ONEEYEDMIC

You crack me up JJB. PRIDE, that is what EMS needs. I don't wear my dress uniform often. Mainly at a funeral. But when I do, I make sure that I looked "squared away". I also look at other agencies dress uniforms. Some are really sharp. I don't see that with EMS. What I see is half shirts, paints that don't stay around the waist because somebody doesn't wear a belt. Sandals, Shorts. I happened to like wearing a t-shirt. Especially in the summer months. Though that the uniform shirt was too heavy. I guess I had it good then. I sweat in an ICE BOX. Put me with a Tee, vest, and uniform shirt and I am drenched before I walk outdoors.

Here's the problem I see. Just because you don't like what somebody writes makes it a bash. I don't single out ANY AGENCIES. Members of some AGENCIE'S take it personally what I write. Get over yourselves. IT IS NOT PERSONAL. I have learned that I can't make it personal because there are cry babies on here that run and tell. Now there are more moderator's. Do you all the moderator's talk before you delete a post or decide if it is a bash? We all have different opinions. This is a learning site. I have learned some things. I have been criticised about some things that I write. Do I run and tell? No. You know why? Because maybe, just maybe what I wrote came out wrong and need to clarify myself. This question is posed to everyone and maybe is should be another thread. I will let the admin's handle that. This is not being wise. What is a BASH? I guess if somebody writes bad about a service whether it be PD, FD, or EMS. I still don't see it though. We have to have thicker skin.

Your right that you can't expect to have out of house VAC members walking around in a uniform. What I don't need to see are butts of people that don't tuck in their shirts. Or thongs for that matter. I don't think the family members need to see that either. It has happened on multiple occasions and it is rather embarrasing. I guees you can chuckle at it. I see a difference in the fire service and ems. You can tell if an agency has both and they can get to a fire and not to an ambulance call. That is a huge difference.

I have to say I agree. Some people on here know who I am. I don't need YAHOO's running around saying they know me when the get pulled over because my name is posted on here. Why do things have to change? Or, I can just give you a fake name. That works as well.

The truth of it all is that REALITY HURTS. Some Chiefs and Commish's don't want to read that people have a problem with their service whether PD, FD, or VAC. I have been called on the carpet for some things I have written on here. None were bad. None at all. They were the truth. People can't handle hearing that their service STINKS. Maybe they should use this as a way to fix what is wrong. What most of you call BASHING I don't. I look at it as if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. REALITY is a wake up call to somebody.

Rumor has it that the new COMMISH failed the CHIEF's test so they made a position for him. Wonder if there is any truth to that.

Your right I bailed out and I don't regret any second of it. I did my time in EMS. I worked my 80+hrs a week in different places to make ends meet. I left for a CAREER that I LOVE and ALWAYS WANTED TO DO. The fact that I have the option to retire in 20 years with a pension and medical benefits is awesome as well. I would never have had that if I did EMS FOR LIFE. I actually still love EMS as well. I just don't have any desire to do it anymore. That doesn't mean that I can't state a fact that I believe or what I saw when I worked EMS. That doesn't mean I am not bashing EMS. I made a point that if a test was given tomorrow, 50% of CAREER EMS PROFESSIONALS would FAIL either a written or agiltiy portion of the test. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm not. I guess we will never know.

Let's just take Westchester County right now and say they were going to give a Civil Service test to all CURRENT PAID EMS WORKERS and others that want to start an EMS CAREER. You give all the tests that go along to get a CIVIL SERVICE JOB. How many do you think would fail? I would say more than 50%. That hurts EMS. If you gave them a year to pass the tests, I think that number would go down. I don't know about other EMS AGENCIES and how the hire. I know where I worked and the people that I worked with. I know that all MEDIC SCHOOLS aren't the same. The point I was trying to make is that the skills I see now aren't that great. I don't know why that is but I would have to say that it reflects on the CLASS. I am not picking on one particular class either. I don't know where anyone takes their classes. I am all for EMS making money so that they can live. I was in that boat bouncing around to different jobs to make ends meet so don't think I am bashing EMS. People are scared to mention the WORD UNION at their places. We always come on here and talk about EMS and how to change it. Do you really think it is going to change in the next 5, 10, or 20 years? I don't, but I would like to meet the person that does it.

Making EMS a CIVIL SERVICE JOB will do nothing but hurt EMS in my opinion. But if it is going to be done make the process the same as becoming a LEO or FF. I want a written test to be given, then the same agility that everyone has to take to get into an academy. That means full medical and psycological. Let's face it, as we have said in the past look at some EMS workers. They are DISGUSTING. I am not saying the PD or FD's don't have overweight people but EMS probably triples the other services. I remember when it was hard to get into MEDIC SCHOOL. Now it seems that they take anybody and it shows in the quality of their skills. So for now it has to stay as it is. And just because you sit in an ambulance for 12hrs shifts doesn't mean that you have to gain weight by eating the whole time. You can get out and walk around. You can take a meal and work out. You can eat healthy. Boo Hoo.

The bottom line is TEENS are still going to drink no matter what you do. I think the drinking age should be 18. I don't think that the 3 years to 21 makes anyone more mature to drink. So what happens to the parents who let underage drinking? NOTHING. They get arrested for maybe reckless endangerment or unlawfully dealing with a minor. They go to court and it gets knocked down to DIS CON or some other BS charge. Now if the courts all of a sudden made a mandatory fee of $10,000.00 for the first offense, no parents would allow this. And if the parents didn't know you still charge them. Shame on them if they don't know what is going on in their house.

JJB we must share part of a brain. I feel the same way. At least put it down for a sec. Even if I see you, I will most likely shake my head which usually gets a smile from the driver. On the other hand if I pull you over for talking on your cell and you tell me you weren't talking I ask to see your phone and see when your last call was. Same as if you said you were a DR on offical business. Doing your Transcpripts of your surgery does not count. Do it when you get home.

I cringe when I see crews bring out the KED. For one I believe that it takes too long and there is way too much movement. Although I was trained in it, I don't think I actually used it. It was faster and easier and I think safer for my partner and I to stabalize the neck and do less movement with the PT right onto a backboard and onto the stretcher. With the KED you have to stabalize the neck. move the PT foward, back, strap and maybe move again if the straps get caught you have to move again. Then you have to turn and put the PT on the backboard. I just think it is a waste of time.

Yeah it was cold. You know what I remember? The amount of OT that I got. That night there was a Homicide in Hawthorne and that afternoon was the fire. Crazy day.

It would be nice to have metal detectors at every entrance to every dorr at every school or college but it just isn't practical. Who is going to pay for that? Maybe if you included that in the Tuition or taxes it would work. Then you need to have at least 1 person stand at the door to monitor what is coming in. Let's start by putting metal detectors in all the local courts in the area. I know some are just wide open and anyone can walk in. Especially on Court Day with all the criminals in there. Shocking that nothing has happened in Westchester. Did happen in Rockland though. The first line of Defense in a School shooting is a Police/Resource/Security Officer. Depending on what kind of school you are in. I know that Yonkers, Mt Vernon, New Ro have them. Not sure of WP or Peekskill or any other school in the areas. After Elem, Middle, or High school has started, all doors should AUTOMATICALLY lock from the OUTSIDE. If you are late then you need to hit a button and have somebody come and confirm who you are. A camera system would be great also but schools don't want to spend the money. I say take it out of teachers pay. They want to be safe as well. You would think that this would be a Federal Law after all the shootings in the past 10+ years. I got an Idea for Congress. How about you leave STEROID use in SPORTS to the SPORT it pertains too and PROTECT THE CITIZENS and NON CITIZENS of the UNITED STATES.

If I make anything other than Patrolman you might want to look outside and see if pigs are flying. Let's just wait and see how this plays out. Hopefully this guy can do 3 more years, get his pension then post on EMT BRAVO. LOL I take no offense to what people write about me or my posts. THICK SKIN or STICKS AND STONES.

First of all I resepect the fact that you are RETIRED PO. I don't know where you worked or who you worked with. I do find it a little condescending that you say I will find out later in my career what the needs of the job are. You have no idea how long I have been OTJ. I am pretty sure I got a grip on how I am supposed to be at work though. I watch highly respected guys on my job as well and see how they handle situations. The problem is, we are all different. You chose your way and I choose my way. EVERY SITUATION IS DIFFERENT. Whatever it takes to get me home at night is what I am going to do. Because I write a post defending what a COP did does not mean that I am going out tonight at work and doing the same thing. Maybe he got a little too mad. The yelling I don't have any problem with. You have to give respect to get respect even if you are a teenager. Talk to me as a human being and I will do the same. Talk to me like a piece of s**t and I will do the same to you. Well according to the paper, he has never had a CIVILIAN COMPLAINT in 17 years. Now I don't know if that is true, but you can bet the media will find out the truth or just make it up. On one final note. If I need back up, I don't care what kind of a COP you are. The consequences will be on that officer after I am hopefully safe.

Moose thank you for bringing up the age thing. I saw that after I posted and just chuckled. But being young and naive is natural. You work with COPS all day and they are great. What if this happened with a COP you have been on a call with? Would you lose respect for him/her? When and if you get pulled over while driving alone or with your friends do you mouth off? Do you tell them you work in EMS? You probably expect them to let you go right. Authority is good when it works for you. What if the COP doesn't give you a ticket but yells at you for your infraction? Is that OK? Are you going to run home to MOMMY and DADDY and tell them you got yelled at? You are quick to "question authority" when it won't benefit you aren't you? That is what we call a POSER in my generation.

There happens to be lots of FF's and EMS workers on this site as well. You can voice your OPINION as much as you want about PO's. Just know what you are talking about before you post it. Sorry that you were horrified by this incident. I didn't know so many people on this site were scared to be yelled at. If you have seen so many instances of PO's abusing their POWER report them. Your pretty funny that you say that there needs to be a way to keep a check on all CIVIL SERVANTS yet in you next line you just point out overboard PO's. Last time I checked, FF's were Civil Servants as well. Just because I say something about 1 VAC memeber doesn't mean I am against VAC's. You don't know anything about me so just stick to the topic at hand. Let's get this straight as well, there are no sides. I agree the Cop was wrong for touching the kid. But I also agree that this kid needed to be yelled at. What's is the big deal? If I did something stupid when I was a kid you can bet your behind a Cop yelled at me. I probably deserved it. I didn't lose respect for him/her, and I certainly didn't run home like a baby and tell my parents. I am sure Tony Hawk probably did the same stuff when he was a kid and he was probably yelled at by the POLICE nimerous times. So just so I am clear. If a Police Officer yells at somebody they are Bullies on a power trip and all POLICE OFFICER NEED TO BE MONITORED so they don't go overboard. I love this site.

Baltimore Officer Suspended After Video Surfaces Posted: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 ANNIE LINSKEY and GUS G. SENTEMENTES The Baltimore Sun Watch YouTube Video A Baltimore police officer was suspended yesterday after a YouTube video surfaced on the Internet showing him berating and manhandling a teenage skateboarder at the Inner Harbor. On the video, the officer, Salvatore Rivieri, puts the boy in a headlock, pushes him to the ground, questions his upbringing, threatens to "smack" him and repeatedly accuses the youngster of showing disrespect because the youth refers to the officer as "man" and "dude." At one point, Rivieri, a 17-year veteran of the force, says: "Obviously, your parents don't put a foot in your butt quite enough, because you don't understand the meaning of respect. First of all, you better learn how to speak. I'm not `man.' I'm not `dude,' I am Officer Rivieri. The sooner you learn that, the longer you are going to live in this world. Because you go around doing this kind of stuff and somebody is going to kill you." Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department and the mayor's office, said authorities have begun an internal-affairs investigation. "The entire incident raised red flags for all of the members of the command staff who watched the video," Clifford said. He said yesterday afternoon that Mayor Sheila Dixon had not seen the video, which appears to have been shot last summer, but that its contents had been described to her and that she was "very displeased." "We have invested a lot of time and energy in having better relations between the community and the police," Clifford said. "The bad behavior of one police officer can jeopardize a lot of hard work." Clifford said Rivieri's suspension entails a transfer to administrative duties with pay. Reached at home Sunday, Rivieri said he was not aware that the incident had been recorded or posted to a public Web site. He acknowledged having encounters with skateboarders at the Inner Harbor last summer and told a reporter that he would review the video on YouTube. "These kids, they've got nothing better to do," Rivieri said. Yesterday, after being suspended, Rivieri said, "I have no comment. Thank you." Attempts to e-mail the person who posted the video were unsuccessful. Police said they do not know the identity of the youth involved or who shot the video. Clifford said the department has tried to e-mail, through YouTube, the person who posted the video and is contacting area schools in an attempt to find the boy. Skateboarding is not permitted in the Inner Harbor. Paul Blair, head of the police union, had not seen the video but cautioned that videos show only a slice of a story. He noted that it is impossible to know what happened before or after the camera was turned on. The video came to the attention of the police after a Sun reporter e-mailed the link to the police Sunday morning seeking comment. The video was posted on YouTube on Saturday but probably was made late last summer, according to the Police Department. The 3 1/2 -minute video shows Rivieri walking toward a group of boys, one of whom is holding a skateboard. The boy says he did not hear an order that the officer had given him before the video starts. "Take the earplugs out of your ears. Can you hear me now? Hey, I'm talking to you. Can you hear me?" Rivieri says. Rivieri tells the boy he is not allowed to use his skateboard. "OK, I didn't hear you," the boy says. "Don't get defensive with me," Rivieri says. "You backed off me. I'm not your father. You hear me. I'm not your father. You give that attitude to your father. You give it to me and I'll smack you." One boy says, "I don't have a father." "Shut your mouth, I'm talking," Rivieri says. One boy repeatedly uses the word dude when addressing Rivieri, and the word becomes a point of contention. "Sit down. I'm not a dude," Rivieri says. He then pushes a boy to the ground and walks away with his skateboard. "Dude, don't take my skateboard. I didn't do anything, dude," the boy says. Rivieri replies: "If you call me dude one more time. ... Are you from the county or something?" The officer's tone becomes increasingly harsh. The boy, who says on the video that he is 14, says he wants to call his mother, and later the officer asks to speak with her. It is unclear whether that conversation took place. The person who made the video does not talk and is never identified, though at one point Rivieri addresses the person with the camera, saying, "You got that camera on? If I find myself on ... " The video cuts off before Rivieri finishes his sentence. Clifford said the boy never made an official complaint to the Police Department and that Rivieri has no other citizen complaints in his file. So if the tape never got out nothing would have happened. NO CIVILIAN COMPLAINTS IN 17 YEARS. That is pretty DAMN good if you ask me.

Another Tradegy. How long before it hits in our backyard? I think sooner than later.

I actually noticed that as well. But people on here see what they want to see. They see abusive of power and a guy losing his temper. I would still like to know whay the Police were called there by the KIDS as stated in the video.

You never raised your voice on a call? In your whole career you never did that? Or, you never raised it to a teen? I don't feel disgraced by what he did. The fact is, if he didn't grab the kid around the neck there would be no problem. There is no LAW for yelling at someone. The second you let someone walk over you, you have lost the scene. I am not going to sit there and let somebody be a wise a** or raise their voice at me. I am not a door mat, you can't walk over me. When it comes out that this PO has no record of any other incidents what are you going to say then? Bad days happen. This one just happened to be captured on tape. I can't believe all the perfect people on this site. It should be called EMT PERFECT.

You know what? I had some nasty things to say to you but I'm not going to do it. You have your opinion and you can have that. Life isn't living in a VAC, get out and see that the WORLD is not perfect and neither are the people in it. It must be tough being so perfect that you can judge a video you saw. PATHETIC.

That is your perception. Do you always do right? I agree that the COP went overboard on the grabbing. That is the only thing I will agree with. He will be sued and he will probably lose a couple of days at work maybe even lose his job. I know that would make you happy. For what reason I don't know. Because he touched the KID? If there was no video and you read an article would you have a different view? Well my peers are WAY DIFFERENT than your PEERS. I can assure you of that. My beliefs are also way different. The COP yelled at a KID. It is not the first time and definitely not the last time a COP will yell at a KID. I asked you to put yourself in that situation. Did you?

This post is directed to everyone. Most of you don't deal with that on a daily basis do you? COPS get no RESPECT. Maybe some, but not as much as another CIVIL SERVICE JOB I know. But then again, I don't expect COPS to get that much RESPECT when they have to deal with the PUBLIC about 100X's more. People don't like hearing stuff. Usually one right person and 1 wrong person. That makes people mad. This kid needed to be talked to like that. He DIDN"T need to be touched but he needed that. And if it was anybody's KID on here and it was ME, I would have done the same thing. I would only hope that your children have more respect for the LAW. How many on here are parents of Teenagers? How many know that their son or daughter are or have the potential to be wise guys? Not just being a typical teenager either, I mean a wise guy? How many of you have been into the principal's office because of your "wise guy" teen? How many on here look at your teenager whether boy or girl and say to yourself. Wow, my kid is a problem child? How many of you on here have had to deal with the POLICE because of something your teenager has done? Were the POLICE wrong? Did your teenager get the right treatment? If not, did you file a complaint against the officer? These are questions you should be asking yourself right now after watching that video. I don't care how old your kids are. Take a look into the future. Now I know that times change. Think about when you were a TEEN. Some long ago and some not so long ago. I might have done some pretty stupid stuff, but I was taught from early on to RESPECT COPS AND FIREMAN. I have the greatest RESPECT for both. Growing up in a small town my OLD MAN knew everyone. If I did something wrong the COP didn't need to yell at me if I was a wise guy. Tell my OLD MAN and it was taken care of. And I am going to say this. COP KIDS are worse them all them combined. They think that their doesn't stink. They think that they can get out of anything because their parent(s) are OTJ. But if you think dealing with kids is bad, deal with the parent that is MOS. Holy Crap like talking to a wall. Not all of course, but some. My son is 2.6 years old and if he is anything like I was growing up, I am in for a LONG fight. But, I am ready. We have probaby all said they can't do anything worse than I did. I think they can. On many occasions I have dealt with kids and I have yelled at them. I have been called to houses to explain myself and have done so with the PARENTS commending me on what I did. You see, kids get home and say that a COP yelled at them. They don't say why. Parents believe their children do NO wrong. They tell them some story and MOST PARENTS believe it. The parents that really care are the ones that call or show up at the station wanting to find out the truth from the officer involved. These kids in the video are right at that age. Between 12-25. Some learn and some don't. Some COPS are PRICKS and some aren't. How many complaints are made againt fireman every year for JOB realated incidents against the PUBLIC. How many against LEO's? You can't make a comment on a situation by just watching the video or YOU HAVE NOR EVER WILL BE INVOLVED in. How come the COP was called there? How about we find that our first. I know the JOB I took and I love what I do. Complaints don't bother me because they generally don't go anywhere. If I know that at the end of the day I did my job to the best of my ability then laying my head on the pillow at night feels pretty damn good. So say what you will about the VIDEO. Put yourself in that COPS shoes for one minute. Doesn't it feel good to be a COP. LOL If that was you would you like to be fired over that?