ONEEYEDMIC

This what I can tell you about the Mt Pleasant Dive Team since I have been a member since 2001. There are currently 8 members on the team. All are certified divers with many of us having many more certifications. I was a NYS Paramedic for a long time before I bacame a LEO and they asked me to join because of that EMS experience. I then went out and got my certification. I can tell you it is the best thing in the world being underwater. However when we train it is hard work and there really is no room for screwing around. We have a good time but we act professional. We have all taken Dive Rescue 1. We have all taken Underwater Crime Scene 1 which is like Dive Rescue 1 or 2. Some have taken Ice Water/diving rescue and the rest of will take that soon hopefully. We all can operate the boats and any other equipment that we have. We are also the ONLY DIVE TEAM in the area and I think out of 3 in the state to have SIDE SCAN SONAR. We have all been certified on how to use that as well. Some of us are more computer literate than others though. We try and train at least once a month sometimes twice. All of us must get in the water at some point to keep our skills up. We also go to a local pool and practice confidence diving when we can. Meaning we black out our masks and have to swim through obstacles pushing our gear through then putting it back on withough being able to see. This is because you can't see sh*t around here underwater. Being that we live in a climate area where the water doen't really get that warm we ALL use DRY SUITS. I have never taking that class but learned how to use it. Most of our divers have over 20 diving experience and they are great to learn from. In the past we have trained with the Irvington FD in the Irvington Reservoir removing a plane. We train with Croton on Hudson a couple of times a year and we were the backup divers to NYSP up in Bedford whent he Teen tipped over in his KYACK. Hope that helped. You need a minimum of 3 divers ready at all times. One in the water, his/her backup and 90% diver for the backup. That insures that everyone is safe. We also us underwater communications whenever we can so you need a line tender. I wish we had more hands on our team but we get the job done. Be safe. P.S. I might be forgetting some stuff but if you are interested I have some great pictures on here. Just not sure how to put on EMT Bravo.

Mt Pleasant PD does have a Dive Team. We have been called out to Mamaroneck and Yonkers in the past three weeks. Of course it is always when it is cold outside. Croton on Hudson PD has a dive team as well and I heard that New Rochelle Pd might have started theirs back up. I know they were interested in training with us a couple of months back. Hope that helped you out. If anyone is interested I have some pictures.

JJB, EXCELLENT points. In LE some books and classes stress that APPEARANCE is everything. If you look professional then it is LESS LIKELY that a person is going to mess with you. The theory is when you have intial contact with a person(s) they probably quickly look to how you appear to them. If you are dressed like a slob then they probably think that you really don't care about your job therefore you might be an easy target for an attack. If your uniform is pressed and your boots are polished they may think twice about attacking you. That is just what I have read and heard but LOOKS are the first thing that we see when we interact with the public.

Wow I didn't think I would ever see on here "301 on the back". I will agree that way back when I was down in Yonkers you had no idea when a supervisor was going to show up a on a job. I did figure out though that if you were competent enough they left you alone. I have to say "BUCK" aka B.V. was the best Supervisor I ever had.

I have been interestd in trying to find a class local if Poss. I know that some of our Local VFD's do some training but I would like basic course. If anyone knows for PD that would be great.

They did an episode on FUTURE WEAPONS with that stuff. Really does look cool. I am waiting for someone to invent something that is as powerful and less bulky.

I still don't get it about these blue/green lights. I was in an ambulance corps back in the day and I didn't have a light. I am now on the other side and when I see people driving down the street with lights on but stopping for all traffic signals like they should it makes me wonder what the point is of having them. I don't care that you are a vollie going to your building. Just get there and get to the scene. Most people live in close proximtiy to there respectable buildings anyway. Maybe it's just me. Oh well if they keep selling them, people will keep buying them.

They don't own the Travel Co in Yonkers called EMPRESS.

I didn't even know this was a topic until today 12/14/06. I read most of your posts and I am not sure what side of the fence I should be on. Being in LE, I of course support what I do. Being that the rest of my family is involved in FD's I agree with them and there has been many a topic over dinner. I do believe that at times there are way to many EMERGENCY VEHICLES for once scene. Given the nature you may need more than less and vice versa. I happen to live and work in an area where there is only Volunteer FD's. They do show up in their personal vehicles and it causes havoc. Who has the scene? I don't know. I lik to think that if it is an accident I do and if it is a car fire or something else FD does. Just my opinion I know nobody thinks like that. I do know of a case where a VFD member moved one of our Patrol Veh so that he could get through. The only thing that saved him from being locked up was that the PO was a volunteer firemen. So I guess every situation is different and in the future there will be more disagreements on this subject. BE SAFE

Yes they could buy or steal whatever they wanted. That's why they are CRIMINALS. We could just use a cup and string. They can't intercept that. Or maybe even smoke signals would work.

Every City/Town/Village Dept in Westchester should switch to DIGITAL. Not only so we can all communicate if something bad happens but to also keep the criminals from listening to what is going on. They get a jump on things because we put it over the air.

They should have just dragged him out of there. In that setting a super LIBERAL school with students trying to defend this subject. Of course on the Video we don't see the begininng and the quality isn't that good. I think I counted 3 tases. What is wrong with that guy not to comply? Should be interesting to see what is going to happen.

That was sort of my point. I don't think it was excessive. You can hear the suspect saying that he couldn't breathe. All he had to do was comply and everything would have been fine. I look at it this way. I would rather be judged by 12 then carried by 6.

I am new to the LE portion of EMS BRAVO but have posted in the past on EMS/FIRE Issues. Anyway when I turned on AOL today they had a video of a "GANG BANGER" in LA resisting arrest. Of course they only show one of the cops with his knee on the suspects throat and both PO's were attempting to turn him on his back and cuff him. Is it that hard to listen to directions? I saw one cop punch the suspect in the face more than 4times and that was not a problem. They finally turned him on his back and cuffed him. Now some Liberal lawyer is crying POLICE BRUTALITY. It's not like he knocked him unconscience or anything. On the tape you can hear the suspect saying that he can't breathe. Then he should have complied and not #1 run from the cops and #2 not resist arrest. I am sick of all the criminals having the rights when they do something wrong and we do our job. I just needed to get that off my chest. Everyone Be safe. Can anyone read these? I mean anyone registered to EMS BRAVO? I know that the main people can but I some subjects may be not be for others to see.

In my Town, all Patrol cars have AED'S and 02 duffle bag with minimal supplies. A patrol car is sent on any AIDED, FIRE Call, etc... It is not a requirement to be and EMT and the training that you get in the Police academy is very short. We do have quite a number of Officers that were and still are involved in EMS prior to becoming PO"S. That is a good thing especially for when the Medic gets on scene. More hands to help out.

GAW, I believe that I said something in a previous post about FD response times. If my house was on fire, I would want a quick response and if somebody in my family was sick, I would want a quick response. So I guess what I am trying to say, is RESPOND QUICKER FOR EVERYONE.

Sounds like something your CHief and the CHief of PD has to discuss.

I may have been a little crazy when I said 20 sec. SO here is the scenario. Call comes in for an AIDED. While I am on the phone, I am dispatching the Patrol unit and the MEDIC. When I hang up the phone, I dispatch the Necessary AMB. If you read back to old posts, We dispatch 1 AMB Corp. For the other 2 we either have to call another PD or 60 Control. I can't do that while taking Info on the original call. Now most of the time, we have a Civilian Dispatcher and either one of us takes one of the other duties. So I guess where we are, THE AMB is dispatched at the same time. Now, if I am alone, I hang up the phone and call the next appropriate agency that needs to dispatch the AMB. What they do with that, is on them. It is out of my hands. On some occasions, we talk to the VAC that was disp by the PD. Not when 60 Control dispatches them though. So there is going to be a lag, but because of me. I can't say this for all of our PD dispatchers, but it is very close to that scenario.

Do you really think that the 20 seconds it takes a dispatcher to dispatch a Patrol car to the scene makes a difference? The bottom line is, VOLUNTEERS should be in the building when the call comes in. NOT Coming from across town to get to the building. That is the problem with RESPONSE TIMES. Maybe where you are they delay dispatching you. I don't know the total, but I am sure most PD's that field 911 calls aren't medically trained. Where does it say that they have to medically trained? Now, if I am answering the phones, I will help in any way that I can. I am not EMD certified, but I have been a MEDIC for a LONG TIME. I like to think that I can handle anything on the phone or in person. It also depends on who is calling. Just trying to calm someone down on the phone can be the hardest thing. Of course some PD's are bad at dispatching, just like SOME VAC's and VFD's suck at helping people and putting out fires. I'm not going to lose sleep over this either. It just sounds like you need to move where you are going to get better EMS/FIRE response.

That's right, it is the PD's fault that VOLUNTEERS can't get out. Ok so don't send a patrol car. There is going to be that time when you get there and the PT is going to be a combative INTOX, OD or Diabetic. Then, when you are getting you behind kicked, you are going to wish that you had a PO there. O2 is not the solution, but it does help some aided people. I got an IDEA why don't you start your own DISPATCH COMPANY and you can handle everything. You say you have respect for LE, but you just knocked LE for not being trained and being there just to get pedigree. Well, I have been on many ambulance calls when the AMB gets there all they care about is their CLIPBOARD. You know what, I am not even going to entertain your IGNORANT rants. I hope that members or the PD where you live read this. I for sure just lost all respect for you and I don't even know you. GOOD JOB.

I couldn't have said it any better. Sometimes it is crazy with PD stuff and then an AIDED case or MVA comes in. Now you have a MEDIC GOING TO THE SCENE and trying to DISPATCH a VAC. It gets crazy. Don't get me wrong, I came from EMS so I try and do the right thing all the time when I am dispatching. It does get annoying, but that is in my job description so I am going to do it.

I think what you might have misunderstood me. What I was trying to say, is that when I first joined a VAC a long time ago, I was young and didn't know anything. When I got my first pager, the CAPT of the CORP told me how it worked. He said the tones would go off and the DUTY CREW CHIEF would then call the PD to get the location and nature. The PD dispatched the AMB and did not put that over the pager for the simple reason that they did not want "OFF-DUTY" personell showing up on calls in their personal vehicles. As for me, I think that ALL EMS in WESTCHESTER COUNTY should be handled by 1 Central Station. I guess except for the City's. It works with the FD's, how come it can't work with the VAC'S?

Yes blame the PD's. I can tell you right now that most PD's in this area or anywhere else for that matter would just assume have nothing to do with dispatching vollie EMS units. Perhaps you can attempt to initiate your own EMS reporting system for your area so you have only yourselves to blame when things don't go as planned. Maybe the officers of said dept don't want to be bothered with dipsatching, but those that make the decisions will fight tooth and nail to hold onto that control. I can't see it being the PD's problem. Other things do and are going on when an EMS call comes in. I know for one, that the first thing that I do is dispatch the Patrol unit and MEDIC at the same time. Next is the either setting off the tones, calling another PD, or Calling 60 Control. I would rather have a Patrol unit or Medic on scene first, then to be waiting for the AMB. We don't even give the location or nature over the pager. When they call in, we give that information. We have found that if they know what or where the call is, they pick and choose whether or not to go. There is no non-emergency BLS call. When a call comes in and the person states that they need and AMB, we ask for the nature. How am I supposed to know if the person is telling the truth or not. That is why we send a Patrol Unit and the Medic. The Medic can determine if it is BLS and turn over care only when AN AMB gets on scene.

31 Min is a long time. Was there a Medic on scene waiting? This his how our Town works which has 3 VAC'S. Most of the Aided calls come to our PD first. Sometimes there is a transfer from WCDPS, NYSP, 60 Control, ETC.... I will say Town A although these are not really towns. Anyway, Town A gets dispatched from the PD. After aprrox 1-2 min if nobody has called in, they get dispatched again. If nothing after 1-2 min the appropriate next VAC gets called. To do this, we might have to call 60 Control who dispatches 1 other VAC or another PD, that dispatches the other VAC. The problem with that is, we don't know how long it is going to take to get the Mutual Aid amb out unless 60 Control or the other PD calls us back and lets us know. We log in the blotter that VAC was DISP/UNAVAIL. That way when checking numbers, the higher ups can see what went wrong. On certain instances, I have documented how long it took any AMB to get on scene and put it in the blotter. It doesn't seem to matter because nothing happens to the VAC'S if they don't show up. So the on the original call, you could be looking at at least 4 min before anyone gets to the building. Then you have to wait for other members and so on. Usually, the Medic will be enroute and already on scene and sometimes calling for the AMB. That is unacceptable. I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that it usually takes for someone in POWER to be on the end of waiting for the POLICE, FIRE, AMB before anything is done about it.

The Best MEDICS around. LOL. I am InPartial. I know how frustrating it is also being a MEDIC. I hated waiting around, but at least the level of care is there. Although, not bring up war stories, As a PO, I was on an SVT that was quickly going to VTACH. I was asking for the AMB and they were trying to get Mutual AId amb. My SGT suggested that we go in the POLICE CAR. Now, if I thought that the PT was stable enough to get to the POLICE carr, I would have done that. She was not. It took like 24min to finally get an ambulance on scene. Thank God that the MEDIC, with my help stabalized the PT. That is uncalled for. If that was the TOWN SUPERVISOR or a BOARD MEMBER or one of their family members, the system would have changed that day. I don't think they look at the numbers that closely.