Remember585

We recently put into service new Scott Air Packs. One of the most notable things about it is that the PASS alarm volumes are lower than our older units. We put the packs in different locations in the training house and sent members in to locate them. The volume of the older units would drown out the sound of the newer SCBAs. To get more of a side by side comparison, we'd put the packs next to one another - both inside and outside the building - and noticed a marginal difference. This is in no way a knock on the new units, and in no way is this a real "study," but this is definitely something we all should be weary of.

On Monday, August 16th at the age of only 53, our good friend and one of the finest men you could know, John C. Barirde, passed away. The void in everyone's hearts left by John's untimely passing reaches so many of us.John worked 26 years with the Croton-on-Hudson Police Department, recently retiring at the rank of Sergeant. In addition to this, he spent over 35 years volunteering in the Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department, where he served as Captain of Harmon Engine Company No. 3 four seperate times. He also spent a number of years as a Fire Investigator with the Westchester County Cause & Origin Team. Whether it was walking a foot post in the Upper Village, determining the cause of a fire in another Westchester community or just sitting around the firehouse - his humor, his guidance and of course, his world-famous mustache will be sorely missed.As much as he gave to his community, he still managed to be an amazing and dedicated father to is son Johne and daughter Hannah, and was a loving husband to his wife, Kim. The Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department, along with the Croton Police Association, is asking for your help to ensure that John's family is looked after in this time of need. Please help us make sure the Barirde Family can worry less about their finances and make a donation - no matter how small - today. Here is a link to the gofund me page, https://www.gofundme.com/2k8zfnew.If you are not comfortable making a donation via gofundme.com, you can do the following;Checks may be made out to: Croton Police Association, Inc. (in the memo/note, please put:) John Barirde Memorial FundChecks can be mailed to: Croton Police Association PO Box 302Croton, NY 10520.Thank you for your donation, and thank you for keeping The Barirde Family in your thoughts & prayers.

This isn't an issue isolated to this company / municipalities. I spent much of my six years as a Chief Officer trying to get this information and to convince the village to paint the hydrants to comply with the NFPA Flow Color Code.

If you're in emergency services and you're complaining about actually helping someone who needs help - you might need to rethink what you're doing with your life. If you don't like waking up and going to a call that isn't "juicy" or "salty" enough for you, cry me a river. It's what you signed up for.

I wish I could afford it...

If only we utilized our Field Comm here in Westchester... it - and the people working in it - have so much to offer...

Actually, your information is incorrect. The Tri-Community ALS Unit (36M1) is only dispatched to ALS calls and, based on EMD, only certain BLS calls. The contract - as far as I know in Croton, anyway - has not changed and the ALS unit is not sent to all EMS calls.

First and foremost, the incident, and the outcome, sucks. I do not believe anything anyone did or tried to do last night would have made a difference. Going back a few years, maybe 2009-2010, a Response Plan was developed by the "Westchester Marine Emergency Response Association" along with Westchester County Department of Emergency Services. That plan basically called for a three-tiered response to all Hudson River incidents, meaning the area of jurisdiction - as well as the next closest agency to the north and south - would be dispatched. From a MOS standpoint with my FD, this is an "OK at best" approach. During my time as Chief we modified this to include Rockland units, since many incidents happen to fall on or beyond that imaginary line that divides Westchester & Rockland. At the time, according to this "plan" we attempted to utilize Marine 22 (I think) as a radio channel for all FD, PD, etc. vessels to communicate during river operations. When we had a river incident that fell under our Command, we always tried to steer everyone on to this channel, since we should all have this capability. I could be wrong but this sticks out in my memory, and it was designated to keep Marine 16 open for emergency traffic. Last night's incident is just another reminder that when someone dials 911 from a cell phone, it's truly a crapshoot as to where they really are vs. where they think they are. And this doesn't just apply to waterways - a lot of cellular 911 calls for land based incidents require some searching to find them. Because of this, it highlights the benefit of starting out resources from different angles. Since Rockland switched to their new radio system, communications on the river have suffered. But there's no reason why the four counties (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam & Orange) can't develop a plan to always work off the VHF Marine radios. Afterall, as boats, we should all have them and the signal is decent. Command vehicles should also install this capability. The frequency of incidents, and the complexity of them on the Hudson River is only going to increase the demand for our services. There needs to be a standard of training for boat operators, crew members and people responding and playing command. If EMS is getting on a boat, they need proper training too. It's 2016 and the fact that the same stupid stuff continues to happen irritates me, because we should be well-trained, well-prepared and have pre-plans developed where we can all work together and provide a professional-level of service. The days of letting the first people to the dock get on the boat needs to end, and the Chiefs of all of these FDs with river response responsibilities need to work all of this out. Additionally, I think it's time for the FDs that are going to be in the marine operations game to seriously look into grants to get the training we all need and the proper vessels to do what is needed. We all can't stand around, holding our d**ks waiting on County PD or someone else to get there when someone's life is in the balance.

I envision someone dispatching Valhalla while trying to simulate Howard Stern's "WNBC" in "Private Parts...."

The two of them should be fired for filing a false complaint. As for arresting them, I think the loss of their jobs would be sufficient learning experience. Morons.

Our Chiefs generally give their cars to Deputy Chiefs when they know they'll be out of service / out of town for more then 24 hours. Chief's vehicles should be considered a department vehicle and if the person they are usually assigned to isn't going to be around (work, vacation, illness, etc.) and isn't able to do their duties, then it should be given to someone who can use it.

Engine 119 has had recurring issues with the pump (believed to be the Pro-S Governor) as well as the ball valves from Akron Brass since it was built (the plastic ball valves don't like the water we get from our hydrants and static water sources). "Band-aid" repairs have been made to these issues over and over again for several years. Requests from our department to replace these components were put off repeatedly. In August, we went out on a run one night and noticed the water tank was empty. When we refilled it, we noticed it was leaking. This prompted the rig to go out for repairs to the tank, as well as the above mentioned issues. Also being addressed was a "wish list" of items we had been asking for well over a year. Currently, it is at Excelsior where they are just about done making all of the repairs. The Poly-Tank guys - as it's been reported to us - did not want to honor the warranty on the tank, and even suggested we just "carry less water" to reduce how much leaks out of it. This delayed progress several weeks. Replacing the pump controller has required more work then anticipated, also delaying the process. I'll refrain from my personal thoughts on the entire debacle and who I lay the blame on here, as it isn't the place to do it. I thank Excelsior for their efforts and time, I know it's got to be frustrating dealing with the work itself, us, and the other parties involved. I'd also like to thank the other two Engine Companies in Croton that have been picking up our usual first and second due runs. Our entire company appreciates it. Lastly, I give my appreciation to the members of our company that have been dealing with the misery that comes from not having our own apparatus, and "making due" using Tanker 10 and Utility 14 where we normally would be running E119. If anyone has any other questions or comments, feel free to email me at jmunson@crotonfd.org. Thanks.

Watch yourself, pal.

Valhalla FD is also selling trees.

I thought that this was an illegal practice?