helicopper

I think there were several unrelated operations going on... Microwave downlink testing with DES and WCPD (Air 2). Medevac (State Police Aviation). Disorderly subject at the ER - subsequently arrested and removed from the reservation.

This is not unique to the fire service. I had a colleague who would arrive at a disabled vehicle but the radio message would catapult your heartrate into overdrive because it sounded like they were being chased by an axe murderer. Proper communications is a safety consideration but most are too complacent about it to enforce protocols or properly train people.

I'm glad CKroll beat me to the punch... Lights and sirens going TO the hospital do little but inflate the drivers sense of self-importance and increase the patient's anxiety. Slow and steady is the way I want to get to the hospital and that is NOT going to be the case if the driver is vaulting from intersection to intersection with lights and siren going. Face facts - lights and siren save VERY VERY little time! This case is another prime example of emotions getting in the way of professionalism. We can't just "do ALS" because it is a fellow ____ (insert service here). The medic will be taken to task if he/she provides ALS when it is not medically indicated. That's emotion and circumventing protocol because of emotional involvement is a recipe for cutting corners, getting hurt, and making the whole situation worse. Some valuable information has been posted here - the medic is being taken to task because of the death 14 hours two hosptials, one flight crew and who knows how many assessments later. If he made it 14 hours, ALS intervention probably wasn't going to make a difference. Jonesy, if you have medics in your system that aren't pulling their weight and doing their job then report them to your agency chief and/or medical director. Document their conduct as it gives all medics a bad name! If I need ALS intervention, I don't want the medic "following the ambulance" - that's a lot of nonsense! I feel for the medic in this situation and hope that the investigation expeditously proves that he did nothing contrary to protocol or accepted procedure and he is able to get back on the street as soon as possible. If anyone hears what the actual cause of death was, please post it so we can all get the real story!

Amen brother! It's pathetic that conditions like this are allowed to exist anywhere. Hey Hudson, let us know if there is anything we can do to help the process. BTW, can't you do some live burn training and solve the problems that way?

If you were supposed to fly in NOW it would be a problem (fog is THICK) but tonight it is supposed to be better visibility. There will probably be delays almost everywhere east of the Missisippi River today and tonight with the storms. Good luck and eat light before your flight!!!

Think it'll take that long?

So, I take it you're against this move??? I agree that outsourcing benefits only the Corporation and not the employees, customers or the US!

And as I type this, the airport is going bananas with media because Torre is flying back home to Westchester...

Funny, it doesn't say anything in the law about alternating headlights, grill lights, corner and tail light strobes, and a full LED lightbar on the privately owned volunteers vehicle - and I am NOT referring to chiefs/officers/commanders/commandants/admirals. I'm talking about BLUE lights or GREEN lights. They're courtesy lights and don't empower the user to do ANYTHING. They do not protect you from civil liability if you crash and insurance companies won't give a darn if you're volunteering your services for the benefit of the community. They're going to come after you to save themselves MONEY!!! Despite all this, as was posted already, this thread will get up to 10 pages and training threads die a slow painful death. Where are our priorities?

Department's need a chief... and the entire department is about 15 people so it doesn't sound like much to select a replacement from!

Yawn... Lights and sirens on POV's AGAIN??? Great points about why NOT to have lights and a siren - not so compelling arguments for them. Bottom line, an EMS provider in his/her own car can't transport and a firefighter in his/her own car can't put a fire out. So, what's the rush??

HIPAA and photographs are like apples and oranges. People have no expectation of privacy in a public place and the only issues are whether or not a subjects likeness is being used for commercial purposes. As I understand it, if I take a picture of a person on the street and use it for non-commercial purposes (not for $$$) there is no issue and no model release is required. And Firehouse magazine is not bound by any HIPAA regulations because they're not involved in the maintenance and transfer of healthcare/insurance records anyway.

That's exactly what I was going to say!!! Thanks, Doc!!

A few more random thoughts... Might this encourage people to try to "solve their own problems" or extinguish their own fires prior to calling 911 to avoid the bill? If fire service is provided for by taxation, what benefit is realized through billing? Will my taxes go down or is this MORE money going to the FD? Not that I mind if it is justified, I just want accountability - not any different that what I expect from Putnam County even though my taxes are going up EIGHT times the inflation rate... But that's a rant for another thread. If my homeowner's insurance will pay the FD, then my insurance premiums will undoubtedly go up the following year, so I AM in fact paying for it. Insurance is NOT free! Billing for excessive false alarms (fire or burglar) is not the same thing as billing for SERVICES provided. The penalties for frequent flyers on alarms is to deter them from letting the situation persist - not to recoup the costs of the response. I like the idea for the FD Salvage coverage in a homeowners insurance policy. Does anyone know if that's available in NY? Considering the article talks about billing only insurance companies and not individuals, I can see the insurance industry doing the same thing as MEDICARE. If you bill me, you have to bill everyone so now all EMS patients (in billing systems) get a bill regardless of insurance coverage.

I can see the headlines now... "Sudden increase in fire calls attributed to YouTube science experiment..." "Duracell to put warning labels on battery packages - "Do Not Immerse in Water and Ignite"... I just wonder - who comes up with this stuff? They have entirely too much time on their hands!

What a STUPID idea. First there are no NFL teams in England. Second, as was so aptly pointed out, this will do nothing for the US economy. And finally, assuming the game starts at 8 PM (London time), that means the east coast is watching the game at 3 PM and the left coast is watching at NOON - when do you start the party? For breakfast?

Regardless of where you're going to live, start by contacting the Health Department EMS Offices in NY and NJ (if you're inclined to work there - since you mentioned Hoboken) and get the reciprocity process started now. If you're not a credentialed NYS paramedic, you're not going to work for anyone! Once you have a certificate in hand, you're much more marketable. As for paid FD, as was already stated they're all civil service so you better start checking on test opportunities so you can get on a list. Many different tests/locations/etc. so the more you research, the more you'll find out. Good luck!

Interesting situation. If she was cursing and shouting within her apartment and nobody heard her - no foul. However, she was apparently loud enough to be heard by neighbors who complained twice - once to her and once to the police. If you have a loud party at your home and it is disturbing the neighbors, I don't believe you can hang your hat on any expectation of privacy because you're disturbing others. We'll have to see what the disposition of this is!

So where are the pictures of the helicopters???

As bad as this is, I'd really like to know where this guys partner was prior to the call? It highlights my point from the thread about the Boston FF - we have to take care of ourselves because our lives truly depend on it. Happily this story wasn't about a fatal crash involving an ambulance running red lights with no warning devices activated while operated by a drunk. Black eye of the day indeed!

I must have been dozing when this thread first appeared. How come nobody brought up the issue of two area trauma centers in Rockland County that could be used instead of the hike to Hackensack?

Probably not the best comments to follow your ad...

Exactly JCESU! If officers didn't have a taser, how many suspects would have been shot instead of just shocked?? This is just another way of avoiding the firearm as the resolution to the crisis. Combined with bean bag rounds, pepper ball rounds, shields, batons, etc. the numbers of police involved shootings have DECLINED largely due to the option of something else. If Amnesty International wins its argument, more people will be getting shot! Why not go back to a whistle and baton?

First, the Constitution does guarantee the right of the people to keep and bear arms (arguably as part of a well regulated militia but we'll leave that debate for another time) but nothing confers that right to a citizen on the property of another. In other words, the school district as the property owner can prohibit anyone from carrying weapons on their property. A great example of this is the Staples Center in LA. Nobody, not off-duty LAPD not CHP, is allowed to carry a firearm at the Staples center except their security force and on-duty LAPD detailed to the site. So the school is well within their rights to deny her permission to carry on school grounds. That is not an abridgement of her rights. Trauma also brings up another key point to this argument. He wouldn't have a problem with someone "properly trained" having a gun at school. Who defines properly trained? I would argue that police receive "proper training" and yet we all hear the stories of police officers missing their target, often hitting an uninvolved person (or building). So, do we take teachers out the classroom to give them adequate range time or do we focus on keeping the expertise and armament where it belongs? Yes, one cop may not be enough but is adding a teacher to the mix the answer? Or will that teacher be confused for a suspect by later arriving units? Who safeguards the firearm while the teacher is at school? Is she walking around with a shoulder holster ala Dirty Harry? Come on, teaching is tough enough without expecting Mr. Kotter to become the Terminator. Good discussion! I hope everyone citing the 2nd amendment remembers to VOTE so we don't wind up with elected officials who seek to do away with that right!

How old? How old? Seriously, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Tom!!! In large print for the visually impaired - how're those bifocals working out for ya?