Medic137

Because the number of calls that the local volunteer corps can't cover isn't large enough to support a BLS 1 or 2.

BLS 4 is supported by billing the patients it transports. It is the tax payers on the EAST side of Putnam that should be complaining. They are paying for ambulance service once in their fire district taxes and again when they are are transported by BLS 4.

Maybe the problem of too many chiefs is secondary to too many departments. How many postage stamp sized districts have three or more chief vehicles within a mile or two of the the districts on either side?

Sometimes low tech is the best. At my condo we ripped up the asphalt on the playground and replaced it with.......Grass. Yes, by the end of the summer it was beaten down to packed dirt. It felt good on bare feet, didn't cause more than a few skinned knees, and didn't cost us anything. Same surface I played on 45 years ago.

Another hero from my youth passes. Rest in Peace Bobby.

NY Tmes: NEW YORK TIMES

Many years ago in Yonkers we would put the radio on the PA so we could hear dispatch calling us if we were out of the ambulance. When the locals complained about the noise, the company disconnected the radios from the PAs. Then we put a rubberband around the PA mic and hung it over the radio speaker. Now that everyone has a portable, the PA feature isn't used very often. Do the BLS crews in Yonkers have portables yet?

Why was there only one medic on scene? Was additional ALS requested? At the risk of second guessing the medic at the scene, this may have been a situation where he or she should have assumed medical command. The traumatic arrest would have been a CPR and diesel run to the closest with a request for an ALS intercept. The medic on scene would have coordinated the treatment and transport of the others.

"Judge not, lest ye be judged" I will pray for Ted and his family. They have suffered more than their share of tragedy.

Given the costs involved with caring for this child, who could easily live another 70 years, his parents are trying anything they can think of to ensure his well being after they are gone. Whether anyone will be found negligent is questionable.

NY Daily News

I come to .net directly and rarely visit the .com site.

As the first medic on the scene I was technically "EMS IC". However, given the limited size of this particular incident, there was no need for me to stand back and coordinate numerous EMS resources. After assessing the patients I told 24-1-1 what I wanted and left it up to him to provided scene safety, set up an LZ, and get an ambulance through traffic to the scene. I was then free to treat the patients without having to worry about getting tire tracks up the back of my neck, or deal with radio communications (always a challenge in Putnam County). The type of command structure used should be dictated by the scope of the incident.

What these towns don't grasp is that they're not paying for what an ambulance does. They pay for it doesn't do. When an ambulance is on a call, there's a pretty good chance the service will be paid for the run. What the towns have to pay for is the time the crews are sitting in their stations waiting for a call. A town with a call volume of 5000 per year will pay a lot less than a town with a volume of 500.

Another factor causing extended responses is the use of the ALS system to prop up the failing BLS system. It is not at all unusual on a weekday to have Medics 3 and 4 transporting BLS patients and the whole county being covered by Medic 2 sitting at Putnam Plaza and Medic 1 in Garrison. A call on the north end of the Taconic or in Putnam Lake is likely to have a 20 minute response. As said above, it is the system and not the provider that needs to be examined.

Once they figure out what 20 civil service paramedics would cost they realize what a good deal they're getting.

I rode my medic class rotations onboard OLM's ALS rig in 1996. I think it was called something other than 15V at that time. I had a great time working with Andy and his partner. We did some awesome calls. It's a shame that politics is killing off the best ALS rig in the North Bronx.

We were calling it the "Habittrails" back in the mid '90s. Not only did the elevators not stop on every floor but once you found the appartment you were confronted with a flight of steps just inside the front door. X129, didn't you get a bottle launched at your ambulance outside that place? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitrail

I think it's just as well that they are silent.

When we knocked down the partitions at the old Abbey Richmond office at 255 Grove St. in W.P. we found a picture of the first class of paramedics to graduate from White Plains hospital. The only name I can remember is Bob Cuomo, currently Director of EMS in Putnam County. I wish I had held on to the picture!

As said above, there is a button inside the patient compartment. The crew member in the back can press it without leaving the patient. Hopefully he glances out the back window while doing it to warn the driver of anything behind the rig.

Ray was the first EMT I saw in action in 1981. Up until then I thought the fire department just tossed patients into the Cadillac and drove fast. 12 years latter he was my instructor for the EMT course at Northern Westchester Hosp. I learned a lot from him both times. Rest in peace Ray.

I was 37Medic 1 when I joined the Fordyce scanner board. I've kept the same name on several boards and through many assignments.

Bonnie Meadow and the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County have every right to protest an overtly religious symbol on public property. BUT, they do not have any right to be OFFENDED by it. We have a new group of "The Professionally Offended" who think anything they don't agree with is an attack on them and their herritage. They will next demand an APOLOGY from someone in a position of authority for hurting their FEELINGS.

Rest in peace Matt. You were a great guy to work with and I regret not getting to know you better. My condolences to your loved ones. May they find some solace in knowing how much you are missed by all of us. Bill