jtarby

On Wednesday, September 14th, the SVFD experienced the sudden and unexpected loss of firefighter and emergency medical responder Mario Luis. Mario was an exemplary member who's dedication to service set the standard that others should try to achieve. He will be greatly missed. http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Sherman-volunteer-firefighter-dies-in-motorcyle-9225164.php

Not fire related, but an interesting pump fact. There are two pumps on the Housatonic River in New Milford, CT at the Rocky River hydro plant that pump water from the Housatonic River up to Candlewood Lake. The pumps are spec'd at 125,000 GPM each.

They thrive on the buzz and attention they generate from these events and we comply by giving it to them. I'd like to see every reference to them scrubbed from the internet, all the photos, links and blogs should just disappear. Not a single photo of them with their hateful signs should be posted anywhere. Frustrate the hell out of them until they make a mistake, do something outside the protection of the first amendment and then we shut them down in a heartbeat. They're not idiots and they know their rights just like any other fringe group who wanders close the edge of the law. I hate to sound like the parent telling his kids to just ignore the bully and he'll go away, but in this case I'd like to give it a shot.

Check out the following from the Owego Apalachin Central School District Transportation Department web site. In addition to a bus rollover simulator they also have a link to a presentation about an MCI drill that they did with a bus vs car incident. http://www.oacsd.org/gen_info/IndexTrans06.htm

My son is very interested in starting his EMT training when he turns 18 in a few months. On the classroom side of things I'm sure he'll do just fine but because he is color blind I'm thinking that he will face some challenges on the practicals and in the field. He can't tell if someone has a rash or anything else that would turn the skin red, like a sunburn. He also has a problem with black and red, they look the same in many cases. Also, don't tell him to wait for the LED to go from red to green, he'll be there all day. I'm interested in hearing from any EMTs out there who share that same condition and what they have found helpful in overcoming that. Thanks

Is anyone aware of any homelink style systems that could be used by fire and EMS when attempting to gain access to a gated driveway or community? I'm thinking of something similar to the residential homelink systems that are common in many cars these days but in this case it would be one that could be programmed for dozens of different gates instead of the 3 that come with the residential version. Homeowners would just need to bring their gate remote down to the firehouse to have the system programmed for their residence. It seems like the technology is there, just don't know if it's been implemented.

Unfortunately we don't have a Knox Box system in place. I couldn't find anything about "Know Entry" systems when I searched the web so wasn't sure if you meant Knox. Our access to commercial building is through a key box in the fire dept office that holds a copy of the keys to the dozen or so commercial buildings we have in town. Did I forget to mention that we're primarily a residential community? :-) We do have gate codes for the communities so that's not as big of an issue unless they change the codes and neglect to tell us. I was looking for a solution primarily for the private driveways which would also take care of the gated communities at the same time.

Looks like the board of trustees feel they won this round: http://www.stargazette.com/article/20110608/NEWS01/110608003/Village-restructures-Van-Etten-fire-department?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Local%20News

Sherman CT - Fire 105, EMS 157 total is down a little from last year. Not bad considering our firehouse is under renovation. http://lh3.ggpht.com/_xDXYVP89fRU/TFrq760pmJI/AAAAAAAADT8/712eTj98W3k/s640/IMG_1754.JPG Maybe we need a big sign out front that says 'Yes, we're still open for business, call 911 for service'

We were swimming at a pond just the other day, a sandy beach with a very gradual slope into the water. What you would consider to be a very safe swimming environment. There was a little girl with her younger cousin who was playing in the water about 30 feet away from me. I heard her mother say to her to help her cousin and when I looked over I saw the little boy, standing, very calmly in the water. It was only after observing them for a few seconds that I realized his mouth and nose were never coming above the small waves. It took a few seconds for it to register because there was no thrashing around, flailing arms, or cries for help. If this little girls mother hadn't seen what was happening the outcome could have been tragic.

Just curious, do you filter who the cards are sent to or is it done automatically regardless of the patient recovery following the call? I was thinking that this was a great idea then I had this uncomfortable thought that we should know the status of the patient before we went ahead and sent a comment card to the house. I would hate to send a card to a house asking them to evaluate our service if it turns out that the patient never made it home. The last thing they would be thinking of is giving feedback to the ambulance crew. Of course a few months later they might come back and thank us for our efforts, but timing is everything in these cases and we need to be sensitive to the family.

Sherman, CT - Fire: 98 EMS: 188 ShermanVFD.org