BFD1054

Date: 09-08-04 Time: 1140HRS(approx.) Location: Taconic State Pkwy. SB (exact location unknown to this writer) Frequency: 46.26 Units: Yorktown Car 2533(IC), E270, R16, MA8, Millwood Car 2252 & E247, Yorktown VAC, Ossining VAC & 34M1. Description: MVA w/extended extrication, TSP SB, Yorktown & Millwood FD's dispatched & handled. Upon their arrival, E270 confirming extrication will be needed. Car 2533 later requested Somers re-locate 1 engine to Yorktown FD HQ to cover, Yorktown operating at several alarms other than this MVA. Somers E181 & Car 2442 handled. Car 2533 advised of extended extrication. 34M1 confirmed 2 patients total, requesting 2 buses to the scene. Writer: BFD1054 *I was unable to record times and or exact info on this job, so anyone with further, please post.

Not a problem Dave, thats why i posted it lol. My post was kind of confusing, but i couldn't copy and paste off of the Emergency Services page, so i wasn't about to type each date out lol!

Yeah Stench, we actually bid on one the other day. Someone outbid us by like $10 with 4 minutes left lol! But they seem to have them pretty often, so maybe i'll luck out. Any place that i have found that re-furb them seem to ask top $$$. I was hoping to find like a salvage yard with old fire apparatus where i could just purchase the siren from them. Maybe i'd luck out and they'd have no clue how much $$$ they're worth lol.

mfc, thank you for the info. I too was at work but heard it come in and i monitored it. That makes sense now, i know i heard R16 & MA8 on the air. I also heard that Somers & Mahopac Falls Dive Teams were on stand by. So i think R16 & MA8 were assigned to search the area around the Rt 134 bridge, while E270 was at the MVA scene. I was a bit confused, but it now makes more sense, so thank you!

definately a great point Muns! Unfortunately, i think the parents with their children in the car are the worst drivers and the ones you have to watch out for! It kills me to see these parents racing down the street with their helpless kids in the car! I don't know if they drive fast because they're late, but if thats the case...wake your a$$es up earlier and get your kids to school on time!!! Sorry, just a big pet-pieve of mine lol. But yes, everyone remember that schools are open, so keep that in mind while you are driving, wheather it be in your pov or an emergency vehicle!

Handling Propane Emergencies This workshop is divided into a classroom (3 hour) presentation and hands-on field exercises (2.5 hours). We urge you to register early to assure your space for this program, as space is limited. Saturday, October 16, 2004 Putnam Mahopac Fire Department Route 6 and Croton Falls Rd Mahopac, NY For further information or to download an application, go to: http://www.fasny.com/scriptcontent/va_cust...&Title=Training

Funeral for hero fire chief to include procession Published in the Home News Tribune 9/07/04 By MICHELLE MASKALY STAFF WRITER NEW BRUNSWICK: Numerous city streets will be shut down today and tomorrow as family, friends and fellow firefighters say goodbye to Deputy Chief James D'heron -- a man who devoted his life to saving others. The 51-year-old veteran firefighter died in the line of duty early Friday morning after he ran into a burning Lee Avenue home and rescued 15 people. An investigation into what exactly caused D'heron's death has not been completed, authorities have said. Any new information about the case would not be available until today, authorities said. About 2,000 firefighters are expected to converge on the city for two days of services. A procession including D'heron's family, New Brunswick fire personnel with full color guard, the chief's vehicle, Ladder 1 and Engine 1 carrying D'heron, will start at Boylan Funeral Home on Easton Avenue at 1 p.m. today. It will proceed down Easton Avenue and make a left onto Somerset Street ending at St. Peter the Apostle R.C. Church, where D'heron will lie in state. Officials advise this will result in temporary road closures today, affecting a portion of Easton Avenue, Hamilton Street from Easton to George streets, George Street from Hamilton to Somerset streets, and then on Somerset Street up to the church. A wake at the church will take place between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today, with a traditional fire department rite at 8 p.m. There will be road closures all day today on Somerset Street from Easton to George streets and on College Avenue from Hamilton to Somerset streets. Tomorrow, a procession of uniformed New Brunswick fire personnel, the chief's vehicle, Ladder 1, Engine 1, a 1947 Mack fire engine, and a full pipe and drum corps will start at 9:15 a.m. at the corner of Easton Avenue and Hamilton Street, continue down Hamilton Street to George Street, then make a right onto Somerset Street on their way to St. Peter's. A funeral at St. Peter's will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Shuttle buses, provided by Rutgers University, will take those attending the funeral from Buccleuch Park, where they are being asked to park their vehicles, to the church from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. A procession of family, close friends, New Brunswick fire personnel and the pipe and drum corps will follow the funeral. The shuttle buses will take the remaining people back to Buccleuch Park, where a reception will immediately follow the funeral service. The procession will follow D'heron, whose remains will be carried in Engine 1 from the church up Somerset Street, then down Louis Street to Suydam Street. It will make a right on Joyce Kilmer Avenue. As it travels past fire headquarters, it will pass under an American flag hung between two ladder trucks. Four sets of five-bell rings will be heard as part of a firefighter tradition called recall. The procession will make a left on Edgeworth Place and go past D'heron's house. It then will go down to Livingston Avenue, make a right and head up to How Lane, where it will follow the road to Route 27 and take that down to St. Peter's Cemetery. There will be road closures all day tomorrow on Somerset Street from Easton to George streets and on College Avenue from Hamilton to Somerset streets. Temporary road closures will be in effect along the procession route. Firefighters who gathered at the Joyce Kilmer Avenue firehouse yesterday said the condolences they've been receiving from fire departments around the world has been comforting. D'heron leaves behind a wife, Kathleen; a 32-year-old daughter, Erin Varga, and a son-in-law, John Varga, all of New Brunswick; and two sons, Mickey, 23, who serves in the Army's military police and James, 22, of Providence, R.I. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St. Barnabas Burn Foundation, 94 Old Short Hills Road, Livingston, NJ 07039. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The class is 27 Hours total. It begins on Tuesday, September 21, with a class the next night on Wednesday, September, 22. After that, classes are every Tuesday & Thursday from September 28 - Tuesday, October, 26. Class hours are 7pm - 10pm.

Thats terrible news! My girlfriend goes to college in New Brunswick, they're a busy department and a great bunch of guys! 20 years on the job and so close to retirement, what a shame. My thoughts and prayers also go out to his family, friends and the members of the City of New Brunswick FD.

George, good to hear that you were able to get what you were looking for, although you have to wait. The showroom isn't all that big, but like i said, they're a great bunch of guys & they'll get you what you need some how. Thats too bad that you made the trip and they didn't have what you needed, but at least know you know what they do have and what you can expect of them. I at least hope that the price wasn't too bad?

BY AUSTIN FENNER and TONY SCLAFANI DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Firefighters braved intense heat and blinding smoke to pluck five unconscious family members - including four children - from a raging arson fire in a Brooklyn apartment building early yesterday. "Please, somebody get my kids upstairs!" screamed Cendri Hervieaux, who lives in the first-floor apartment. Her children, ages 2 and 9, were visiting their aunt and two cousins on the top floor of the four-story Crown Heights building when the fire erupted about 5:30 a.m. The kids, ranging in age to 16, were in stable condition. But Hervieaux's sister Lisa Hervieaux-Lovett, mother of one of the children, was clinging to life last night at Jacobi Medical Center. "There was nothing I could do. You just have to let them do their job," said Cendri Hervieaux, 38, who was awakened by loud screams and shattering glass above her first-floor home. With flames shooting from the rooftop, firefighters from Squad 1 and Ladder 113 crawled through thick, black smoke to pull out the family trapped inside a cramped bedroom. Firefighters fought through flames as veteran Squad 1 members Eddie Cowan and Mike Stackpole climbed a fire escape and broke through a window to be the first inside the smoke-filled, fourth-floor apartment. With clocks and picture frames melting around them, the two could barely see as they crawled into the bedroom, finding the family passed out on the floor. "They were trying to get out, and they couldn't," said Stackpole, 38, whose firefighter brother, Tim, was killed on 9/11. "You're just thinking about getting them out as fast as you can." As burning embers rained down, Cowan, 31, and another firefighter carefully carried Hervieaux-Lovett, 39, down the charred main staircase. Her son, Vaughn, 11, and nephews Joseph Williams, 16, and Khalif Tulloch, 9, soon followed, while her 2-year-old niece, Zariah Tulloch, was rescued through a window. Firefighters and paramedics rushed to perform CPR on all five outside the brick building at 852 Classon Ave. The 2-year-old was at New York Methodist Hospital last night, sedated and intubated as a precautionary measure, relatives said. Hervieaux-Lovett, a subway token clerk who suffers from asthma, inhaled lots of smoke and was in critical condition. Her husband, Vincent, a subway conductor, was keeping a vigil at her bedside last night, relatives said. "If it wasn't for the firefighters, anything could have happened," said Cendri Hervieaux, who also works a subway conductor. "Thank God they came when they did." The blaze broke out when someone ignited some clothes and garbage in a stairwell near the second floor, officials said. Flames shot to the roof and began consuming the family's apartment when someone opened the door. The fire was under control at 6:06 a.m. but had caused enough damage to leave the building's eight families homeless. The American Red Cross temporarily put them up in hotels. Later, firefighters were modest about their rescue. "We're just regular guys," Stackpole said, "but when we work together we do things we cannot do alone." The rescue came hours before his brother's widow, Tara Stackpole, addressed the Republican National Convention about the heroism of New York's Bravest. With Greg Gittrich *I found this article in the Daily News & figured i would post it. Its just nice to finally see something nice written about FDNY's Bravest after all the negative press in the last few weeks.

Ah ha lol. Thanks TRUCK6018, that would explain why he is good at what he does and good saleman! I totally forgot that he was the owner and i knew his name started with M, i was going to say Mike lol. Not a problem George, definately find some time to check it out one day, glad the info helped! Mike

George, Yes, there is such a store. It is AAA Emergency Supply Co. & it is located at 635 North Broadway. They have all the goods from gear, to vehicle lighting to tools. Mike Conklin is one of the sales guys thats usually there and hes real good to deal with. The other guy is Steve & another good salesman is a N. White Plains Chief, i just don't know his name, but hes usually there too. The showroom is kind of small, but like i said, they have everything & if its not there, they'll get it for you! I also find that they are very reasonably priced, usually much cheaper than other local dealers. They have an E-mail address, but no website: info@aaaemergency.com Phone numbers: Main Office: (914) 949-0512 Sales: (203) 348-3069 or (203) 748-3261 Directions: From the south....Bronx River Pkwy Northbound to Virginia Rd. (4-way intersection w/traffic light), make right onto Virginia Rd., go over train tracks, then you will see Washingtons Headquarters (County property) on your left, continue straight on Virginia Rd. until your 1st traffic light (N. Broadway). Make a left onto N. Broadway & AAA is located directly next to N. White Plains FD HQ on your left. Park on N. Broadway. Call ahead for store hours, i believe they close early on weekdays, maybe 4pm the latest & they are only there until about noon on Saturdays. Hope this info helps! Mike

Wait.....DMA, someone actually let you use a chainsaw? LOL, just kidding man! House sirens are just one of those things that people love or hate! Personally, my departments house siren is terrible, so i can barely hear it anyway, except on occasional quiet summer nights lol! I have a brand new Minitor-4 pager & a fire department issued Nextel that receives I-Pages from 60-Control, so if i miss a call, theres something wrong! I look at it this way, if i am that far out of my district where my pager doesn't go off, than i am probably too far away to respond anyway! I don't rely on the house siren at all and frankly do not care if we have one or not. But as other members have said, a lot of it has to do with tradition, which shouldn't be the case. There are the "old-timers" who will say that the sirens have been there for a zillion years, so leave them alone. The old-timers are also the ones who hear the siren, respond to the firehouse and don't have a clue as to whats going on and where to go because they don't have pagers to listen to! I hate when you are at the firehouse and a call comes in & you can't hear what it is because the siren is going off. When you finally do hear the run & get in the rigs, 60-Control can't hear you and you can't hear them because of the house siren lol! So personally, i would have to say that they are a nuisanse rather than a necessity!

Volunteer responders criticize 911 dispatching By TERRY CORCORAN THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: August 30, 2004) GARRISON — Volunteer firefighters and ambulance personnel in western Putnam County say the system used to dispatch them is flawed and that precious response time is being lost. "The danger is that we aren't getting the dispatches," said Capt. Jerry Moore of the Garrison Ambulance Corps. "They're calling for mutual aid at times when we're ready to handle the calls. We're just not getting our (dispatch) tones." The problem is not the dispatch system, said Robert McMahon, the county's commissioner of emergency services. It's with the pagers that firefighters use to receive the dispatch tone. "The pagers are just not very sensitive," he said. Compounding the problem is the hilly terrain in western Putnam and the iron ore in those hills. "The iron plays havoc with our communications," McMahon said. Volunteers in western Putnam don't doubt that, but they say the problem has persisted for years and they want county officials to do something about it. "We truly think they need to do an upgrade of the radio system, but county officials are balking at it," said Lt. Derek Tudor of Garrison ambulance. "It seems like they're in denial." McMahon and Adam Stiebeling, his deputy commissioner, say that Putnam is taking steps to study the feasibility and cost of upgrading communications, but acknowledge that it's going to take time and money. When the county's main dispatch center — dubbed 40-Control — is unable to reach westernmost Putnam, dispatchers call the Westchester center — 60-control — which can dispatch to Philipstown, including Garrison and Continental Village. "We haven't lost any calls," McMahon said. Still, volunteers say they are frustrated and feel the poor communications ties their hands. "We're here to protect the community, and we want to do a good job," said Garrison Fire Chief Joe Surace. "But it's kind of hard to do that when you don't get the dispatch tones." When someone in Putnam County dials 911, the call is answered at the county sheriff's headquarters in Carmel. If an ambulance or fire engines are needed, a dispatcher signals a tone, which is sent via telephone lines to one of several communications transmitters. Those are located on the Mount Nimham tower in Kent, the AT&T tower on Route 301 in Philipstown, on Tinker Hill in Putnam Valley and on the side of a steeple at the Graymoor monastery in Garrison. Depending on the location and nature of the call, the signal can be sent to the transmitters individually or simultaneously. The transmitters, in turn, send out tones that are received on the pagers that volunteers carry. The pagers first sound a tone, followed by a dispatcher's voice that informs the listener on the location and nature of the call. Volunteers in Garrison, Philipstown and Continental Village say that while they can hear the tones, they are not getting the subsequent voice messages. As a result, they say, volunteers in Putnam Valley are unnecessarily being summoned for mutual aid. Mutual aid is summoned after five minutes if no one responds to the initial tone. County officials note that every fire and ambulance call in Putnam gets answered. McMahon said one remedy would be to use microwave communication, which precludes the use of phone lines. He said the county is studying that, but noted that the microwave dishes used for such a system would have to be within the line of sight of one another so that hills don't interfere with the signal. In the meantime, McMahon and Stiebeling said they were asking volunteers for patience until the situation is remedied. "The radio vendor is trying to fix this problem. We're just the middleman," McMahon said. "We're asking volunteers to work with us. With continued cooperation, the calls are getting answered." Send e-mail to Terry Corcoran

Seth, you would be correct about Montrose. They are looking to replace the current E125, their short wheel-base rescue/pumper, which crapped out a while back. I heard that they are looking at ALF as well, but i'm not 100% sure. I'm not sure even what stage they are in at this point, they still may be in the bidding process. As soon as i get more factual info, i'll be sure to post it!

LOL too funny! Dave, i wasn't gonna name names, but since you went ahead and did it...CPD is like famous for that, thats gotta aggravate you! It must be interesting to be sitting at the FH and hear PD sending a car to "check & advise" on a possible or resported fire. Honestly, what good do they think they are doing? What could they do if they do "check & advise" and have a working fire, or worse off, a working fire with people trapped? That little CO extinguisher that they have in their trunk isn't going to do much! Thats a prime example of why Croton should go to 60-Control and totally get rid of the PD dispatching! Hell, half the time it seems like they aren't listening to the fire radio anyway!

Wow, what a terrible accident! Definately a freak accident, but a tragedy regardless. I have never seen or heard of anything like that ever happening. I could maybe see if the nozzle was on top of the cross-lay, but too close to the outside and flew out when the weight shifted. But the article stated that all 200 feet came out with the nozzle, which seems very strange. As ALS said, drivers must pay attention to everything, not only whats ahead, but to the sides and behind the rig! As you're driving, you should definately be checking your mirrors! I like the idea of having a mesh netting covering the "holes" on the sides where the cross-lays come out. I have seen that type of netting, but never actually on a rig, at least locally. May not be a bad idea though! This may have been a freak accident and may be 1 in a million chances that it happens again, but if a cheap piece of netting can prevent another tragedy, theres no excuse not to give it a try! Anyway, just my thoughts. My heart goes out to the families of the girls & to the fire department involved, as i am sure they are all upset by this incident.

I definately agree with what everyone is saying...there is absolutely way too much useless radio traffic! It seems that every Tom, Dick & Harry has a radio & an ID #, its just ridiculous! Theres departments out there that make up thier own ID's, mine included, and 60 Control doesn't aknowledge them & i don't blame them one bit! There enough nonsense that they have to deal with, now some joe shmoe is gonna sign on car 1234B or some crap, give me a break! As 1075 stated, sometimes certain units can't hear one another. In my case, i only have a portable, not a mobile, so i never hear anything & 60 rarely hears me. Even when we play back our recorder to get times, it usually doesn't pick me up. Therefore, i won't bother signing on sometimes, unless i am the first to sign on. Like yesterday, with all that bad weather, we did like 6 calls within a few hours. I never bothered signing on because there was already a Chief, an Engine, a Rescue & other officers responding and/or on location. The only time i "keyed up" was to assertain where my Chief needed me, and then we switched channels anyway. It makes me think of the saying my mom would use when i was younger...."if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it at all." Well....if you don't have anything usefull to say on the radio, stay the hell off of it! Theres nothing worse than being on a scene of a big job, like a working fire, and hearing the most useless info being put over the air. Its scary to think that you may have to transmit a mayday, but your cry for help goes unheard because some idiot feels the need to let everyone know where the refreshments are located, or some other useless info. I had said it in another post, but a good example was the apartment building fire we (Buchanan) had back in January. At the height of the fire i was trying to request another handline because conditions were deteriorating and we needed another line to try and get a handle on it. But of course, there was too much nonsense radio traffic and my calls went unheard. It came down to another Lieutenant going to the #1(A) side if the structure, where the command post was, and yelling down to them to get us another line, which actually worked! But if you're trapped somewhere, you're not going to have that luxery to just yell out a window. Hudson made some great points in his posts, especially by saying departments need to start making policies on when and when not to key up the radios! This is something that the Chiefs, although they are somtimes the worst, need to get a handle on and really enforce it! People also need to learn whats important/essential to transmit over the air, another thing that needs to be enforced! People may say "oh, well it only took 5 seconds for me to say blah, blah, blah over the radio, so its no big deal." Well, yeah it could be a big deal. In that 5 seconds, you could have cut-off a guy trying to transmit a mayday. Cutting down on radio traffic has to be a joint effort that includes all ranks of the FD's and of course, 60-Control! Guys also need to be taught how to talk on the radio and Chiefs need to enforce radio useage! It sounds silly, but many guys really don't know how to talk properly on the radio and they make themselves and their dept. sound bad! Lets all start trying to cut down on the radio and try and teach others to do the same and maybe we can slowly get somewhere lol! Stay safe everyone!

Date: 08-18-04 Time: 1115HRS (Approx.) Location: Heritage Hills Golf Course (East Hill), hole #7. Frequency: 46.26 Units: Cars 2442 (IC), 2443, E183, 80B? & 45M? Description: KEC-625 Somers dispatched a call for E183 & the ambulance to respond for a rescue call, reported person trapped under a over-turned golf-cart. Car 2442 10-19, advising Security will lead units in. Car 2442 at hole #7, requesting that the medic expedite & they will need the stokes-basket off of E183. Car 2442 also requesting a Police agency to respond (either State or Somers Town). Writer: BFD1054 *i was unable to record exact times, or do i know the extent of injuries to the victim, as i was at work. Maybe a member of Somers FD/EMS can elaborate.

mmm beer....ok now seriously lol. If you want to drink, go to a bar, if you want to serve your community, join the firehouse. If you want to do both (not at the same time), go to the bar after the firehouse. I can't believe that in this day in age, there are firefighters that would threaten to resign if they are not allowed to drink at thier firehouse. I don't have a problem with bars/alcohol in firehouses, just as long as people don't mix the two. At my firehouse, we have a bar, but it is mostly occupied by associate (non-active) members. The bar is upstairs, away from the bays & offices where the true firehouse activities take place, so it does not interfere. If the active guys want to hang out at the bar, thats fine, so long as they don't dare jump on a rig or respond in any way to an emergency. These guys that are threatening to resign over this are probably not the guys you want protecting your community anyway. I think that is just absolutely absurd & as ALS said, leave your gear at the door, we don't need ya'.

Date: 08-12-04 Time: 2305HRS(TOD) Location: IFO 470 Mamaroneck Ave. c/s Saxon Dr. Frequency: 453.750 Units: Cars 2161, 2162 & 2163, E12, E13 & TL24. Dispatcher 642 handled this call. Description: Motor Vehicle Accident w/entrapment. Writer: Truck4, BFD1054 2305HRS-Harrison FD dispatched for an MVA w/possible entrapment. 2310HRS-Re-tone, request for E13 to the scene, confirmed extrication needed. 2313HRS-E12 10-84. 60-Control advising M/A ambulance from Port Chester en-route. 2314HRS-E13 10-84. 2318HRS-As per Car 2161, Harrison toned out, driver needed to s/b in quarters w/E11, Mamaroneck Village to s/b in thier own quarters w/1 Engine. 2320HRS-Mamaroneck Village E38 on s/b, City of Rye transmitting signal 555 for L25 to s/b in quarters to cover Harrison. 2332HRS-As per Car 2161, Rye L25 can stand-down. 2352HRS-As per Car 2161, Mamaroneck Village E42 requested to the scene, 10-20, for lighting for an accident investigation. 2354HRS-E42 10-17. 2358HRS-E42 10-84. 0132HRS-As per Car 2161, E12 & VMFD E42 released from the scene & E38 (VMFD) can stand-down from s/b. Update...This was a high-speed rear-end collision. Young male, single occupant, driving a brand new high-end BMW rear-ended another sedan at a very high rate of speed. There was entrapment, negative fatality...thank god!

Date: 08/12/04 Time: 1400HRS Location: Across from 231 Washington St. (Actual address was 244 Washington St.) Frequencies: 46.26 & 453.225 Units: Cars 2341, 2342, 2343, E130, E131, E134 & TL45 Description: Working Fire on the #2 Floor 1400HRS-Peekskill FD dispatched across from 231 Washington St. on a possible structure fire. 1401HRS-E130(1st due) 10-19 w/smoke showing. 1402HRS-E134 10-19 at the hydrant, E131 10-17 on a delayed response. 1403HRS-Car 2341 10-19 also reporting smoke showing, Car 2342 advising forcible-entry tools needed & a line stretched to the #2 floor, E130 charging a line. Car 2342 requesting the rabbit tool. 1404HRS-TL45 10-19. 1408HRS-Car 2343 transmitting a signal 10-30. 1416HRS-Car 2341 advising E130 to shut the line down. 1435HRS-As per Car 2343, all units picking-up/returning. Writer: BFD1054

Date: 08-11-04 Time: 1538HRS (TOW) Location: 404 Old Broadway Frequencies: 46.26 & 46.14 (Fire-Ground Ops.) Units: Sleepy Hollow, Pocantico Hills E189 & Briarcliff L40 re-located to SHFD HQ & Briarcliff R37 to the scene for cascade. Description: Working Structure Fire, Sleepy Hollow Car 2311 has command. 1544HRS-R37 10-17. 1553HRS-County Car-6, Batt. 12 10-17 to the scene & Elmsford E237 & Car 2113 re-locating to Tarrytown FD HQ. 1559HRS-County Car-2 10-17. 1601HRS-County Car-6 10-19 & Car-2 going 10-8, stating he has been advised from the scene that the fire appears under control. 1602HRS-Sleepy Hollow Car 2311 transmitting a signal 10-30. 1640HRS-As per Car 2311, all Mutual-Aid companies have been released. 1701HRS-As per Car 2311, all units are clear from the scene. 1702HRS-Battalion-12 10-8. Writer: BFD1054 *Due to heavy radio traffic throughout the county, i did not catch original dispatch or size-up info.

Hate to say it, but i haven't heard of any CFR courses lately & i believe that NYS is trying to shy away from them and eventually end the whole CFR program. I know that the most recent CFR courses were very limited as far as thier curriculum & what CFR's are and are not allowed to do. Its a shame because the CFR course was a good way for young people to get more involved when they weren't old enough to obtain EMT certification.