firemoose827

I was one of the first to sign but didnt know we had to post here. Just wanted to help out.

I throw it on around my neck in case I need it, than throw my ear flaps down all the time. I like to be able to feel the temperature and know when I am getting in too deep...Yes, there is such thing as getting too deep. I responded to a fire in a real estate office a while back. I was on the mutual aid engine and we were second due to the fire. The initial attack crews were exiting fast when we pulled up. When I went in with the nozzle I could feel the conditions around me with just my ear flaps down and knew it was extremely hot in there. I stayed about 5 foot in the door and hit the fire while the others vented the building enough for me to advance the line. Turned out to be a building with plastic log facing on the walls, fake stuff to make it look like a log cabin, and the heat put off was intense enough to burn through 2 other guys hoods because they ran in and got too deep before the hoods finally started to fail them and their ears were raw. I felt it early enough to stay out until vented. In my 20 years of firefighting I never have had a problem without my hood on. I always use the ear flaps though, and the hood is always around my neck. Its a personal preference, and no one here should be pointing a finger at anyone else. Good topic.

I dont get the point of actually placing the ET Tube into the nasal trumpet...what does that accomplish that an ordinary nasal intubation wouldnt? I would like to see a picture as well if you could grab one, that would be great. Thanks for sharing this Junkie, EMS will never evolve without someone in the field finding better ways for us to care for patients, and who better to do so than the military, NASCAR, Pro Sports and others that do large amounts of EMS work on a daily basis.

LOL... You know, upon further examination of the label (from what I could see anyway) I would be willing to bet you could find a manufacture date on there somewhere. I have found a lot of extinguishers like this in my day of inspecting them and had to learn how to find it. They are all required to have it on the label some where. Hey, bring it to my house and we will break out the magnifying glass and check it out, ok? :rolleyes:

I was going to tell him to look for the hydro-test date, its either a stamp (steel stamp that leaves impression on the shell) or a sticker, depending on who did the test. I used to work for a fire extinguisher company and I did the Hydro-Testing for him as well as inspection of the extinguishers, re-charge, installation of the kitchen hood fire suppression systems and maintenance as well. Every container that stores compressed gas must have a hydro test. If that doesnt help than check out that site posted above for the museum, they will definitely help you out. I love to collect things like that by the way!! LOL I found a hand pumped soda acid type extinguisher once at a antique store that was still full of chemical.

You said it well Izzy, its a tool in the arsenal of tools. And just like all tools it needs to be trained with aggressively in order for it to work. I know a very knowledgeable chief who has dealt with PPV/PPA throughout his career and now works towards training firefighters in the knowledge of PPV/PPA. Here is a link to his web site that I hope you all find useful, it has some information for classes being taught in your area, or how to set up a training in your area. Hes a great guy and will treat you right. Kriskas Fire Training Hope you enjoy it.

Everyone has staffing issues, regardless. Its finding a solution that should be more important to us all. Thirty volunteers are stressed to the limit with 1100 calls a year, just like asking 2 career firefighters to handle a fire alone in the initial stages of the fire. Each situation is dangerous and each situation needs a solution so we stop loosing firefighters. I have not been around my station much in the past year- why?- because its scary. I have officers that have very little training. I have new members that were an explorer join our dept and are allowed to immediately go interior...because they were an explorer. We have SOP's and By-laws...that no one, officers included, ever follow unless it pertains to them...Its becoming a scary place to be in, and I am just depressed as hell to think that we might be the next Secret List E-mail you receive. I feel that turning the busier volunteer stations across the nation into a combination department would only help it become better. How many career staff would that create? How would that effect the training levels of the firefighters? In turn, how would that affect the service we provide to the people? I say it would be a tremendously Positive affect, and turn things around finally for the better. I wish our area would start researching the possibility of creating Combination departments too, it would make things much better from an emergency service standpoint. Sorry for the rant, just been a real issue with me for some time now and it affects my passion for the fire service that I used to have.

Rest in Peace sir, may your family take comfort and strength from us and get through this tough time.

My card was expired for 9 years and I was able to recert my card with no problems. I asked my EMS Coordinator from my county and he allowed me to enlist in the refresher class and challenge the exams. I did fine, even with the addition of the basic pharmacology EMT-B's have now with ASA, NTG and albuterol in the field. Just ask your official in your county, whomever that may be and see what happens.

Exempt status in our department is classified as this; After 5 years service a member may request exempt status. Exempt members are not required to make the quota of calls, meetings and drills but can still help with fund raising duties and attend banquets and dept functions. Its a special membership for those members with family and work obligations that may need to take some time off to be with family, or work, or attend school/college. When the member is again available for full duty they only need to request the change from exempt to full duty and not need to apply to the department again, and keep their seniority and length of service. Exempt members may not vote in elections, or have a say in meetings. They also can not hold office in either firematic or administrative positions.

Great picture. Do you have a lot of these old pics? I would love to see more.

SHOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!! I hate plowing and shoveling...Need a new job. Anyone hiring out there?

Merlin, contact me via e-mail and I will share some of my ideas with you. Some of the ideas I had you might remember from when I was captain. Very effective drills and they really pound the message home to the responders. You can talk to the officers in my squad as well, we can have a joint drill one night on scene safety and crime scene preservation and waiting for PD assistance. Let me know.

Took the words right out of my mouth! LOL Interesting situation.

On our bottles they do not cover anything but the bottle itself and everything is still accessible and functional. We were concerned with this issue as well and we researched the different styles and sizes. If you get the appropriate cover made for your brand and model of air pack than you will be safe.

Congratulations!!

Our team in my county responds to the scene in our POV's with SCBA, turnouts, and portable radios. The Fire Coordinator carries the TIC, gas meter, ID covers for the SCBA tanks, and basic tools like Irons, ropes, webbing, and hardware. We "Acquire" ladders, saws, stokes, and what not from the responding rigs. We are required to have Firefighter I, Firefighter Survival and 5 years as an interior firefighter with a Class "A" Interior Firefighter Medical Clearance. We than are asked to take FAST training at the academy when we can. We have had one call as a team so far where a firefighter twisted their ankle and fell on a rear porch roof, breaking their ankle. We had to extricate them from the roof via stokes basket.

Excellent Pictures, very crisp and clear. What camera do you shoot? Settings? Thanks for sharing and great stop to the brothers.

The formula that BNECHIS shared is accurate and works well. I am in an area that is predominantly tanker shuttle ops. Our village has hydrants, but our town does not. Only 5 other FD's out of the 17 in our county have hydrants and we have learned to use the tanker shuttle effectively. Our tanker is a 3000 gallon capacity, our Mutual aid tankers are 4000, 3500 gallon and 2 3000 gallon tankers that are all within 15 minutes travel time. If you call for the tankers ASAP and set up an effective fill/dump operation, and train your firefighters to use the water effectively than you can use the tankers as effectively as a hydrant operation. Its not hard at all, you just need to be aware of more details as a IC on the scene of a tanker shuttle operation. The key is to inspect your area in the summer and find static water sources like ponds and lakes. If they are accessible to the road or driveway than you can put in a dry hydrant, which works well and is faster in the long run.

Amen DOC!!! Those of us who have to plow 24/7 while it falls dont so much like it anymore!! LOL There was a time I used to LOVE snow...Skiing, sledding, snow ball fights, building a snow man with the kids...now I have to plow and shovel non stop...UGHHHHHHH

Yes we do. Our ops manager always goes one up. Except for the critical pt's, we always try and get either a nurse or a crew member of the same sex to do the transport. 911 calls are normal responding crew.

In my PT EMS job we are now required to have all female patients transported (inter facility) with a female provider, and conversely all male patients with a male provider. We have 3 ambulances in 2 stations in our area so if that means another rig from station 1 has to travel the 35 minutes from there to the ER than thats what we do. Our hospital, Cobleskil Regional, has a tough time scheduling nurses to work the ED let alone come in and do a transport with the EMS agency, so we have to rely on our other station and crews. I have been in these situations before and have defended either myself or the crew for our actions. We had a women miscarrying and going in and out of consciousness, so we picked her up put her on the stretcher and our Paramedic went to make her trauma naked to do a complete assessment and apparently the woman was partially awake at this point and started to yell that she was being raped. Her husband, who was sitting up front started to get angry...You can pretty much see the rest without me explaining it to you. But in the end the doctor at the ER and myself (captain at the time) explained it to the husband and he understood completely and apologized for turning my shorts yellow. There are people out there that make a living on law suits, its disgusting and unfortunate but true. They will actually call the ambulance and make note of everything done or not done to them in a note book or tape recorder and than sue the EMS agency or hospital or both. (On their lawyers directions) Its a sick world and we have to protect ourselves. I agree with ALS...Do your job professionally and accurately, use every bit of courtesy you can provide your PT, even the unconscious ones, and protect their dignity. Only do the necessary treatments with their permission Each time you perform it and keep it to a minimum. Always have a third person with you to be a witness, whether it be another EMT, firefighter/First Responder, police officer or even a family member so you are covered. A little common sense goes a long way too. Stay Safe...and smart.

HEY!!! Leave my brethren alone ya big bully!! LOL Hunting moose....what did we ever do to you Mrs Palin?

I agree, even a hitch-hiker that the driver picked up. Good point Seth, always check the sleeper cab for people in an MVA or fire situation.

First come first serve, orders are issued out by the responding officer either en route or on scene so riding positions are non-existent for me. I think they should have them though, it makes it easier for the officer to know who he has and what they are doing ahead of time.