firemoose827

I am sending a check immediately. Best of luck to Ray on a speedy recovery. Good luck on the fundraiser, I know how tough it is to get support some times in todays world. I will try to make the event but its a drive for me.... Ill try. Best of luck Moose

Nice job with the placement... nice quick and easy way to get the initial attack line on the ship. Great photo!!

I have a question to post to the entire board, and I hope everyone takes it seriously and answers seriously. We are all family here and should help each other as much as we can. Which is what brings me to ask this question. What would everyones feelings be towards a new forum topic dedicated to C.I.S.D, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing? I believe if we had a forum where anyone who had recently, ( or in the past) has suffered some kind of stressful event and needed a comfortable place in which to share their experiences, talk about them, and hear from other brothers/sisters who may have experienced the same thing, we can maybe make a difference and help each other through things. Lets face it, what we do is stressful, and there is no such thing as "weakness" when it comes to one human being seeing another human being in a traumatic event, and the feelings you have for other human beings in times of tragedy. I believe this would help tremendously....there is no need to get into detail ( for all of you just DYING to scream ' HIPPA' or 'PT CONFIDENTIALITY') just an open forum for people to talk about what they have experienced, and for others to support them and let them know their feelings are normal. I hope this opens up discussion, and everyone inputs their opinions...good or bad...pro or con...so we can atleast get the message across that its important to talk about these things and not keep them bottled up inside. Burnout is a major thing, and not enough people talk about things, thinking that its a sign of weakness....from personal experience, ITS NOT. Stay Safe, both physically and mentaly. Moose

Its funny you bring this topic up... I recently discovered something about my dept that realy concerns me. I have been unable to attend a lot of things in my dept for the past year due to the fact that I have a daughter ( who is turning one this month, 8/27!!!) I have just recently started to attend meetings and drills again and I have been told by other members that the dept no longer wants the squad to respond with the jugs of water and set up rehab any more... in fact, the ambulance isnt supposed to respond immediately to the scene any more. Now, the rig has to acknowledge the call and sit and wait for 15 minutes in case more firefighters show up and need a ride to the scene. When the rig gets there they are to no longer provide active rehab for the crews... just sit there and watch. Im pissed off. Im one of the FEW level II firefighters, Haz-Mat Techs the dept has and my but wants to be rehabed. My father dropped of a heart attack at the age of 42 and had to be shocked and admin TPA to be revived. My entire family has some cardiac hx or another and there are firefighters dropping from cardiac arrest everywhere you look. Now, you add the extreme heat in the summer wearing full PPE ( some of us anyway) carrying 80 lbs of gear??? When I come out of the building I WANT someone handing me water, cooling me off, taking my BP, and checking on me. In summer temps everyone should be re-hydrating as often as possible and cooling off before returning to the scene... its just not worth dropping with a heat stroke or severe dehydration. On the County level however we have become better... we just recently got a new Fire Coordinator and he is realy good about getting large amounts of manpower to the scene to rotate crews for rehab. We stock our rescue with a dorm size fridge filled with bottled water, and our ambulance USED to take 2 large coolers filled with gatorade or water to the scene and kept the rig running with the AC on for rehab purposes, but now we have to mill around the rescue and hope the ladies auxiliary shows up with something cold to drink. Stay safe and hydrated Moose

They are whats known as glory seekers....they need to be "Seen on the scene"....I see another sequal to "Dumb & Dumber" That has always burned me...cut a perfectly good vent hole and it WORKS, in other words the heat and flame EXIT the building and than some MORON places a hand line or even worse a ladder pipe through the opening pushing the flame back in and the interior crew back out. Then, when they see the crews come tumbling back out in a hasty retreat they think they did the right thing just in time. M...O...R...O...N...S Stay Safe All Moose

firediver, In the volunteer world we do not always have designated engine, truck, and rescue companies. We, or should I say "SOME" of us are trained to do it all...hose work, truck work, and rescue work, haz-mat training is also a bonus. We arrive on scene in our engine with an average of 4-6 FF's. They stretch the initial attack and perform a search. Or next unit thats "supposed" to respond is our second in engine, than our rescue with manpower, than if the driver arrives for it, our 95' tower. We simply set up a staging area with all interior FF's and the IC calls the staging officer whenever they need something done. Its pretty much "Iron man Football" in the "volunteer world" as you call it. I wish we could form seperate companies and have each perform their assigned duties but no one in my dept would go for that...theyre too stuck in their ways, afraid to change. Im from Long Island originaly and I have tried to change things and have them catch up with technology but its difficult. I almost forgot to add about the TIC! We currently have it on our rescue as well but I think they need to be on the engine. It should be on both but who could afford that. What we also have to remember is our basic training. Are we supposed to grab the line and go running in balls to the wall or are we supposed to sound the floor as we go, sweep it with the nozzle, and make sure of our footing before we move? Too many people forget their basics and try to be "Super Firefighter". Each entry team should, in a perfect world, have tools, light, TIC and radio, not to mention PASS, and personal escape ropes....anyone who jumps off a truck empty handed should be re-educated at the next drill. Everyone should have tools or light. Good post. Stay safe Moose

Great idea seth, I definately support anything that will increase posting and the sharing of experiences and knowledge. This is a great site and I look forward to logging on every day!! I am also honored to be in the first ever. stay safe

I definately agree, I am an old school firefighter who believes strongly in brotherhood, or family in the firehouse. Even in the EMS and Police fields, it SHOULD be that way, were all in this together regardless of the name on the back of the coat and we all do the same job...so why not support each other and talk to each other. Especially like you had mentioned about being from an outside agency and a neutral listener. BFD182....how and where do you get the CISD training? Im going to call the local team but if you have any additional info about the training I would appreciate it brother. Thanks for your input. Stay safe Moose

Your right...I guess it was a silly idea....I just wanted to stress the importance of the CISD concept and encourage its use by all. Especially the newer members of the fire service. Hope I atleast brought the message to some of you. Stay safe Moose

Oh...Im sorry, I had no idea. I thought that the membership was monitored but you do have a good point. Well, I guess we could always say to everyone who needs it to just PM us or e-mail us. My e-mail address is open to everyone and I have had several experiences with CISD and bad calls both as fire and EMS. My "E" door is always open!!! And also...atleast we emphasised the point of USING CISD here today and hopefully for a long time to come, hopefully everyone is paying attention. Thanks for pointing that out to me...Im still learning about all of this computer stuff. Stay safe Moose

Hello 585....I saw your question and wanted to give a couple of ideas to you. For the firefighter drag just keep a short piece( 3-4') of utility rope in your pocket, tie handcuff knots around their wrists, loop their hands over your head and drag as you crawl. For other applications, use the same piece of rope, make a prussik loop, loop it around pack harness or rescue harness and use it as hand grip to drag them out. I keep a prussik loop already tied in my pocket as well as a small piece of utility rope. The prussik comes in handy for handling 2 1/2" handlines, dragging LDH, etc. Hope this helps. Moose

Sure.....NOW you tell me!!! Yup, I had to learn it the hard way. During survival it got hung up once on the fabric strap and I had to loosen it all the way and pull the strap out to get the biner. I than went and practiced on a drill night at the training tower, I used different methods and I found that the only way I could easily access the biner was clipping it on the strap. So I have devised a simple strap using a scrap piece of 1" tubular webbing, tied it off with a figure of eight through and through and tied a slip knot around the adjustment strap so I have a 3" loop that I can secure the biner to. It has worked well for me but I am trying to get my dept to purchase some personal escape bags for those of us who are interior, along with the harnesses. Thanks for the heads up. Moose.

That is so true, great article. You see it everyday, those of us who choose to get the training and not use excuses, and pack up and attack the fire. Than theres those of us who pack up but than hide for 45 minutes, looking for the cameras and news reporters so they can get their glory. Sad but true.

Same here, at my PT job we always work with the SUNY Med Resp team, and police and we just throw them a new mask and take theirs. It must be some kind of obsessive thing...like making sure its put on a certain way to cover their a@#es, almost like they dont trust other agencies. Waste of supplies... Try asking them the next time you see it happen, maybe its just force of habbit.

We currently use the TNT system, its a lot easier for one firefighter to set up and use, the tools are light, the hydraulic hose system is easy to engage/disengage, there are a variety of attachments, the power unit is small, lightweight, and easy to use, and everything fits nicely into our compartments. We recently purchased this unit a year ago, but we still have the old Kinman on our rescue as well for a backup. Kinmans are the electric tools you hook up to a car-sized battery via cables, they still pack a punch and do their job, but its bulky, heavy, and cumbersome, usually takes two guys to work safely. I have only worked with the old Kinman (Both my old dept and this one) and the TNT. I feel TNT are an excellent tool system, not the top of the line, but a good, affordable powerful system. Good Luck Moose

Bummer....so it wasnt as good as it looked like it was going to be? The trailers I have seen were funny. But than again you sometimes have it where they show all of the funny parts in the trailer and the rest of the movie flops bad....hope that wasnt the case here!! Anyone know if they were the real trucks or not? Thats interesting. Stay safe Moose

I have seen some videos on this site and others, and I agree with some of what youre saying. I believe they do target the COOL stuff...like action shots of Firefighters with flame shooting over their heads, or responding in the trucks with sirens blasting and the crew donning their gear...shouldnt we show perspective members what they realy might go through as a firefighter? Show them training shots of both classroom and hands-on, shots of volunteering for fundraisers like cooking, doing dishes, etc.? Make them see its not all guts and glory...that there is a dirty, sad, exhausting side to it but than cut to the brotherhood of it all...firefighters helping each other, firehouse BBQ's and dances, to elaborate on the rewarding and satisfying feeling you get by helping others. Sorry, didnt mean to sound like a director or producer there!!!! I was just researching the possibility of making one for our dept when this thread popped up! Moose

My Daughters 1 year old B-Day....August 27, 11:29 PM. I would realy Love a ride along with an Engine somewhere in Da' Bronx. Moose

Just a quick question for any electrician/firefighters out there. I have taken the Elect Cause Determ I and II and have seen some ballasts, and remember very little about them unfortunately. Just to try and clarify; Ballasts made pre-1978 contained PCB's, and everyone after were not.....right or wrong? The ones made post-1978 had to be stamped/labeled "Not containing PCB's", right? We had a possible structure at one of our downtown businesses, someone smelled a strong odor of smoke. We arrived on scene with just myself and a driver on the engine, and a chief and firefighter went direct. (if it was a structure we were screwed ) We smelled the smoke, pretty heavy by door. Tracked it down to light ballast above door, TIC showed 300+ deg, and when the cover was removed exposing the ballast it was leaking. Just wanted to make sure about the PCB issue. Any info would be greatly appreciated and hopefully retained for future use. Thanks all. Moose.

Excellent link, thank you very much chief. That answered my questions. The only thing I am still concerned with is the fact that I didnt actually see if it was labeled or not. There was another guy on the ladder who said it was leaking and asked the chief if it was PCB's or not, and our chief said no, Ijust wanted to confirm this for myself and talk with the chief later. Thanks again Doc22, have a good one chief. Moose

Sounds like you have it worse than we do...The thanksgiving thing actually happened??? Thats ridiculous, that full crew you saw leaving the station should be ashamed of themselves and never be able to pridefully wear a uniform again. I have experienced the same as you...I rode on 2 calls in a 12 hour period MA to our neighbor who failed to get anyone both times. Both calls were little old ladys who were lonely and wanted attention....sniffles for one and belly ache for the other...as we cleared the ER of the last call heading for home the other agency was again toned out...this time for a 2 car MVA with serious PI...no sooner did I pick up the mic to tell dispatch we were available and could respond, the agency acknowledged the call!! I wrote a letter to the chief of their dept and never got any kind of response back. It frustrates me to all hell having that happen....Im here to help people, regardless of the "Nature of the call", I respond if I am available. It sickens me to know that certain EMS providers pick and choose their calls and abuse their bretheren who answer their calls for them MA. Dont know if I should say good post.....or now look what you have done!!! Stay Safe Moose

OK, I got into this discussion late and did not read the rest of the posts so if I duplicate anything......too bad. Im glad you brought this up REDOKTBR, as far as the "control" of the fly car. In our county of Schoharie we have EMS Coordinators, 4 of em, 2 are paid FT medics equiped with fly cars and equipment (county owned) and 2 are volly that fill in for the FT when not available. They get issued radios. My question is couldnt this "BLS Fly car" be run in the same fashion? Just add on 2 more deputy coordinators and have them be BLS, issue them radios and they can respond as EMT for those agencies that are unable to field a full crew. You see, our coordinators run county training, coordinate mutual aid and obviously provide ALS fly car services, lately these services have been abused by agencies who are unable to get an EMT. They just ask if the coordinator can assist, which than takes one county medic out of the loop for 25-45 minutes, depending on where they transport. I think this would stop the misuse of county medics and provide a better service to the communities we serve. Maybe even down the road these "BLS Flycars" can become additional paid county staff, provide BLS flycar services, be Instructors for EMT classes, and assist with mutual aid at MCI's. (Just a few additional job responsibilities to justify the paid positions.) I believe what the original post is saying is that the BLS FLycars would "link up" with another ambulance and ride as EMT/Crewchief, and not necessarily respond to the scene and wait for an ambulance to arrive. This is an issue that needs to be addressed, and the petty bickering about whos call it is and who fields the most calls in the fastest time needs to stop. We should all, AS A WHOLE, be concerned about getting an ambulance to someone who needs it in a decent amount of time, not who gets there. I dont think it matters if you get an EMT from ABC squad and an ambulance from DEF squad with a medic from GHI squad responding to a call in JKL's district. Shouldnt we all be concerned with the fact that the person who calls an ambulance GETS an ambulance in a timely fashion? Do you think the Pt is saying, "Oh thank god, its a full crew from Sleepy Hollow and not those bastards from Gotham City.....FEW!" I think not...if we do our job righ they are saying "Man, they were fast and professional, and they were nice to my relative too...." I think PT care has taken a back seat to pride in most of our State....should be the other way around. Moose

""Its a good idea to have a GPS on a hydrant but what about the cost of out fitting every hydrant in your district with the unit and then the rigs with a reciever to the hydrants...would be just too expensive What heppens if they GPS breaks then you need to spend the high amount of money to get it fixed Also, what happens when you go out of district....you still wont have a clue where the hydrants are unless you can see them and if crews come in district they wont have a clue where the hydrant is unless they can see it. There has to bve a good, clear and cost effective way to mark a hydrant.......we just need to think of it "" (Above quoted from previous post) I am currently training to be a GIS Analyst and I work with GPS units and make maps. I have just recently GPS'd every hydrant, dry-hydrant, and watersource ( i.e pond, lake,) in the village and town of Cobleskill. I then overlayed the GPS points on a satelite image of coby taken in 2004, using special software called ArcGIS. I also have a interactive map on my computer where I can click on each hydrant or water source and get GPM's, main size, location, how many gallons of water ( lake or pond) and the distances from the road, etc. etc. I am completeing the map book soon and will present it to my dept. GPS is very useful and convenient. There are units today that go for 250 or cheaper and they do just fine. I think every village should use GPS to mark their districts. It could be use for address geocoding; Im sure you dispatchers are aware of this, where a police unit responding to a residence for a call can access info on all previous responses and what they were, if any registered firearms are on location, registered sex offenders, etc. etc. Just wanted to advise everyone of the possibilities GIS can provide. ( Geographical Information Systems. ) By the way, we have the flags on ours currently, the water dept puts them on and takes them off, as wellas shovels them out. Ours are color coded to GPM flow and main size. Stay safe Moose

Well, sorry it took SOOOOOOOOOO long, but here finally are the pictures of our new brush truck, 5051. 2006 GMC, auto trans, 250 gallon tank, 2- 150' lengths of pre-connected forestry hose w/nozzles, 2-sets of brush suits. Sorry about the quality, still learning.

Here....hopefully these are better!