helicopper

Just heard Spitzer's resignation speech on the radio. Lt. Gov. Paterson will assume the Governorship Monday morning (03/17/08).

We're in agreement Goose! I didn't think you were suggesting anything but an efficient and cost effective program. Now if we could just get the politicians to agree with us...

True enough but why should the County get something for nothing or get something at the expense of someone else. I actually agree that the service should be re-bid and bids should be entertained from ALL potential service providers with the County as the CON holder. This way we get what we pay for, the County has control over the delivery of the system and there is no repeat of this nonsense. As painful as it may be for the program to go from 900K to 2M, at least we'll be getting the proper level of service and not be held hostage as we were last year when the provider threatened to pull out because they were losing money. Well no kidding Sherlock - you undercut the cost by a large margin!

Nice pick up! I wonder what he must have done to get caught...

Don't do just what's on the practical exam sheets - do it the way your instructor's showed you and as was said already verbalize everything! If in doubt, say it twice. They won't take points off for saying something again but if you get flustered and don't say it at all you'll wish you had. Stay calm and remember it's only a test!

With regard to # 1, the passage about what the town "shall" do is predicated on the first paragraph of the proposed legislation. So the town must elect to do this, it is not mandatory. Moose, I can understand your concern but there are a whole lot of things that have to happen here before anyone gets "swept" aside. First, the law has to be passed by the Senate and Assembly and then signed by the Governor. Then your town has to choose to avail itself of this option and finally they would have to choose to hire a fully paid staff before your volunteer position (or anyone else's) would be eliminated. That's a whole lot of things that have to happen before you need to worry about giving up what you love. Frankly I think that, even if passed, the law would only be used in a handful of places and the impact on line firefighters would be neglible. Barry's right, Commissioner's would be eliminated and there may be fewer officer positions but in the grand scheme, I don't think you'd see a big change in paid or volunteer positions.

201/65, thanks for the find! Posting the text of a bill in the legislature is much more enlightening than the quote of one disgruntled firefighter who doesn't even know which way response times should go! However, I think this bill and the reference in the article are two separate animals. The Executive Budget proposal cited in the original article comes from the Governor's Office - not the legislature. In that is funding for a program that would allow "local governments to save property tax dollars through shared services and municipal consolidation". This is the relevant section quoted from the Governor's Executive Budget proposal (not subject to copyright restrictions); Fire departments are not mentioned anywhere in the executive budget proposal! They are a "local government" and could avail themselves of this special funding to explore consolidation but that is a local option - not a state mandate. The budget summary also does not describe anywhere the creation of county fire departments or paid fire departments at all for that matter. The bill you describe above also serves to amend TOWN law, not COUNTY law and would enable towns to consolidate districts within their borders. It doesn't describe creating a paid department either - it gives options including employing part-time "call men". Seems to me like a lot of "Chicken Little" reaction to a whole lot of nothing especially when the bill cited above was introduced almost a year ago. Where was the outcry then? Consolidation is not necessarily a bad word or a bad thing!

In NYC? Come on, the FEDS have that market locked up! They have acronyms for acronyms and a 50 page guidebook for them!!!!

True their geographic area is huge but there are also countless other PD's also so the staffing numbers are misleading. There are probably 4,000 cops in that geographical area.

Oh just put it in your Internet Explorer favorites, you buff!!!! Oh yeah, your video is in the mail!!!

Hey, we have a hoist! Just tell the day tour to pop the sky light!!!

What are you guys going to buy me???

First, I didn't say always! Most departments will try to the do the right thing by a member who passes away - if they can. The promotion probably won't change the State or insurance company payouts a whole lot, unfortunately. The State and Federal agencies who are responsible for determining LOD don't care what rank you are - they're going to debate whether or not it was LOD. Second, who says cancer is not job related in a firefighter? With all the crud you guys inhale and get exposed to (and that's just in the firehouse kitchen ) who's to say whether or not it caused cancer or other illnesses. Truly is a sad incident and I too hope he rests in peace!

Thanks for the infomercial. We don't have divers to bring with us though! Maybe if I put them on my Christmas list... Hmmm...

Thank you for answering my exact question before I even posted it!

Unfortunately we have to question it because it is never so cut and dry. Who is covered when traveling to/from work (on their own time and in their own vehicle)? Our department has had members get into accidents under such conditions and none were ever considered LOD. If an FF is the victim of a random crime while off-duty how do we reach the conclusion that it is line of duty? Mind you, I'm just playing devil's advocate! There have also been instances of police/fire members being denied disability benefits because their injury/condition was not related to police work/fire-rescue work! A couple of cases that come to mind, a PO slips on ice in the parking lot of his HQ and injures his knee. A PO assigned to communications wrenches his back in the radio room. Jobs will always try to find the cheap way out!

AMBULANCE RADIO DESIGNATIONS First and Second Digit: Battalion # Alpha designations: A-G=BLS, H=BLS HazTac, I-O=BLS, S-Y=ALS, Z=ALS HazTac Fourth Digit: Tour 1, 2 or 3

In the northeast water is generally considered cold enough for resuscitation efforts, is it not? Yes, NYPD has two divers ready for immediate deployment from the aircraft (with the expectation that additional divers are coming via ground transportation). This is 24/7/365. Flight time would vary but I know they've been called to Westchester with about a 10-15 minute flight time (depends on where in Westchester you're looking to use them). Traveling at 150 MPH gets you there pretty quick! As for diving operations, sure those things are all considerations but you can put divers in the water where the vehicle was last seen and they can at least start a cursory search, no? Seems to work pretty well in the City.

Not necessarily true! Submerged victims have been successfully resuscitated after significant amounts of time! The submersion of the victim should not necessarily cause the operation to become a recovery instead of remaining a rescue. The response time of local rescue personnel should be considered but for a call like this but special calls to the Coast Guard/NYPD should be considered in our area. The NYPD staffs an air/sea rescue helicopter 24/7/365 with a flight crew and divers and will respond outside of NYC if requested (I don't know about CT but they've been to NJ so draw your own conclusion there). All you have to do is call!

Interesting question - there seem to be two categories used synonymously with LODD Death While On Duty - as the case here Line of duty death - killed fighting fire, killed by suspect, etc. Not an important distinction except to the lawyers and benefits people who will seek to pay out as little as possible to all involved!

Unfortunately, I bet you're right!

Ditto Ditto Ditto!

Well said, thanks Chief! Exactly! Perception is everything - especially in emergency services. We may not hear it directly but it will be apparent in the donations received if the perception is that the money is not being used wisely. Unfortunately there is nothing common about common sense. Agreed, it's helpful to have all the information but I think most of us are discussing the issue in general and not the specific use of a vehicle that prompted the article that started this thread. OK, I gotta ask - y'all couldn't carpool???? Hey, these are all just opinions unless the Attorney General is going to start posting on here! As for fundraisers, I suspect that they are still tax deductible by the donors making them, at least in part, subject to the same rules as other "charitable contributions". This is a good question for a department accountant or attorney. There are limits on how money raised by an organization can be spent - again a good question for the accountant and attorney. You stay safe also!

This question came up because of reading a recent thread but the issue is a much more general one. Reading incident alerts or listening to jobs develop on the radio, you hear "FAST being put to work" and a new FAST team is requested. Isn't the FAST team an assigned resource? Aren't they there to insure the safety of the firefighters already working on the job and rescue them if they get into trouble? Why are they getting put to work instead of simply using additional companies in staging? Or is it that we don't routinely request additional resources to standby in staging? I recall discussions in other threads about the use of FAST/RIT teams and how important they are. One point that jumps out at me was the issue of a new FAST team having to repeat all the work done by the FAST team that has been put to work. Doing a size-up, assessing and removing hazards, preparing equipment, etc. So fire guys, educate this cop type guy! Thanks!

Can anyone venture a guess at the percentage of FF who are FAST/RIT trained and qualified? I'm just wondering how hard it is to get a team of qualified people to the scene of a job...