16fire5

I agree about the rural areas needing them more than NYC. If I'm not mistaken St. Lukes Cornwall Hospital Cornwall Campus is a free standing ER now.

In this situation I would not cover the nozzle with a finger. The real reason to cover the nozzle is to keep from blowing burning material all over the place at small fires (garbage cans). If you are really trying to prevent flashover is better to direct blasts into the ceiling and let the ceiling break it in the upper thermal layers also your in a bad place.

The only thing I will add is stay out of the line of fire of the wedge. They have been known to come out and I know of an instance where a member was struck in the face.

So many thoughts on this so hopefully this is somewhat followable. The original poster was prompted to ask his questions based off the medal day book. So on that fact I will say this I think it is dangerous for most departments to attempt to operate like the FDNY. We have the ability to put a lot of firefighters on the scene very quickly and probably unparalleled. That combined with strong SOPs that spell out where everyone goes and what they do based on the building type and location of the fire put us in a unique situation. This is in no way a knock on any other department but I think your procedures and risk management need to be based on your staffing, experience level, and what you face. In a majority of cases I believe small departments should concentrate on putting all their initial effort on placing the first line in operation. Even in the case of people trappped unless you know exactly where they are the best course of action may still be to get water on the fire. As for the can as a truck officer when I enter an apartment prior to the line which is frequently the case when the fire is on the upper floor since the engine will be delayed in the long stretch I usually bring the can firefighter with me and leave the irons firefighter at the door (inside holding the door closed). The can allows us to knock down fire very well. As long as the fire has not flashed over the can will have an impact. The can is very effective at pushing fire back and allowing us to close doors. And in the etreme cases where protection is needed to effect a rescue the can is handy. Passing fire is a very dangerous move and should probably be reserved for known victims.

Thanks for the pics Rescue 1. How do you like the system?

Sorry no pics but next time I go I will try to take some. My only concern about lifting via the cow catcher is how substantial is it. If a car was on someone we lift the frame rails not a bumper. It also depends on what is trapping the occupant. The lifting I was discussing is how to lift a train when a wheel is on the victim. You only need to lift a little bit (the train does a good job of crushing what ever it runs over). This every bit of a heavy rescue and can have some real dangers involved. The wedges used to crib the suspension have been known to be shot out. Also realize you are approaching the lifting limits of your equipment. Remember never stack more than two bags and the more you inflate the more unstable the load will be. So practice but be careful even during practice.

If your not an EMT you really have no ability to supervise patient care since the highest level of care is in charge. This is why all FDNY EMS promotions to Lieutenant are now Paramedics. EMS Lt.'s that were EMTs were technically out ranked by the paramedics. So yeah NYS is pretty clear who is in charge of pt. care. For the fire side the OSHA Fire Brigade Standard which is the most fundamental regulation for all fire departments states " Fire brigade leaders and training instructors shall be provided with training and education which is more comprehensive than that provided to the general membership of the fire brigade."

The big thing to learn is how use the wedges to prevent the suspension of the truck from operating. If the suspension is still active the lift will do nothing because the suspension will absorb it. And yes the bottle jack seems to work faster. We train both methods.

If you think about the reality of a bailout the chance of clearing the window of all the glass is not plausible. Combine that with the potential for sharp objects or the window sill to damage the rope a very good case is made for the Sterling Fire Tech Rope.

No. I agree that the use of and EXO, F4 or other decent device is as fast or faster than a body belay with the added benifit of control. Realize that however you package it, it is not possible to hide 50 feet of rope if that is what you decide to go with. So there will be some complaints about the added bulk.

What can we take from this? -Sometimes you have to imagine how things will play out in the paper and the damage that can be done to the reputation of your orginization. -If your an officer be the officer. It is your job to be the voice of reason when things get out of hand. -It's 2011 this is how things are we are not going back to the old days. The alleged conduct is both illegal and sick. Instead of making this thread another gripe about a black eye for the fire service lets try to be vigilant and do our jobs and make the tough decisions to keep or orginizations on the level.

Yonkers has a new system which integrates well with their gear. Maybe if you ask nicely one of their members will post a pic or two. I like the Sterling F4 for its simplicity.

Not closing its' doors consolidating into the larger district next door which plans to keep the station open. Still a pretty rural area. Played golf next door to the Memphis Fire Station once. Tax rate is dropping $.15 per thousand. Sounds like a no brainer.

If I was the Fire Department IC I would not commit personnel without a suit into the water in the situation presented. The fact that it was an EDP suicide attempt does effect the size-up. With 55 degree water and a not compliant rescuee the personnel in the water could be expected to spend an extended period of time in the water.

I think the editorial sums up the thoughts of the Tea Party. How dare she compare the LODD in SF to this incident. I can see how your feelings as an 18-21 year old might be this. Some of us have responsibilities and as fire officers your number one job is to make sure your members go home. I don't know how hard it is to comprehend 55 degree water, victim a football field away, weighted 300 pounds, suicidal, PD incident, no equipment. Plus once the IC said no one enter I would expect a legitimate orginization to follow orders like these guys did. While tragic it could have been worse.

Did he steal their rope too?

How many guys staff the career engine? I know they have more during the day but how many at night?

No one said all six had to come on the same rig. If you can't assemble 6 on the scene to fill the minimum roles then you are not able to operate safely.

If your not responding with 6 routinely something should be done. That's 2 in and 2 out with a pump operator and an IC. Your putting your firefighters, ICs, and the public in a bad situation. Here's a couple of examples that of the bread and butter runs that require this. Activated Fire Alarm Turns out to be a fire. We've all been there. Interior Gas Leak Your at 10% of the LEL inside or 20% outside. In this case members should be using SCBA and 2 in 2 out should be followed. CO Detector Turns out to be elevated readings. If members are entering using SCBA you should be following 2 in 2 out. In all these cases this is the absolute minimum to begin operations. This isn't even considering for instance providing first responder care to a victim. In a fire situation the entry crew of two is either stretching (good idea) or searching. Ventilation and all the other jobs are not getting done.

We've had both kinds and i personally like the short be a lot better. The long folds just get caught on everything wen you stretch because they drag so far behind. I don't think we even have any long beds left even as spares.

While he requires no defense here I will point out that if you follow these threads Bnechis provides plenty of good information. If a volunteer any depatment was looking at all the ways to make themselves more compliant you could get a lot of good information from his posts. And then there is ISO if you take note of the information he provides and apply it I'm sure a lot of places could improve their ratings. Plenty of good information that your getting here for free.

I think you might be refering to Seton Hall?

Funny thing is I had no idea what department was until this post.

With the problems with all the new rigs these days I would call ahead to make sure it's in service.

Just to remind those talking about a county department it is still not permitted by state law. So that might be the first thing you need to change. The only legal way to do it right now is to make a really large fire district.