't like parades" doesn't give you the right to criticize those that do. I don't like to eat lamb, but I don't complain about people who do. I disagree with you that only "volunteers attend parades". What about all the St. Patrick's Day Parades? Were there not paid departments in attendance? Yes, I know, they were not working or probably banged out sick. Others were working therefore there was coverage - same as in a volunteer agency, people stay back for coverage. I also disagree that departments only worry about coverage during parades. You are way off base, and again, should not be generalizing.

We have plenty of members who do not like/wish to attend parades, therefore we always make sure there is a crew on before leaving for a parade, otherwise, we would not go.

Well said Helicopper!!!!

Thornwood FD Wetdown for Engine 88. Saturday, April 2, 2011, 4:00 p.m. tp 7:00 p.m. 770 Commerce Street, Thornwood, NY.

ABSOLUTELY! Wish that Medic would come back - maybe someday?????

This is a great topic and something I talk about all the time. As an EMT for 21 years, 9 of which as an EMT-I, I have seen such a decline in the quality of new EMTs. I am not sure if it is do to poor instruction, and people being "pushed through" the class, or it is Medic "dependency" (or a combination). I have always told my members that the best way to learn is by doing - the more calls you do, the better you will become. I have heard EMTs waiting on scene for the Medic to show-up - I always say, do what you have been taught and trained to do. I admit, when the Medic system first came in to our Town, I had a difficult time with it. I went from running calls to driving the fly car. It was very frustrating to get up in the middle of the night, go to a call and either just stand there while the Medic "did his/her thing" and not say a word or give you any info, except for "can you find a garbage can for this stuff" and "who's driving my car". Things have improved greatly; I guess it just took time for them to realize the capabilities of the EMTs and for me to not be intimidated by them and be able to work with them. Our Corps has abolished the CME program for recertification. We encourage people to take classes, attend lectures, get any further education you can. But when it comes to the basics, everyone should go through the skills and sit for the exam. If you can't do that, then you have no business being an EMT.

SSH FD has beautiful equipment and they do an excellent job. Had a fire in my condo down there in 2005 and they did an outstanding job of putting out the fire with minimal damage to the condo.

Very true! I gave up my EMT-I certification (after 9 years) and went back to Basic for the reason stated above. Never got the opportunity to use the skills. Glad I did get the certification for the added knowledge, but wasn't worth going through the skills test with no practice/experience.

No problem!! Not too many people knew he had come up. That's why I was pointing it out - if "Reverend Al" is quiet, there must be a reason!!!

Actually, Sharpton came up to Pace when it first happened. He came quietly and left quietly, which speaks volumes!

Probably coming back from Thornwood's Annual Parade and Carnival, I am guessing?????

I had the pleasure of having to get up out of bed at 02:45 to take that a**hole to the hospital. Wish I were allowed to say more......

EXACTLY! The Town Supervisor/Board can express their feelings, but Fire District budgets are a "done deal". On a side note, Fire Districts are now required to have an outside audit done annually that gets sent to the State. The State Comptroller's Office is coming down pretty hard on some Districts who are not following the "rules".

In NYS, these regulations are set by the individual Fire District.