firefighter36

We're approx. 47% tax exempt where I work. We have been working with Local, County, and State Government to work on a solution. Our problem is primary based on NYS Law, as we are a fire district, and unable to bill for EMS service, since we are a fire district, and not a City or Village Department. Furthermore, NYS Comptroller issued an opinion that municipalities cannot use EMS billing as a way to turn a profit. Unfortunately, many City Manager-Types all too often see this as a way to do just that. On a more interesting note, otherwise tax-exempt properties in NY are required to pay water and sewer assessments from their municipalities, as those are considered "essential" services....... kind of interesting, right?

Sent you a PM with some contact info. Get back to me.

What a shame. I have been to Lawrence, and it is an old mill town with a HUGE fire load. I was able to see a church fire from where I was staying, and the brothers from LFD were there for most of the next day still mopping up an investigating. These guys are great at their job, and it is a big loss to the community to not have them on medical calls. Lawrence is also a very poor city, with a lot of drugs, homelessness, and crime. In previous posts, we have all hit on how essential it is for us to be responding to medical calls in some form, not to justify call volume, but because seconds count, and we can be on scene delivering life-saving care quickly. What does everyone think of such a cut? I am eager to hear what people have to say. Does anyone know the extent of the cuts? Was it companies or just staffing reduced per rig?

That is not a local problem in Westchester. It exists in a lot of places. All too often it becomes an issue just as was discussed in the other post. I'd even go so far as to say we can't handle the job as our departments/districts/agencies currently operate. Many politicians and maybe even some higher-ups within our local and county-level commands would probably shrug off the costs of such equipment, teams, etc. because it "won't happen in their jurisdiction." What it comes down to is how do we make the most effective use of our staffing, resources, and funding to make sure that when and if an incident of some magnitude happens, that the special resources we may require respond with trained personnel, in a prompt and professional manner? I don't think we'll be ready for any such venture until we can convince those who fund our operations (taxpayers, politicians, etc.) that these needs are truly needed and are important enough. Hell, in most places, we can't even have adequate police, fire, or EMS staffing for our daily duties! How can we expect to be taken seriously if we request special equipment and training?

Raz, I agree 110%. Legal and Regulated marijuana has the possibility to bring about significant economic change,not to mention the crap illegal dealers cut their crops with to make it go further. Has anyone seen the News Documentary about Legal Growing in California? Interesting stuff.

My understanding is that various agencies have done studies on the feasibility of txt dispatching. Does anyone know the findings? Any places that currently use this? Does it work?

Don't let the city managers from Buffalo see those Fire Department Mopeds!

Don't hold your breath. If you think our system is bad, I urge you to go to Albany and visit the state capital. Meet your local representative and see what it takes to get legislation enacted or a law changed. To say an act of God is needed is an understatement. Also, there are groups out there who tell the politicians that there is no problem with our services, and that having 100% volunteer agencies saves lots of taxpayer money. With that, I doubt any state or county level politician has any clue that there is actually any sort of problem with responses. I have nothing agianst volunteer agencies, just a few lobbying groups or individuals who can't admit that issues truly exist. I am indifferent to pay status (carrer/vollunteer)so long as the people showing up are properly trained, conduct themselves in a professional manner, and show up promptly upon the first dispatch. It was mentioned before that volunteer agencies should roster. I wholeheartedly agree. With the rostering, should also come reasonable training standards. Standards that both the volunteer and any potential paid staff both have to meet. Thankfully, EMS certifications in NY are universal across the board. Our elected officials, commissioners, etc. Need to determine a county or state wide level of service, complete with an initaial and continuing training, and field training standard. There should also be a standard for supervising officers' and chief officers' qualifications, just as Police and Fire have. Having a whole bunch of different standards due to the authority having jurisdiction is not going to be helpful. AHJ, in my opinion allows weak organizations to continue to get weaker, and justify sub-standard service. Determine a minimum that can be applied across the board, and meet or exceed that.

You're right, and what steps are fire commissioners, VAC/EMS Boards of Directors, as well as the "customers" (taxpayers/residents) who receive or may utilize these services doing to ensure that responders, no matter what discipline, no matter their status of career or volunteer are equipped and staffed to respond to any emergency that may occur within their jurisdiction in a timely manner? Your question us absolutely valid Dan, and I would assert that the crappy cities are partially funded by county sales tax money. Basically, the sales tax collected by the county is used to subsidize services in cities located within that county. We all have seen how well our nation's economic stimulus plans have worked, but that is another conversation for another day. As for the overall issue, the private ambulance business model that we see in most areas does not work well. Many VACs are basically private ambulance services with volunteer members, rather than paid employees. Commercial EMS billing the governmental authority for services below cost and trying to re-coup your anticipated loss on paper through billing medical insurance is simply not a sound business option. Until 911 EMS is provided as a municipal service, rather than a public-subsidized private venture, we will never see an improvement in response times. You wouldn't see Donald Trump or Steve Forbes running their businesses like that. Not to mention, Amtrak is a public-private venture, and when did they ever make a profit?

BNechis, excellent. I think that by virtue of the fact that a great deal of Fire Departments in NY are their own governmental entities (not specifically a part of town government,) and also that these departments try to remain autonomous from Town government, means that there is little dialogue between the two bodies. Though this may not be the case in villages and cities, Fire Departments in Towns need to advocate for safe construction. Towns also need to be proactive in both enacting safe building codes, and enforcing them. As for Moggie's post. I too, was at the same class in Unionvale with Mr. Davis. Someone told me last week that "we only get one chance to get there and act quick." If we don't put the appropriate resources on the road immediately, we are doomed from the start. Unfortunately, a lot of agencies are taking longer than just that first dispatch, losing valuable to time to get trained, qualified manpower, equipment, and as we are discussing here, adequate water to a fire scene. I think that it is time for departments to look at what they need, not what they want. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. And most importantly, get what you need to the fire in a prompt manner, it can make all the difference.

I grew up a few miles away from Foxon Park Soda. That is a great tradition. And yes, modern definitely is a good locals joint. How I miss New Haven.......

I didn't know skin color mattered in being a firefighter. Last I checked we are all black on the street (tan in my case) because that's what color our turnouts are. In the station, we're all blue, because that's what color our uniforms are. I doubt the people who need our help care what color our skin is..... Those that are so worried about skin color are detracting from our true mission: helping people, regardless of race, creed, politics, etc.

Common Joe, we all know 2 doors down, Sally's in the spot to get a pie in New Haven!

There are plenty of career and combination fire departments across the country whose employees are either not represented by a union, or have a union whose membership is optional, that does not engage in collective bargaining for its employees because that state does not have collective bargaining rights. (Right to work states.) I was a business major in college, and the most appropriate thing that comes to mind is from my labor relations class. Some of my fellow students were corporate types who were taught early in their careers that unions cut the profit margin, and thus were bad for business. The professor engaged him in a debate, and made the point that if employers live up to their obligations, i.e. fair compensation and benefits, as well as fair treatment of employees, then there is really no need to employees to unionize. Of course, this class related to private sector business, but I think those words hold true in the public sector to some degree. If these housemen, janitors, mechanics, secretaries, clerks, or whatever these departments hire are represented here and there by the IAFF on Long Island, or are DPW Employees, (what DPW employees aren't union?) then why are these departments, towns, cities, villages, and districts worried about IAFF organization? Its not unionization, although that is the easy excuse. I would find it laughable for a village mayor or fire commissioner to say to the public, "Our department has no problem getting a fully staffed rig to your emergencies, however we find ourselves at a complete loss when we need to mop a floor or file paperwork, so we had to hire a janitor." However, that is the message we are sending when we let departments get away with this kind of behavior. I would venture to say that they are afraid for some reason or another to admit their fire department can't meet standards, or is having trouble responding to calls, or simply that they don't want to upset "tradition" as we have seen in so many posts. In other words, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Why is it so hard for departments to admit a need for better staffing in order to provide adequate services?

http://xml.baltimoresun.com/news/specials/...96.story?page=3

I'm also willing to bet that any loss incurred during transport can be made up by the hospital when billing insurance for treatment rendered in that hospital!

Everyone, In our continuing PR campagin, we are proud to announce that the official Fairview T-Shirt is for sale. $12 each, sizes from M-2X. Please stop by the Fairview Fire Station, 258 Violet Avenue to purchase. We will try to have PayPal up this week on our website. All proceeds benefit our Local's PR campaign to keep the fire district intact and fire station open. Thanks for your support! Mark Bendel Vice President IAFF Local 2623

Everyone, we have a limited quantity of front-only printed t-shirts, L-2X. They are available off of our website at www.iaff2623.org, via paypal payment for just $8.

Everyone, Fairview Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 2623 will be sponsoring a bus trip on June 3, 2009 to Foxwoods Casino in CT. The bus leaves the Fairview Fire Station, 258 Violet Avenue, in Poughkeepsie at 0700 Hrs. $40 gets you a $10 food coupon, $15 Keno Bet, a Support Fairview T-Shirt, Transportation, and makes a donation to our local. Food and beverages will also be provided on the bus. The last trip to Mohegan Sun was a great success. Also, any of the brothers and sisters from over that way who want to meet up with us are also welcome! And that means you IzzyEng4! PM me on here, or return the attached flier to us at the firehouse and we will add your name to the list! Thanks, Mark Bendel Vice-President, IAFF 2623 foxwoods.pdf

Everyone, we have 8 or 9 more spots open on the bus tomorrow. PM Me on here, or show up at FFD tomorrow in time to leave at 7am if you would like to come along.

JBJ, I watch plenty of police recruits with no promise of employment commit to a 6 month, 9-5, M-F training academy up here with few reservations or issues. In New Jersey, the career and volunteer brothers sit next to each other in the academy, because it is the same. I don't think that higher standards for training are out of the question. I think it takes outside of the box thinking and scheduling, as well as a commitment to higher standards on behalf of the departments, and a willingness to learn and make some sacrifice on behalf of the member. Lets not forget what pool a majority of combination departments hire their career members from.....

It looks as though the key component that we are looking at here is training. Having two different standards for personnel is not fair to either side. Why would we want to shortchange anyone? With equal training standards for both career and volunteer personnel, along with a solid, well defined chain of command and policy and procedure manual, I believe we can have a system like PG county up our way. With that, some things need to happen. We are fire and EMS personnel need to buy into the plan. We need to play nice in the sandbox with our counterparts, no matter how much it hurts, and really work to ensure its success. Current county level figures and department heads need to adjust to what could be a change in job description, and the right people will need to be put at the helm of the ship. I guarantee you that this change has the potential to make some upper echelon "managers" (commissioners, chiefs, coordinators, political appointees, etc.) uneasy or downright pissed off. The public needs to have faith in both the system, as they will be footing the bill. Knowing NY taxpayers, I doubt they would fund something like this willingly, so it is important that the fire service delivers a superior product, or else it can all backfire miserably before it ever gets going. As for the actual legislation in Albany, I think it is completely bogus and a disservice to the taxpayers of NY unless it includes ALL special districts, especially school districts. In research, I have found "garbage collection districts," "lighting districts," etc. I think in addition to consolidation of public safety or schools, one thing our state and counties need is an INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADE. i.e. Water, Sewer, Lighting, Etc. the myriad of special districts that exist not only means tons of funneled tax dollars, it means that a great deal of our state remains without basic infrastructure, as in no municipal water or fire hydrants! How much more effective could our county or metro fire and rescue service be with patent water supplies?

Everyone, IAFF Local 2623 is sponsoring our first annual family trip to Lake Compounce Amusement Park in CT. We will be leaving the Fairview Firehouse at 258 Violet Ave., Poughkeepsie, NY at 0845 HRS on August 3, 2009. $45 gets you round trip transportation and admission to the park (7 hours.) Children 3 and under are $25. See attached flyer, pass it on to friends, family, etc. We are also accepting paypal payments via our website, www.iaff2623.org. Hope to see you all there! lakecompounce.pdf

This is one of the most accurate editorials about the fire service from an outsider I've seen. It was concise, to the point, and provided a very understandable account of what life can be like in the fire service. For all the negative press public safety seems to attract from some reporters, it is pretty refreshing to see something positively written.

The funny part about this is that the machinery already exists in NYS law to change, disband, or merge fire districts. The current standard of more than 50% of taxpaying residents is too much for some politicians. Additionally, it seems as though School Districts are exempt from this legislation as well.... What is the point of this legislation if certain types of districts are exempt? I would love to see what the financial outlook is for merging a few school districts together. I am for anything that merges districts together in the name of efficiency, enhanced services, and consolidating costs..... Too bad Albany will NEVER be able to produce such a law the way they are run.