thebreeze

The men tend to know what they need better than anyone, it's a story as old as time. The rest of the fire service doesn't know what the FDNY wants, so I don't take stock in what they or you say. You're trying to tell me how great something is for a job you're not on. I don't walk around telling doctors what drugs to push or mechanics what parts to use. That's a salesmans job. I have no issue with Scott or the mask they provide, I'm also a fan of their FastPak and the improvements they have made to it from feedback, I do however think that the Pak Tracker is nothing more than a gimmicky money maker for Scott. Everyone keeps saying the FDNY asked for it, no, some guy trying to make a name for himself asked for it, there was no poll of the FDNY, same way we get a lot of our garbage we carry, someone not near a fire floor decided what we needed and what would work best and got together with a vendor and shoved it down our throats. You sitting here saying it's great means nothing when the men whose hands it are in say it's useless to them. It's great you guys can take the company line for Scott, I'm gonna take the company line for the men.

I've seen this play before, always the same act, RANK AND FILE MEMBERS: "this really isn't helpful for us in most cases and can actually be a hindrance in some cases" SUCK UP SCOTT SALESMAN: " oh no it's great, there are studies from.... somewhere, you guys are just doing it wrong, give me more money so we can keep telling you you're doing it wrong." NYC/SCOTT BUDDY R&D GUY: "OK here's a ton more money for something we aren't really gonna use but we will make sure to put on every truck instead of doing something useful like a fifth man on the engine or a TIC for the engine boss" RANK AND FILE MEMBERS: (collective sigh)

He said borderline useless, and he's right. It's got limited applications with the FDNY. In most situations it takes away a guy from the FAST team while he stares at the readouts on a poorly designed display. If a guy goes down, usually the other companies working will be able to find him quickly, if not, then based on standard protocols you will already know the general area where the guy was, second due irons, check floor above apartment etc. The pak tracker would be most useful in a collapse or maybe a row of taxpayers on fire, other than that it's kind of useless and even might hinder a FAST team that would otherwise already have a good game plan in place. It's another tool that, if guys rely on it instead of their training, will just slow them down and make them ineffective.The RFID technology in the coats has absolutely zero to do with safety of the members. Also, the system was developed by Scott, for Scott, to make more money, for Scott, on top of the obscene amount that Scott already charges. The FDNY and one of their Captains is just the lucky recipient for the test run/FDNY buys it so will everyone else ploy

Oh do you mean the ridiculously absurd, massive misuse of privilege, lights and sirens, public safety personnel and apparatus, all while closing down a road all for a ridiculous tradition of a wet down? Yes I noticed it right around 9:02

Yes really, do you know what an entity is? Sorry being wrong and ignorant bothers you. Sharing space means nothing, it simply means they share a roof. They are completely separate other than this, when a PD and an FD share a building does that make them the same entity? No, absolutely not. Same case here, separate staff, separate budget, separate function. Ignorance is bliss, so keep on smiling pal. It's clueless people like you that lack the ability to see beyond their own noses that make everyone else look bad and give the instructors at the WCFTC(read NOT 60 Control) something bad to talk about in the volunteer fire service.

It's the same location, it's located in different wings in one building, but it is not the same thing by any means. 60 control is staffed by their own dispatchers and handles dispatch and communications, no training. The Westchester County Fire Training Center is staffed by their own staff and instructors and handles the training needs of the county. They are two completely separate entities, they don't cross staff or hate responsibilities. It's a good idea to get your facts straight before you open up your mouth, especially when you want to keep insisting you're right when you're actually dead wrong.

I don't believe this has anything to with nepotism, in fact it almost seems to be the polar opposite. They are actively discriminating against him because they disagree with his sister's political views. In addition his sister recused herself from the vote in order to avoid casting the shadow of nepotism. Its hard to argue nepotism with the civil service system because there are published rankings. If they jumped over several candidates to get to someone's relatives that would be more representative of nepotism. The guy had the high score, he's qualified, he should be hired. As for the clown that keeps talking himself into a hole and says the mayor would laugh at me if I shared my opinion with him, try reading the story, the mayor wants this guy hired. It's just a few people playing petty politics that are holding this guy up.

First, I work on the greatest job on earth, I'm blessed more than I could possibly imagine, my career is not the issue but thanks for talking out of your behind again. I will reiterate, yes he is more important than them, because while they, and you, and I, were home here enjoying freedom, he was overseas fighting for it. I worked my balls off to get my job, but I never begrudged a single person who went before me because they sacrificed their time and safety to fight for mine, and as I go forward I will applaud those who jump over me on promotion lists because of their veterans points. They DESERVE it, in fact they deserve more than this country currently gives them. The veterans points is a mere drop in a bucket for what they actually deserve. I'm over myself, I appreciate the value of others service above myself, whereas apparently you lack the ability to understand that you might not be the most deserving of something, guess you got jumped by a few vets at some point. Maybe you should have studied harder, been smarter, or served in the military and you wouldn't be so bitter. Matt

Aside from the BS small town politics:What makes him different is that, HE SERVED HIS COUNTRY IN THE MILITARY, SO YES HE IS MORE SPECIAL. It's sad that people like you, with ideas like this who want to enjoy all the freedoms we are afforded, and the status this country has in the world, but don't want to appreciate the men and women who ensure that freedom. The veterans credit isn't awarded arbitrarily, it's points that are deserved and rightly so. Get over yourself and start appreciating the sacrifices some have made so you can live the beautiful, easy, free from fear life that we all enjoy because of their efforts.

Why doesn't City Hall leave the decision making to people who have a clue about policing and let the members of the NYPD do their jobs and then stand behind them an support them? I know that's just an insane notion though, right?

The good Reverend Al is the new Police Commissioner and head of the M.E.'s Office. He's got an open invite to hold court at City Hall, and he will probably be in charge of the DAs office soon too.

I absolutely disagree that everyone caught doing something wrong is a "dirty officer". Good people caught up in bad high pressure situations make mistakes sometimes. You're not in their shoes and you can't experience what they are going through at that moment. The idea of making chokeholds illegal is a little extreme. You can't absolutely say that it would ever ever be necessary to use in order for a police officer to protect himself or others. Would you rather they use lethal force? Or will they soon try to take guns away from the police too? Sure make chokeholds against policy, that's fine, and if it happens, review the incident as much as possible, discipline the officer in a manner commensurate with the findings of the investigation, a little if it seems it may have been justified or a last resort, a lot if it seems flagrant abuse. As for video taping, you can't stop it, nor should you, but if it's going to be used as evidence it should be required that the videos must be presented in their entirety, unedited. In fact if it is going to be considered evidence the person video taping it should be required to turn their phone over to the police as evidence or at least the unedited footage, it should then have to follow all the procedures and rules established for the chain of evidence.

It's a no no when anyone, who is supposed to be operating at a fire scene, is taking pictures instead. Paid or volunteer, I don't think anyone is stopping during an operation to take group shots. If so shame on them. You obviously have an axe to grind with the FDNY but there's a legion of buffs who follow them around taking pictures, is that so wrong? No one is "grandstanding", and guys take pictures together after a job? There's nothing wrong with that on either side of the fence. You're ignorant if you think that guys are just out for 3/4, it's not an FDNY problem, there are just as many skells in every job, FD, PD, EMS, nameless other civil service jobs, and even the private sector who are just out to get theirs, to bilk the system and sit on their a-- collecting checks. I'm sure as a NYCMEDIC you see plenty of people abusing every system out there. Quit whining like you know what's going on if you want to ignore that larger truth about people and society as a whole, there are dregs everywhere. As far as who calls themselves a fireman, it's all about training. I wouldn't go as far as to say most volunteers are capable, a good amount definitely, career guys with more training, sure there are still some useless ones but not quite as many. Their are plenty of useless EMTS and Medics out there too, and police officers on the rubber gun squad, we all know at least one or two. Being paid isn't the difference, training and ability is the difference. If someone said they just wanted to volunteer and help, had no training and about all they knew how to do was put on a bandaid, would you let them run around and call themselves paramedics, stick needles in people's arms, intubate, and give drugs. Oh and would you respect them more because it was free? Do you respect volunteer medics more than yourself? Or guys who just do it for less even? I know I know, there are licensing and education requirements for paramedics, but then following that logic, shouldn't the same kind of standards exist for firemen too? Go ahead though and think it's the fact that someone who does something for free deserves respect rather than someone who actually cares about being good at their profession and knows what they are doing, be it career or volunteer. One more aside, it seems to be very common that the people who are the most inept and incapable, are the ones who don't realize this fact at all.

I call out parade walkers too, it doesn't phase me. I have no problem with either career or volunteer, at all. The risks are equal for both, I understand that, the bathtub falling through the floor isn't going to discriminate who it falls on, training can't prevent every possible misfortune. The simple fact if the matter is though, that some firefighters don't do much more than drive the rig to a fire. It's a needed position, I understand, they get the apparatus to the scene and operate it, it's ultimately the most important position. Some departments have this covered by a designated chauffeur, the guy chosen to drive for the tour, some sit and wait for a chauffeur to come from home, some have the guy who drives the rig there himself, stretches, operates, and puts the fire out, and some have someone who drives there, operates the rig, and that's it. I don't have any problem with any of these, it doesn't bother me nearly as much as parades do, I don't begrudge anyone of the titles they earn in whatever established academy they attend. Your civil service title can be firefighter, your position in the department can just be that of chauffeur, it happens, we all know it. There are police officers who are just the station janitor, you still call them a police officer, but you know what they do. In a career department the positions are often established at the beginning of every tour, volunteer, whoever wants it and gets there first gets it, combination departments use multiple different systems, some of which, designate the paid member, as the driver, every time. As I mentioned before, that falling bathtub will hit whoever is underneath it, but it will never hit the guy or gal who is never inside.

What do they ultimately do? Drive. You can call a duck an eagle, but it's still a duck.

Town of Mamroneck, paid drivers

What I was getting at is are they even all eligible? What percentage of their members don't live in the fire district and therefore can't vote? Fifteen years or not, if you don't live in the fire district, you can't vote.

Could just mean a lot of them aren't voters registered in the fire district.....

So all that really establishes is that you either weren't in on it, or that it started after you left.

What about quality not quantity? I just think its a better assessment as far as hall of fame stature goes. The guy who shows up to the most calls isn't always the best fireman, we all know that. So how about a ratio of reputation points to number of posts, who has the most likes per post? Just an idea

Saying that gun control alone will solve any of this is fairly nearsighted. It ignores all of the other factors at play, such as mental illness and social media providing these loons with notoriety. Guns have been in the hands of ordinary citizens since the inception of this country, we need to examine what in the last twenty years has led to the proliferation of these types of incidents, the guns aren't a new factor, so we must examine these other new factors that have come into the picture. Sure I believe there should be gun controls, background checks, psychological tests, registering of certain weapons, but that's not going to stop these people. They are already willing to break the law and MURDER people, more laws aren't going to stop people already breaking the number one rule to not kill others! They will find a way to carry out their attacks, whether it be illegal guns, homemade bombs, or as we have seen in some instances a knife. We need to address the ever hushed problem of mental illness in this country, and the pandering of the media to these psychopaths. Why not pass a bill that you may not print pictures of the victims of such crimes nor the perpetrator, take away their spotlight. It will take away some of their sick motivation.

I completely agree with the concept of getting out and away from the building, as pointed out though this isn't always a possibility, so why not have a device like this? Also, even if the classroom is on the first floor, it's not a simple fast task to get twenty or so small frightened children, some who may need considerable help, out of a window. A device like this could buy you the extra time needed to accomplish this task.

Every single fireman and officer should refuse this assignment or at the very least officially document every single time that they are doing it unwillingly and under duress. Not to mention that both the police and fire unions should be doing everything they can to fight it. This is a joke, a horrible stop gap measure to try and inadequately solve a problem without spending any more money where it's really needed. I wonder if they are giving nasal narcan to everyone with a pulse too like NY. Absolute waste of resources.

Honestly I don't see the problem with this, it's not like they are trying to mitigate the situation or take down the gunman. Sure doors can be breached, but most gunman aren't carrying around forcible entry tools with them just multiple weapons and ammo. These sickos are trying to inflict maximum damage in minimal time because they know sooner than later there will be armed response, something like this that slows them down could make them move on to try and find another target or buy precious time while law enforcement is en route in order to save lives. It's not like these people think they have found a solution to school shootings. Plenty of times in these instances you hear about teachers and students barricading themselves inside classrooms, this is just another method to accomplish just that. Why bash it if it could save lives? If your child was stuck in that room would you prefer if the teacher was just trying to hold the door shut from the inside or if they actually had a device like this to better accomplish the same task? On top of all this, when is the national news media going to stop plastering these killers faces all over the place granting them their fifteen minutes of fame? It only further emboldens others to commit similar acts. Knowing they will achieve some infamy and exposure as they escape their own perceived notions of insignificance is a lot of what drives these lunatics. The media is more concerned with selling papers than they are with common sense and the safety of the public.

That's White Plains's fire district. Harrison did buff it though and show up as well. I believe the system did not activate automatically, which I agree is odd, but was manually activated after the fact. Just what I heard secondhand, feel free to correct any misinformation.