firepost

That is indeed a shame that there should have to keep otherwise available Ladder companies from responding to CFR runs because of this compensation issue which is not even an issue in most other cities as in most other cities they generally will switch off between Engine and Ladders going on CFR runs which helps to balance the work load as well. Of course in most other cities they don't offer compensation either as it is considered to be just part of the job. In effect (despite the fact the New York City's EMS being "officially" part of the Fire Department)the EMS division might as well be a separate agency like it originally was before the so called merger in the mid 1990's.Since the ambulances in New York really don't run out of the fire stations and they are represented by a different union (not to mention the difference in pay) it seems that the so called "merger" was basically pointless. Even though the trend has been to merge EMS departments into Fire Departments, there are some places like Boston Massachusetts and Austin Texas where the EMS departments are still separate agency's and it's working out just fine for both of those cities.

Seth that "Academy" for "politicians" isn't a bad idea and I know that some towns actually do it.As far as other cities EMS services go those cities that you mentioned each do things a little differently as far as their EMS manning goes.For example in Chicago we have 60 ALS ambulances and 15 BLS ambulances however the paramedics who are on the (ALS) ambulances usually stay on the ambulances. Our BLS ambulances are manned by firefighter emt's who can and do switch over from ambulance duty to fire fighting duty but not when assigned to an Ambulance. When assigned to an Ambulance in Chicago both Paramedics and firefighter/emt's only do ambulance work and don't do firefighting while working on the ambulances.To my understanding, in Los Angeles the ambulances are dispatched on fire alarms along with the suppression companies and at least some of their crews will go in to the fire building and do "fire duty". In Chicago we will dispatch an Ambulance as part of a RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) assignment and on all high rise still alarms however the ambulance crews will stand by, but not go inside the building to do fire duty. Both Los Angeles City and Chicago do have ALS suppression companies however with at least one paramedic and one emt assigned to them on each shift. Chicago has over 50 ALS Engines and about nine or ten ALS Truck companies currently in service. Dallas only has about 2 or 3 ALS Engines in some outlying districts. While New York City will dispatch an Engine company on certain life threatening emergencies they still don't dispatch Truck (Ladder) companies to EMS emergencies which is foolish as there really is no reason why a Ladder company shouldn't be dispatched to a serious EMS run if the nearest Engine in not available. I understand that the reason for that is that the Truck men are demanding more money for going on a "first responder run"

I recently found out that the New York City government will be recommended that 20 fire companies will be made into day time only companies and that they will be out of service during "night time" hours. Does any one know which companies will have their night time hours cut? I saw a news tape with the fire commissioner saying that it is at least better then the city's plan from last year that would have taken the 20 fire companies out of service altogether. One thing that I don't understand is that the population of New York City is actually larger then it was in 1950 and it was continually growing in the 2000's so given that fact ,how can the city even justify taking fire companies out of service? Logically speaking the more people that a city has the higher the city's revenue source should be. New York's population according to the 2009 census bureau statistics had a population of 8,391,881 people which is highest population in New York City's history.

The City of New York has been once again talking about potentially severe Fire Company cutbacks and eliminations. Here is a link to the New York Times article. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/nyregion/02fdny.html

I had read on another site that Ferrara was the only bidder on the Rescues and that Pierce didn't even bid on them. Doe's anyone have any more information on that story?

While I disagree (with good reason) as to eliminating any fire suppression companies or any ambulances from service, one thing that I strongly disagree with is the idea of not using any NYFD Ladder companies on CPR or medical assist's.I know that the NYFD originally had intended to use Ladder companies as well Engines but then (if I understand correctly) there was an issue of paying some men on the Ladders more for answering CPR and EMS assist runs ,so the NYFD had dropped the idea. To this day I don't understand why Ladder companies can't be used on EMS assist runs just like Engine companies are used on them and in most other cities both both types of companies are used (interchangably) on CPR and EMS assist runs.

Speaking of the Niles Illinois Fire Department (suburb of Chicago),I just saw a photo of a 4th Alarm in Prospect Heights on the Net with a photo of a rear mounted Aerial Ladder Quint with the Aerial extended and the rig was marked for the Niles Fire Department with a number 2 on the side.Perhaps that's that rig that you are talking about?It looks as if that new rig may have replaced Ladder 2 as the new rig was numbered which spare rigs usually are not.

What was "Empress"? I take it that it was some sort of Ambulance service but with an acronym like that it sounds unusual so what did it stand for and what was it about? I'm obviously from out of town.

When you say the other 2 utilitie's do you mean the REP's or the small " RADIO EMERGENCY PATROL" vans? I know that there are 2 ESU Squads in the Bronx,numbers 3 and 4.When I say Squads I mean the ESU stations that has all of the units assigned to it such the BIg Truck and the REPS that run out of the same quarters. Most of the dispatches that I have heard are for Heart Cases and EDP jobs.Of course I'm not from New York so I have to use my computer to listen to the ESU Channel on the internet. Thanks for the reply.

This is my first post as I just became a verified member. I recently found out that Morton Grove Engine 4 received a new Quint and that North Maine Township received a new Quint as well. About a month and a half ago I was on a bus near Touhy and Milwaukee Avenues and I saw a Quint about a block ahead of the bus going in the same direction but I couldn't make out what Fire Department it was from.I had assumed that it was coming from Niles Station 3 but it could have been the Morton Grove or North Maine unit for all I know unless Niles received a Quint also?

One of the unique things about New York City are the NYPDS ESU units which in effect are both SWAT teams and Police Rescue Squads a virtually unknown service in the rest of the country. I was wondering about how many REPS are assigned to each ESU squad?I had initially read in the Book on the NYPD ESU by Samuel Katz that 3 were normally assigned but as of the last year or so I had heard that 4 are.Occasionally I have been listening to the ESU/Special Operations Broadcasts on the Internet and the only REPS that I always hear dispatched are the "A"units which to me would be unusual as it would imply that there was only one REP on Patrol in the District and given the size of the ESU districts I would expect to hear some B,C and possibly D units dispatched. Is the policy to only dispatch the "A" trucks and always leave the other REPS on patrol? I would assume that you would need at least 6 ESU men on the scene of a major operation just like the Fire Department Rescue's that run with 6 men on board I have never heard any of the other REPS dispatched so far. Am I correct that the Large ESU Trucks stay at the station unless called for and they respond with only a driver and a Seargant and while the Smaller REPS converge on the scene to make up the crew for the Large Truck? I know that the REPS carry Hurst tools and respond to Extrications but it seems to me that a crew of 2 is a little to small to do an extrication and that they would need at least more then one REP to be dispatched just to get enough men on the scene. I'm quite familiar the NYFD also responds on extrications depending on who is doing the dispatching at the time and if the ESU's are available or not. Thanks Firepost

About a year and half ago about three (if I'm correct) of the Pick up Trucks were purchased for the Bureau of Fire Investigation.The 46- numbered series are the Fire Investigators.This summer we put one of the pick ups in service at Battalion 3 but I presume that it is a test or experiment.I personally don't like that type of rig for the "Buggy's" (Chiefs vehicles).Our Deputy District chiefs were recently assigned new SUVS after using Sedans for many years.I think that Chiefs should have completely enclosed vehicles and not Pickup Trucks especially in the climate we have here where things freeze up in the winter.