nwpfdjr27

Thank you all for the positive feedback!

Hey Everyone, Was down in Sarasota the last week visiting some family and managed to grab some shots while out and about. I only had my phone to take them with, so I hope they came out alright (just dont mind that guy in the door reflection...)

Thanks everyone for the comments, I'm glad they came out well. BFD1054 you are right about Duck FD, but the "staffing" is a little weird. The Chief, Asst. Chief, Captains, and Lieut. are all FFs employed by the town for year-round coverage. The remaining members are still all volunteer, but the paid officer staff helps ensure a response to all emergencies even in the off-peak season. Funny tid bit about that, Duck FD has been so successful in their T-shirt sales (I have 3 myself), they were able to purchase and outfit Brush 11, the red ford pickup I managed to shoot, in addition to subsidizing some of the cost for career staffing through the Town of Duck.... Not to shabby. Also, the Sheriff cars are very sharp, I managed to see an undercover Titan on my way out at a traffic stop, sorry I didnt grab a photo. My personal favorites were the slick-top Jeep Cherokees they recently replaced over the past few years. Sorry about the photo peterose313, Platform 61 is a rear-mount tower ladder, the bucket did get kind of cut off in the pictures. One thing I found most interesting about EMS operations, especially in Corolla (the northern most point on Route 12), is the relative necessity for helicopter intervention. The closest hospital to Corolla is 35 miles away, an ambulance ride that takes almost an hour depending on weather and traffic. As a result, any type of moderate illness or injury is usually flown into Norfolk, VA, including strokes, cardiac patients with any significant history, and trauma patients. A very different EMS experience than what I'm used to.

So I just finished up an incredible week out in the Outer Banks of North Carolina; for those of you who have been there, I really don't need to say more, and for those of you who have not been there, be sure to put it on your future vacation bucket list. I have never been one to take photos of apparatus, but with the help of my sister's new Nikon D60 camera, I figured I would give it a shot. I know some of the pictures didn't come out perfect, but I hope the majority are worth looking at.

Date:3/8/12 Time:1834 Location: 82 James Street Frequency: 460.600, 153.235, 155.640, 460.575 Units Operating: SFD: E1, E2, E3, E4, T1, T2, R1, C22; SPD: 933, 935, 923, 932; MAS, NFD #1 and Scotia FD (standby), National Grid Weather Conditions: Warm and Cloudy Description Of Incident: 2nd alarm structure fire Reporters/Writer: nwpfdjr27 1834: KZO-386 for Station 1 and Station 2, multiple calls for a working fire with people trapped at 82 James St. 1835: Car 22 requesting confirmation on multiple calls, requesting 2nd alarm while enroute. E-4 dispatched, E-3 unavailable on a medical call 1836: Dispatch advising all residents reported out of the house 1837: Car 22 on location, heavy fire on front porch with extension to 2nd floor 1841: Multiple L/S/O, water on exterior fire stretching inside 1842: Niskayuna #1 standby in quarters for SFD 1843: Scotia FD standby in quarters for SFD 1843: Heavy fire showing from attic 1844: Requesting notification of National Grid, Department Chief 1850: E-3 clear of Ellis Hospital, responding to scene 1853: Main body fire second floor knocked down 1858: Main body fire attic knocked down 1902: Main searches negative, bystanders reporting no one inside the house 1905: Command reporting negative exposures, all companies still working

Date: 2/22/12 Time: 2045 Location: 511 Schenectady Street Frequency: 460.600, 155.235, 155.40 Units Operating: SFD (C21, C22, R1, R3, T1, T2, E1, E2, E3, E4), MAS, SPD, NFD #1, Scotia FD, Rotterdam #2 (standby), National Grid Weather Conditions: Moderate and clear Description Of Incident: Working Fire Reporters/Writer: nwpfdjr27 2045: Initial dispatch for reported structure fire 2049: Car 22 smoke visible from the street, requesting 2nd alarm 2053: NFD #1 on standby in quarters for Schenectady 2054: Scotia FD on standby in quarters for Schenectady 2055: Car 22 reports 1 L/S/O, truck company opening up 2059: All companies out of building, fire extension through the roof 2109: T1 ladder pipe in operation 2114: Multiple L/S/O, master stream in operation, all companies still working 2117: Rotterdam Dist #2 standby in station for Schenectady 2138: Master stream shut down, all companies re-entering the building 2151: Car 21 requesting recall of Fire Investigator

Date: 1/4/11 Time: Approx 1530 Location: 2164 Avenue B Frequency: 460.600, multiple others Units Operating: SFD, MAS, SPD, National Grid, SCOEM Weather Conditions: Cold Description Of Incident: Gas explosion with primary structure collapse, extension to surrounding residences Reporters/Writer: nwpfdjr27 Story with photos from the Times Union: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Explosion-destroys-Schenectady-home-ignites-2441337.php *did not catch the whole story, sorry for any errors*

Comical115, I agree, any form of the ePCR does have its ups, but one big down having your narrative spread across 900 check boxes and 8 pages of the program. I'm sure I won't be the first to think/say this, but in my experience agencies rely on TOUGHbooks for a reason. I cannot see an iPad lasting more than 2 days in the agency I work at, not because people are careless, but just due to the call volume and our response area; something is bound to happen, usually in a time inversely proportional to how expensive something is. I personally have dropped/knocked the toughbook a few times, and fortunately the thing keeps on going. That being said, I don't think an ipad would survive a drop from the back step. Just my strawpenny. Needless to say, still a cool concept, thanks for sharing the link firedude.

works great until they get flagged down on the way back from a transport for a pedestrian struck in trauma arrest....

Remember585, it took us long enough to get a new engine, we will probably have new extrication tools by 2100. Still carrying all Lukas equipment on our rescue with a portable generator for extrications. If I do hear something I will let you know.

Hey all you LEO out there, I just have a quick question for you guys and gals, and forgive me if it is a rather naive one. In a case such as this, pursuit of any kind where the perp wrecks in a pretty bad fashion, are you required to treat the criminal now as a trauma pt? I can just see someone getting sued in a case like this where a suspect is injured in this sort of accident and blames PD officers for a neck/back injury when they pull a suspect out of a car to put in custody. I am just very unfamiliar with what you are instructed to do in a case like that, and if you are protected from any injuries, etc.

Do the ambulances in Mt. Vernon have a drive-cam in place? I know some of the Transcare medic fly cars do have them, I just think they are a great tool to help drivers learn from the mistakes of others, but more importantly, to help clear ambulance drivers of wrong-doing (if warranted) in an accident such as this.

I am currently away at school, but when I was back for break at the end of March, we had received the new E-74 (with the pics posted, thanks firedude) but it was not yet in service, pending some last minute things. It very well could be in service now, but I would have to ask some of the guys in my dept. first before saying any more on that. We have been running Blauvelt's old rig for quite some time now as E-75, and it has served us really well, but needless to say a new engine has been a LONG time coming for us. The E-one that was posted from E-bay was actually sold to a vendor who repairs fire apparatus for use in 3rd world countries. From what I was told, the old 74 was actually repaired and shipped to Vietnam, where it will be used as a first due rig again. This is the most up-to-date information as I know of, I am sure other NWP members who are up on the current stuff unlike me could give you the best info. Hope this helps.

Thank you all for the continued input. Since I have had such great replies from everyone, I will give you a more detailed account of our problems: -We have been a NYS agency since 1996, but in that time, we have been bounced around from department to department on campus, with no real adequate guidance. Everywhere we have ended up, the administrator has been unable to really help us, has been ineffective, or like our current situation, goes against what our members are even for. Currently, our administrator mandated protocols on our agency that our members voted unanimously against. This has been one of the more controversial issues, mainly our public safety officers (almost all only CFRs with a rare EMT in the mix) and residential life officials allowed to make transport decisions for us in the event of a non-injured person (which they consider all intoxicated patients to be... as everyone has said, these are the patients we get the most, but are often one of the most difficult to deal with). I hope most of you CRINGED while reading this, as I do when I tell other people, but this is the reality right now. Unfortunately, being a small campus, we are pretty much out of options as to who can be our administrator while still maintaining our current status and budget. -Most of our members only obtain their EMT certification upon getting to school and do not ride for any other outside agency. With us only doing about 30 calls per each of our three terms, it is very difficult to have these EMTs gain experience, even with training. We attempted to have members ride with both Schenectady FD and Mohawk Ambulance service to get experience, both of whom were open and willing to do so, but the administrators at our school prohibited us from doing so due to liability reasons. As a result, many of our EMTs struggle to gain confidence in their skills, which I feel is a big downside of our agency. -Trainings are almost always a bust. The other officers and I work very hard to do bi or tri weekly training sessions, to help give some wiggle room between work, but our attendance at these trainings is always dismal. We have a policy where miss too many and youre out kind of deal, but when people continually have legitimate excuses (like class) to miss trainings, its tough to really win. -We continually host events around campus, making ourselves present at every campus event we can (yes we have a PR rep in our group whose sole responsibility is community/campus outreach), but we have a very negative image among the student population, being the ones who always show up to "get them transported". Needless to say, we are trying to work on this view on the campus as a whole, but its not an easy battle. Again, we certainly have room for improvement, and I will bring the helpful points everyone has given to our officers to help us in the battle... But like I said, I still feel like we are continually fighting an uphill battle against everyone around us.

Thanks all for the input and comments so far, I have done plenty of work on my own as well, but we keep getting stonewalled by administration, so it was more me just trying to get a general idea from those out there who worked with this to see how different systems were run. Bvfdjc316, all of the treatment and transport is provided by Schenectady FD (ALS first response) and Mohawk Ambulance Service. alsfirefighter, thanks for the offer, I will PM you with my address.