Jason762

The proper response for an inside gas leak is 3 engines, 1 truck, and 1 rescue. First due engine, truck, and rescue investigate with meters, tools, hose, etc. Second and third due engines stand by at hydrants. If it is a large building (hi-rise or just large in sq. footage) the second due engine may want to come up and stage in the lobby or two floors below with additional tools. You must have at least two meters so that readings can be verified. In addition a basic CGI is not enough, you should also have an LEL meter capable of giving a readout of what percentage of the LEL your at. At 10% of the LEL inside a building we're out.

Why would anyone take a gas leak lightly? What happened yesterday in NYC happens all the time, maybe not on such a grand scale, but we are talking about a very flammable gas with a flammable range of approx. 4%-14% (depending on what text you are reading). If the correct assignment was not dispatched, then ask for it. The idea that we have FF's still responding to such emergencies w/o their gear on, or without following safety procedure is a scary idea.

We received a memo from the administration advising us to focus on apparatus safety (ex. wearing seatbelts, safe handling of apparatus, safe driving during emergency responses, etc.). Basically we went over the Driver Safety and Apparatus maintenance SOG's and had a group discussion about apparatus safety. What did other area dept.'s do?

It's no secret what career FF's make, didn't you do any research before you took the test? Anyway if its the salary that makes your decision on whether to become a career guy or not maybe you should just stick to being a vollie. It's not about the money!

Tennessee Town Struggles Without Full-Time Firefighters A busy day care center in unincorporated DeSoto County catches fire during the middle of a workday. The alarm is sounded. The volunteer fire department serving the area rolls into action. Trouble is, most of the firefighters are at work, some pretty far from the station house. So the lone volunteer available drives the pumper to the blaze, where he awaits the arrival of one or all of the county's four fire and emergency services administrators. Valuable minutes are lost in fighting the blaze. What if a child was trapped inside? The day care example is just that, an example. But the shortage of volunteers available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays is real. So real, in fact, that DeSoto County officials are studying whether paid firefighters are needed to offset the shortage. The answer is yes. Volunteer firefighters are legendary heroes in movies, novels and television. The county's eight volunteer fire departments have about 300 highly trained and motivated volunteers. Bobby Storey, county fire coordinator and fire marshal, said the state requires volunteers to receive 40 hours of training to be certified. DeSoto County requires 185 to 200 hours of training. These men and women put their lives on the line to serve the public. All the county's residents should recognize and appreciate what they do. The undeniable fact, though, is that the volunteer concept was fine through the 1970s and 1980s, when much of the county's growth was occurring inside city boundaries. But it's not fine in 2006 in a county that has mushroomed to more than 138,000 residents and continues to grow by 7.5 families daily. More and more land in unincorporated areas of the county is being developed. The completion of the countywide sewer system will accelerate that growth. As Storey rightly points out, more schools and day care centers are also opening in areas served by volunteers. Residents need the assurance that their lives and their children's lives are fully protected 24 hours a day. The current situation during daytime hours also puts the volunteers under a greater risk of injury. Storey said firefighters have a "two-in, two-out" rule that calls for two firefighters to go into a building when necessary and two to remain outside as backup. Obviously, this is not possible with only one or two volunteers at a scene. That means there is only so much they can do at a fire. The county study would compare staffing costs with savings on homeowners insurance premiums in unincorporated areas. One option under consideration is to have two paid firefighters at each volunteer station during the day shift. County Supervisor Bill Russell said any paid staffing plan would require a tax increase for residents outside the cities. He would like voters to have a say in a referendum. Having paid staff on duty will raise the county's fire rating, which will mean big savings on residents' homeowners insurance. Residents should be willing to use those savings to improve a vital service for their lives and property.

Not completely true mstrng1. Shorts can be worn under turnout pants anytime, also some company officers allow their guys to wear them anywhere.

San Antonio Firefighter Jumped Out Of Window After Breathing Mask Failed A San Antonio firefighter jumped out of a window while battling a house fire Monday after his breathing apparatus failed, fire officials said. Firefighter Mike Hernandez was among a team of firefighters who were battling flames and thick smoke in the attic of a home at 602 Burnet when his lifeline malfunctioned. "It just stopped working on him and he couldn't get any more air," said Capt. Stephen Ersch, of the San Antonio Fire Department. "And he tried making it out, but the house had quite a bit of furniture in it and he couldn't make his way out, so he ended up diving out the window." Hernandez was not seriously injured and was treated at the scene. Hernandez's breathing apparatus was not the only one to malfunction at the fire. Ersch's lifeline fell apart as he was about to enter the burning home. The pair of mechanical failures are the latest to plague the department in nearly a year. Due to several malfunctions, the City of San Antonio decided to replace the current apparatuses made by Interspiro with those made by Scott. "We've got our new BA's on the way," Ersch said. "And hopefully things will turn out a lot better for us. So, we make do with what we got."

I'm not saying that all vols are. I was one once, and I still am friends with plenty. It's just ridiculous statements like his show the caliber of certain individuals. I suppose its easy though when you're hiding behind a screen name and aren't man enough to show who you are. I was in no way incinuating all vols are wannabes, just this one character, his post did reak of sour grapes.

Sounds to me like the ranting of another jealous wannabe. Let's explore the 2 day a week comment. OK, we work 24 hours on and 72 hours off. That works out to 42 hours a week over the course of a year. That means being away from family for 24 hours at a clip, sometimes on holidays, birthdays, etc. And I am by no means complaining, I love my job and I wouldn't have it any other way. As for our salaries, I'm not sure where Mr. sutphenrider is talking about but I don't see any FF's getting rich off of this job. So before you open your mouth, get your facts straight, get your head out of your rear end, and stop being jealous of those that could get on a job that apparantely you never could.

It's all well and good to make your cuts from a TL when possible, but there are so many times when it isn't possible. Overhead wires, recessed buildings, narrow streets, double parked cars, all these things make our job very difficult. For these reasons, we must pre-plan our response areas and try to know what buildings are truss construction. We also have to train to become proficient in operating off a roof ladder on a steep incline. Many dept.'s are moving towards a no vertical ventilations stance and I have to say its not a bad idea. Its not possible in most jurisdictions to know every buildings construction features and unless you have a pre-plan on every building readily available in the rig, we don't know what we are walking into (or on top of) in most cases.

Fewer paramedics means more lives saved By Robert Davis, USA TODAY Mon May 22, 7:12 AM ET Cities that deploy fewer paramedics - who in turn treat more victims of sudden cardiac arrest - save more lives, according to a new study. Cardiac-arrest survival rates, considered a key measure of an emergency medical service's performance, vary from city to city. The study of five unidentified cities sought to find factors that have an impact on survival. "Our data seem to show that cities with the fewest number of paramedics for a given population are more likely to have higher survival rates," says Michael Sayre of the emergency-medicine department at Ohio State University in Columbus. "Having a smaller number of paramedics who are very highly trained is probably a better strategy for delivering good patient outcomes." Cities use survival from sudden cardiac arrest - an abrupt loss of heart function often caused by misfiring electrical impulses in the heart - as a performance indicator because victims either live or die based on critical care delivered in the first minutes after collapse. The report, presented Friday at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine in San Francisco, supports the similar findings of a USA TODAY study last year that called into question the national trend of putting paramedics on fire engines, often the first to reach the scene of an emergency. "The major reason to have paramedics on first-response vehicles is because of the possible impact on cardiac arrest," Sayre says. "If that is not there, it would suggest to me that there isn't a good reason to have paramedics on first-response vehicles. It would be better to put a much smaller group of paramedics on a second-tier response." In fact, new study found that more lives are saved in the cities with fewer paramedics even when those responders arrive as much as five minutes later than less-trained rescuers. Among the 50 largest cities in America, those that save the highest percentage of cardiac-arrest victims - Seattle, Boston, Oklahoma City and Tulsa - use such a tiered response, USA TODAY found in an investigation published in 2003. Researchers believe the individual paramedics in such cities deal with a higher volume of critical cases, keeping sharp such tricky skills as intubation, the insertion of a tube into the trachea to open an airway. "There are a number of procedures required regularly to stay expert," says Corey Slovis, Nashville's EMS medical director. The study's lesson is "we've got to demand expertise from our experts," he says. EMS physicians say the study is timely because of perceived paramedic shortages. "Nobody knows what is the right number of paramedics per 100,000 population, and what is the best way to deploy the paramedics you already have in order to save the most lives," says Marc Eckstein, medical director for the Los Angeles Fire Department. "The need for research to answer these questions has never been greater."

It's all well and good to have certifications and training, but what about experience? When you come on as a probie you're job is to shut your mouth and open your ears. Yes, you have already been through FFI and FFII. Yes you have Haz-mat op's, EVOC, and EMT, but what you don't have is any experience in the field. That is the reason why all new probies are told to keep their mouths shut, listen to the senior members and officers, and do as your told. When you come on this job, it is no time to be throwing around your opinions and ideas. It IS the time to "know your place" as was stated earlierand learn. We have had some recent additions to our dept. that had 20+ years experience in other dept.'s and it was like night and day seeing them next to some of our newer "unexperienced" members. They know what is expected of new members (even if they are only new to the dept. not the job). It comes down to the way kids are raised now. So many kids now do not have respect for authority, rank, or their elders. So, if you learn your job and keep your mouth shut and earn the respect of the senior members, then someday you can pass down your experiences to the younger members of the future.

We were the first dept. in the area to try the Morning Pride built-in harness system back in 2002. It's main use was for self rescue, not FF down. Its shoulder straps ran between the liner and the shell, the leg straps were kept tucked in the "tails" of the coat which would have to be released and connected en-route to the call, and the attatchment points were kept in each coat pocket, where a "T" for lack of a better term would have to be attached (again while enroute to the call). The carabiner or whatever you use would then be attached to this "T" and away you go. Sound simple??? Well it absolutely is/was not. And by the way, it adds a lot of weight to the coat, all the extra weight rested on your shoulders so working overhead was a joy, and when you got wet (which we do at most fires), you could really feel the extra weight. If you can't tell, I hated this harness. My company was the guinea pigs for the dept and we all quickly came to the conclusion this harness was not the way to go. After working a few fires with the harness and then soon after a few without, we all decided to take the harnesses out. Since then most of us have gone with the Gemtor and a bail out kit, much simpler and lighter. In addition to the added weight, the need to remember to make all the connections was a pain since we all have enough to think about. I'm not sure if they've made improvements/changes since then, so I can only speak of this system.

For all the dept's that have a specific person that writes the reports, how does he write the narrative section and determine incident type if he wasn't on the call. It seems to me the person who actually conducted the investigation or administered the patient care should be the one writing the report. If years down the road the case goes to court and the report is called into question the member making the report will not actually know what happened.

In CT, an NFIRS report is filled out for every run a dept. goes on regardless of incident type. We have the first due officer complete the report. If you catch a busy day this can tack on an extra hour to you shift. An actual building fire report takes a considerably longer amount of time to complete as compared to your AFA report.

In-Station Strippers Draw Ire Of Maryland County Updated: 05-17-2006 11:50:55 AM STACEY COHAN Things apparently got a little heated inside a Prince George’s County fire station. And now the county is taking action against some volunteer firefighters that are accused of using a public building for some very private activity. All's quiet at the Boulevard Heights station for now. It's a pretty busy spot, with volunteers and career firefighters running over 3,000 calls a year we're told. But some might think what's been happening inside the station is a little more interesting. Sources say some volunteers were caught at firehouse parties with strippers, more than once. Anyone can rent the room at the station; in fact the department makes money doing just that. But paying someone to take off their clothes inside a pubic building is definitely not an approved use. One volunteer firefighter we talked to says he knows nothing about stripper parties. But the fire department management obviously does. Although the department refused to talk about Boulevard Heights on camera, they sent a statement. It says they are "aware of social events being conducted" at the station. And that the events "potentially violate departmental EEO policies." And one volunteer "has been removed pending the outcome." It's actually the volunteer chief whose gear will remain untouched until the stripper story is completely uncovered. No word on how long the investigation will take, or if more volunteers could may be taken off the job. The fire department in Prince Georges County relies on the use of volunteers. The stations are usually staffed with somewhere between two and four career firefighters, and the rest of the workers are all volunteers.

Maybe its me, but why would anyone want to ride the rear step? Its not safe, its not climate controlled, and with all the history of injuries and fatalities it seems ridiculous. Why don't we go back to not wearing SCBA's and full turnouts.

Most of the time if you're driving an engine, won't you be outside pumping the rig/standing by, not inside investigating the cause of the alarm? Therefore why would you need to have on bunker pants, coat, helmet, etc.?? Unless the weather is inclement or you are going to leave the rig unattended for some reason (but be in the immediate vicinity) the driver/operator should be close to the rig at all times, especially if there are guys on a line inside a building. If you are a later arriving rig (i.e.second alarm company) then I can see getting dressed early, but for the most part aren't your drivers standing by outside?

I've had good luck with the Scantenna by Antennacraft. Its mounted in my attic and can pick up low band as far as 100 miles away. It all depends on what you monitor, if most of your frequencies are in the same range you can get an antenna to receive just those, that typically works better than a wide-frequency range type antenna.

Thats a good idea, drunk FF's only respond to "serious" incidents, seems safe. Shouldn't the dept. be OOS regardless of incident type until the next morning?

1 week suspension w/o pay??? That seems a little harsh. What does the union have to say about that? I don't know what type of community you're in, but up here there are so many tight streets (sometimes on dead ends) with parking on both sides and traffic everywhere, that the occasional accident is a way of life. I agree the driver should be under review, and disciplinary action is needed for chronic offenders, but the 1 week suspension w/o pay seems extreme.

That is correct that is bad driving on your part. Just because you claim you do it a lot (I'm not sure what your definition of a lot is), is no excuse not to have a spotter everytime. It only takes a few seconds and minimal energy, but it will save you hours of paperwork and headaches. We require a spotter everytime the rig backs up, whether it be 10 feet or a mile.

You can't gp wrong with the Uniden BC-780XLT. They actually don't make it anymore, its been replaced by the digital capable scanners, but I don't monitor any digital agencies so this one works great. Like was said earlier the antenna and coax you ise are just as important as the scanner itself. I use the Scantenna by Antennacraft and RG-6 coax. I am pretty far up in CT and am able to monitor most NYC boroughs, 60 control, Putnam 911, some NJ dept.'s, and most of Fairfield county and Litchfield county CT. Whatever scanner you buy make sure it has enough channels to suit your needs. 500 channels may sound like alot but they get eaten up pretty quickly, especially when you use different banks for different times (ex. one bank for local FD only, one bank for FD and PD, one bank for long range listening, etc.) I bought my antenna and coax from http://www.grove-ent.com/ They had a great price and were helpful with questions. Also check e-bay they have a ot of scanner stuff for good prices if you shop around. You should be able to find one for under $200.

Date: 05/07/06 Time: 22:35 Hrs Location: I-95 N/B Exit 8 Frequency: 800 TRS Units Operating: E-3, R-1, Medic 1, Medic 3, Medic Super. 901 Description Of Incident: Two car accident with pin Writer: Jason 762 22:35-M1, E3, R1 dispatched to I-95 N/B between Exits 8 and 9 for an MVA w/ injuries, possible extrication 22:41-E3 and R1 o/s 22:43-M1 o/s 22:45-M1 request 2nd ambulance to scene, confirmed pin job 22:46-M3 dispatched and enroute I-95 North is completely closed to all traffic at Exit 8, major traffic delays in the area. 23:51-R1 reports extrication complete, members assisting medics with patient care, enroute to hospital. 00:01-E3 and R1 report they will be OOS for major decon/restocking procedures. 00:49-All units back in service