firemoose827

Not a problem! I was just hoping I didnt have to split the topic Again. Its a good discussion though, so if you guys want to continue it by all means start a topic under General Emergency Services Issues or something, because Ive been enjoying reading and following the topic.! Moderator Moose

Gentlemen, are we discussing Union Issues or Chiefs responding Mutual Aid? I lost track.

Yes, they have the standard coupler to fill the bottle still. And yes, you would need to upgrade all of your packs to use this style, which is why my dept went against buying them. It doesnt work for any dept....unless you have the money to upgrade all of your packs, or use them to begin with. The quick connect was in the pack frame, and you place the bottle through the strap like usual, but than simply push the quick connector into the coupler on the frame untill it clicks, and your on air. Too expensive, and not compatible. Doc, I trained on the 2.2's and used them for the first few years! I remember those well....dont miss them!

Been there bro!! So you guys have the NxGen's? They are the ones that have a quick coupler on the air bottle that quick connects to the supply line, instead of attaching the hose with threads. That seems to be an OK pack, have you guys had any other mechanical problems with them? Our dept were considering them but than went to the fifty's.

There are a couple of new packs...The Scott Air Pack Fifty, and the Scott NXGen pack...which one is it you guys have? It looks to be the Air Pack Fifty. They are supposed to be lighter but they are not. They have the buddy breather line, and the HUD with the bottle capacity. They have the firefighter drag device but its bulky and a snag hazzard. I looked at these packs for our dept a year ago when we priced new packs and I wasnt impressed. Give me a Scott 4.5.

Like I keep constantly telling the "Repetitive" Crowd....this is a growing site. People are joining everyday. Its good to have some topics reborn every now and than so everyone can contribute. The older posts get closed down after so much time of inactivity, so no one can add to them. By having someone re-post them they can have new insight into the discussions and add to them, so this is ok brother. If you have seen the post before and have nothing new to add, than dont worry about it, let the others who have not seen it enjoy it and add to the discussion. Thanks everyone Moderator Moose

Powerfull stuff...very emotional.

At first, I thought the same thing that the guy in the first comment had said, about not knowing the full story and any of the specifics. But than I thought to myself...it was only the closet burning, why didnt the step-mother try and go upstairs and unlock the girl????? She would have had plenty of time to get her out...Its SAD. You need a license to fish, drive, hunt....but anyone can have a child. Think its time for a change? :angry: My heart goes out to the brothers/sisters that tried to save her. Moose

I just thought of another question, and maybe Ladder47 can elaborate on this for me, but when a Volunteer Fire Chief is issued a vehicle to use, and they are a one vehicle family to begin with, wouldnt the chief just end up taking his personal vehicle off the road for now and use the chiefs vehicle? So he/she is not paying the registration and insurance costs of his personal vehicle that ends up just sitting in his/her driveway? Just a curiousity question so please dont kill me!!! Excellent point rob. About it being the same thing taking trucks to parades, still uses taxpayers money for the fuel, and takes most of your active membership out of the district.

In our FAST bags we keep basic hand tools and rope with tubular webbing and biners. We acquire ladders and saws from the rigs on scene, and the fire coordinators carry TIC's that we use. Our truck is outfitted with all of these things but its centrally located in a town called Schoharie, and unless someone picks it up we have the bags all over the county. Basic tools are Halligans, axes, etc. Each member brings their turnouts, a pack, and a portable radio. These things are cleared with their chief officers ahead of time when they join the team, so their chief knows if the FAST is called this member will be getting a pack and radio from their dept.

I see what you are saying Chris and value your opinion, but in this case it wasnt "donations", like someone sees us in the middle of the road with a boot and they toss $1.00 in for nothing. We have Fundraisers, as Im sure you are aware of, where the people get something for their money. They Pay for a meal, or a car wash, or a dance....some type of service. Is that still considered "Donation"? Any money raised by an organization should be able to be used by them as they see fit. Granted, if there is a lack of safety equipment for the members and not enough money in the budget than it should be used for something more substantial like turnouts, instead of a chiefs car, but I just wanted to expand on your thoughts. Stay Safe Moose

Yes. But are we going to establish a fuel account for 56 members of a dept? Or would a re-imbursement program for mileage to and from classes work better? I see your point and respect your opinion. In my dept they also have benefits for us as members who volunteer our free time, like a full weight room, pool table, large screen tv (given to us by the auxilliary and NOT purchased with "tax payers money") a wash bay to wash your personal car, and a old converted village cop car to be used by the members to travel to class and any county level meeting or training. With a Chief Officer, they travel to more meetings than the regular member, and the other meetings are scattered all over the county, not just at your station. A member travels 5 miles to his/her station for a meeting, so do the chiefs, but than the chiefs may have to travel an additional 10 miles the next night for a county chiefs meeting, than 10 more miles the next week for a county fire coordinators meeting...I just dont think its that much of a tragedy to give a Chief a small fuel account, even if its only half of his overall fuel expenses, to help them out. Just my opinion, and not right/wrong.

Brother, its very simple, and try and see every point here before ranting further...what happens in your station isnt read by thousands of people from all over the WORLD. What is written and shared here IS, which is why we as staff members attempt to keep the personal taunts, jibes at people and agencies, and swearing to a minimum, so that whats shared here is viewed as professional, and clean. Does that help any? I support you and the rest of the EMTBravo staff Joe. Brian

I was a member of a Long Island FD for 4 years. Each one of their chiefs (1 Chief and 2 assistants) got issued chiefs vehicles and were given the option of purchasing these vehicles at the end of their terms. These vehicles were purchased with Department money, raised by Department members at Department fundraisers, so I dont see where the abuse of taxpayers money comes into play here. I believe that the Chief officers of departments deserve this benefit due to the amount of traveling they have to do. Our chiefs get NOTHING up here except the Bar Light and siren on their personal vehicle, yet they drive to fire scenes all over the Village, Town, and even Mutual Aid territories, County Chiefs Meetings and fire classes all over the County and pay for the gas out of pocket. Why wouldnt they deserve the right to $100 in gas a month as stated earlier? Why shouldnt they be issued a gas expense account through the dept they serve to cover the ever increasing costs of fuel? They give their time away from family, friends, and even work so they can do their duty to the community...FOR NOTHING...and now they are expected to pay for the fuel costs? Just my opinion but I think the Chief Officers should receive these benefits...during their terms. As long as the chief in question paid for his gas to get up here to hunt, which Im sure he did, I see no problem with it.

Just to show the differences between regions and dispatch terminology, up here we call; Snorkels- A boom with an enclosed platform without ladder. Aerial Ladder- A straight stick ladder truck with no platform. Tower Ladder- A straight stick with an enclosed platform on the end. All photo credits go to "CNY Firetrucks". Thanks.

I agree with what you said ALS, but not all counties have these courses on a regular basis. I took mine 2 years ago online because our county never had them, and I was barely affording gas to get to work let alone the academy or other municipalities that had the courses. Our county is finally getting them this year and I am attempting to take the classroom when I can. I used to think the same way as you, but after taking the course online, I felt it was better than a classroom. You had to read the material, than take a test. If you failed you didnt get credit. Around here there are too many guys who goof off in class and just simply "Recieve" their certificate weather they passed or not. But I do see your point too.

We heard 5-10 Inches up here by me, which means I will be plowing for the next 24-36 hours...SIGH...I cant wait untill I dont have to plow any more!! I actually USED to like the snow... Stay Safe tonight everyone, drive safely and get home safe. Moose

Exactly what I was thinking! Hes there trying to teach this other guy, and mentioning that the smoke will kill ya, and the camera man is gasping for air! Did everyone hear his breathing? I guess some of us will just never learn, even after all of the injuries and deaths attributed to Live Fire training.

Hey!!!! I take that personally!!! (just kidding)

I would LOVE for you to attend one of our County Chiefs Meetings.....You would find the answers Real Quick! This is exactly what SOME of us in the County are arguing about, but most chiefs still refuse to have them be called automatically. As far as our SOP's......Sorry, I didnt write them!! Our team has a set of county tones, they call enroute either on air or via phone, " FAST 8 enroute from Cobleskill with bag." That way everyone knows who is responding with what. I know there is a bunch of questions still and open areas that need addressed but we just formed the team about 3 years ago. If you have any suggestions from your team my ears (or in this case eyes) are wide open!! Thanks brother Moose

Excellent point. Most of the chiefs in our county are absolutely against FAST and have said they will not call for it unless needed, but by than its too late. The rest simply do it because of the 2 in/2 out rule and dont want to get in trouble. Good point brother and I agree. What works for our county may not work for you. You may have to alter the plans, like make 2 different FAST units, one for the northern part and one for the southern part of the county or something similar. Our FAST members respond directly to the scene in their POV's, or go to the county building to pick up the County Truck. There are FAST bags located throught the county at different stations, and if your near one you pick it up and respond to the scene. We usually have a full 6 man team on scene ready to rock within 8 minutes. But, each county is different.

I have one on my helmet. Its very bright and works easy enough. But like mentioned, you either leave it on, or some joker in the firehouse walks by and slaps it on and the batts die costing you $12 for the little things!! They are easy to replace though, and the light is bright enough to use as a flashlight, and its hands free. I recommend them. Moose

Good point brother, and one that needs to be discussed and refined all over. Here in my county, we have the County Team. When they are called, it is for FAST related ops ONLY. They are not to be used as "Manpower" at all, and this is made clear to all chiefs in our county. I have seen it before where each dept, or Company is a designated FAST, and can be called, but than you take away that unit for MA purposes...why? I just think a County team is more reasonable. You have members from all over the county so you can atleast get 4-6 members who are not already tied up at the fire, or will soon be. The FAST should be that and only that, otherwise you put your operating crews in jeopardy by switching out and calling for another FAST unit to get there, what do you do in the mean time while waiting for the new FAST to get there? Do you pull your crews out and wait? You should. But it probably doesnt happen, and Im sure theres a few macho types out there who are all foaming at the mouth right now to tell me "We can go a few minutes without a FAST on scene, well be alright. We have made it this far without even having FAST." I think more thought and planning needs to go into the whole FAST concept and how to better apply it in the fire service. Just one of those Growing pains the fire service is facing and Im sure eventually will be worked out. Good topic. Moose

Hey Chris, I was a Lt and a Captain in my old squad, and back then I only had a few courses like "Preparing for Command", "Commanding the initial response", and a class I took at college as part of my "Fire Protection Technology" major called "Fire Administration". But now, its easy for anyone to go online and take the ICS and NIMS training courses and print out a certificate, thats how I got my ICS-200 and NIMS-700, and I plan to take more now that they are being offered in my county. They have made it mandatory for ALL Chief and Line Officers to have atleast ICS-100 and 200, and NIMS-700 to be an officer. As far as time constraints...The past 9 months have been hell for me. Working 2 FT jobs, no sleep, major family issues and job issues to deal with...I barely have time to sit down and cruise through a few threads here before Im unconcious at night! But lately I have not even had the time to Ride the ambulance or do fire calls let alone attend classes...and I cant wait until I can start again. Good Post brother. Moose

Our county has FINALY made it mandatory for all fire officers to have ICS-100, 200 and NIMS 700. It has been a long time in the waiting, and the only qualifications most of the dept's have up here are just Basic Fireman with a few years experience!! Its been a scary ride but now we are heading in the right direction...*SIGH* I have all of the above, plus Preparing for command, and a few others. Good Post Chris!