helicopper

Wow, did this topic ever take off! Great discussion but let's not forget that whether we're lobbying here for volunteer or paid services, the overall goal is or should be the same: quality patient care! That should be the #1 issue. The situation in Hawthorne was in a word - horrible. For whatever reason(s) they couldn't get out the door. Maybe it was because they were spending an inordinate amount of time at one building or another on the Grasslands Reservation - I've never been able to understand why you need to dial 911 to transport a dialysis patient (who's under the care of a medical professional already) to the ER but that's for a separate thread. Maybe its something entirely different, like everyone is working two jobs to afford to live there. It's really immaterial. Hawthorne recognized the problem and addressed it and now the mutual aid responses and delayed response times should be a thing of the past. If it is still a problem, they'll have to deal with it further. Having worked in both Rockland and Westchester, I don't understand why the addition of paid personnel to a system in need of support is such an issue to us on this side of the bridge. Rockland is a great example of a system (maybe not the best, but certainly a good one). Vollies had a hard time getting out during the day (sound familiar?) so they hired paid crews for weekdays. Vollies cover additional calls when they can during the day and cover everything on nights and weekends. There's pride with the paid crews and pride with the vollie crews. They all participate in the QI program to make sure everyone is delivering quality care and they have paramedic support via the fly-car system for ALS jobs. To me its a win-win situation. And as an aside, I really don't understand why the Mt. Pleasant medic needs to bounce all over town on every job - such as the "injury" or "sick" or "Taylor Care transfer". That's not very good use of such a limited resource. The responses here also answered another question from another thread... Why is EMS always the ba$tard stepchild of emergency services? Read back over this thread and you'll see the answer. We're not all in this together - by any stretch of any imagination! We're bashing each other even though most of the comments are trying to make improvements. Good job Hawthorne! You fixed a problem and your constituents will benefit from it.

I've always been advised not to use the phrase "no comment" - it is a shut down. The best way to deal with the media is to refer them to the appropriate person for the information (in reality all you're doing is getting them away from you but it makes people think you're helping them).

You've gotta showcase "walker 170" at this!!!

Bump. Any FD's sending apparatus to this?

Unless they separate EMS from the FD, they're not going to be able to bill for service. Another example of a band-aid on a badly fractured EMS system. (I'm not bashing Hawthorne - my criticism is that we lack a comprehensive EMS system in the Hudson Valley Region! There is a similar thread about the same kind of problem in Pawling, concerns about the "system" in Putnam County, etc.)

How about getting the PD to determine if any local surveillance or security cameras captured images of the drums being dropped off to identify who or when they were delivered? They could also call the owner of the lot to see if they're aware of the drums and their contents... Don't forget, the NYPD had a bunch of cyanide in drums dumped in the Bronx after the truck carrying them was hijacked! As much as I'd like to think it was waste oil or something else benign, as was already posted - protect your A$$!!! Glad to be directing traffic on your perimeter for this one!

Alex, What is 69 posts on March 23rd? Do we get any lifelines?

Does anyone know the call volume in Pawling? Does the FD still provide BLS-FR? Kudos to the four towns for trying to seek a regional solution to the EMS problems up there! That's a great way to reduce costs - just look at the Northern Westchester consortium as an example.

If you're working for the PD EMS provider and driving around a vehicle that says POLICE all over it that's a VERY smart move! This is a judgement call and everyone needs to make their own decision about vests and scene safety.

Ouch! That doesn't paint a very favorable picture of Empire. 350K for what? One BLS unit or one ALS unit? Does anyone know what the service requirements for the contract are?

Westchester County did have a dive team that was very active in the 80's through the early 90's but then it fell victim to the budget ax! Unit has been disbanded and although many have lobbied to reestablish it, there is still no plan to do so. As for the Marine Unit, we still have one of those and at the Fleet Demo Day on April 18, the brand new boat will be unveiled. It will go into service immediately thereafter and be available for the rest of the summer on the Hudson (I don't know days/shifts and probably wouldn't post that info anyway! ) As for Yonkers ESU, we're always looking for willing participants to jump out of a perfectly good helicopter so, YES, there is a plan to train with them in the future. I'm sure we'll be talking to lots of other jobs as well - especially now that brush fire season is approaching (gotta get that brand spankin' new bambi-bucket some use!) Sure, I'd love a 412 - just call your legislator and tell her we need another helicopter! LOL

If you're looking for a rescue, I would still call NYPD for their air-sea rescue - especially if the victim(s) are in the LI Sound or Hudson River. The Bell 412 used for air-sea rescue missions can be almost anywhere in Westchester pretty fast and they're not only able to deploy divers but recover victims and the divers as well. They did the rescue in the Hudson River when the plane crashed a couple of years ago. The air-sea rescue is staffed 24 hours / 7 days a week - I think the State Police divers are regular troopers who are also divers so they have to be recalled from troop assignments. If you're recalling personnel from home or other locations before a response, you're probably going on a recovery mission.

If the life of the list is four years 100 is not unrealistic. If they canvas three candidates for every two positions they actually fill (probably not a stretch when you factor in medicals, agilities, psychologicals, background investigations, other jobs hiring, etc.) they'll go through the first 100 to hire 66 (or so). MVPD typically puts anywhere from 6-12 in each academy class if that's any help.

The plane was an Airbus 320 and it is much larger than almost any of the other aircraft that use the airport presently. I guess the jetways don't reach and they need a two level set of steps to reach it. Big freakin' plane!

Interesting that your FD responds to crowd control situations. What exactly are you supposed to do to control these crowds? Do you train with the PD for this function? If someone is trying to flip an ambulance what does the SOP for your department state that you will do? If you or another FF is attacked or assaulted what does your SOP say then? Several questions, I know. I find it interesting that your auto-dispatched with the PD for a PD matter and would be very interested to learn more about that relationship. The "crowd control" scenario is an interesting one - the FDNY opted out of getting into any type of civil disorder/crowd control situations hence the establishment of civil disorder resources (read water cannons) within the NYPD (using old Port Authority CFR trucks, I believe). Are there any more FD's around here with SOP's for civil disorder responses?

2001 Acura - model unknown right now.

Once again, I respectfully disagree. The units on scene at the fire know what resources they have (or don't) and shouldn't put themselves in the position of relying on water (or anything else) that isn't there yet. It is just a matter of backfilling the engine on the fire response to replace the one at the accident. What if the engine you're relying so heavily on for water encounters traffic, breaks down, or has an accident of its own (a sad reality highlighted by events of the past few weeks)? You're saying that the fireground operation is so delicate that the backfill response is jeopardizing lives? Gotta rethink the safety analysis for this one then! We can keep going in circles on this but I think the points already raised speak for themselves. There are legal requirements for EMS folks (FF/EMT or FF/CFR are EMS folks) and in the absence of clear department policy (hopefully reviewed by agency counsel) you're going to be on thin ice if you leave a patient regardless of your dispatch status. We've got two different schools of thought on this and I don't think either side is gonna change their mind anytime soon. Jonesy, you're absolutely right "Duty to Act" and "Abandonment" are still legal issues for EMS providers.

Funny how those knife resistant back plates are so popular in our business!

You're absolutely right - for us to commend each other or ourselves for a positive outcome despite less than optimal performance is a disservice - to ourselves and everyone else. I can't tell you how many times I've been at exercises and the critique afterwards is nothing more than a circle of people patting each other on the back. No discussion about what worked well, what would be done differently next time, or Oops, that was not the way to approach this. I think in many cases people are afraid of criticism because it exposes weaknesses and none in our business like to admit weakness. Analyzing an incident, identifying strengths and/or weaknesses and discussing them to bolster the strengths and reduce the weaknesses in the future is something we should all be doing after every job, large and small. After-action reports may sometimes be a bitter pill to swallow and for sure, some people like to armchair quarterback but not doing the AAR is worse! We can all learn something from almost every incident - I think that's the point 66 is trying to make. "Great job" is appropriate but why not follow up with "here's what we did, here's what we didn't do"... When someone questions performance, we all can use a little less defense and a little more reflection - could I have done this better/differently? It's not a "band of followers" its peer review and that is why we're here.

It amazes me that even though they can't vote, the illegal immigrant lobby has such widespread support throughout the government. If politicians want VOTES why don't they do what the CITIZENS want???

With all that is involved with starting a team and the infrequent (although you'd never know it by Mt. Pleasant's activity lately) responses they have, how can you justify a start-up team in Briarcliff when you've got an experienced team in the next town and two more less than 15 minutes away? I can understand the desire to have one but is the duplication necessary? Perhaps you could propose joining one of the existing teams and creating a partnership rather than a whole new one?!?!? This is NOT a shot at Briarcliff - I applaud them for even considering such an endeavor! So many other guys have already posted about the differences in recreational diving and emergency service diving - it is not the same and not everyone that is a recreational diver belongs under an abandoned pier on the Hudson looking for a body! Yuck! To summarize, these are the dive teams in Westchester/Putnam: Irvington FD Mt Pleasant PD Yorktown Heights FD Bedord FD Somers FD Croton on Hudson PD Mahopac Falls FD Am I missing any? Are there other ice/swift water/other water related rescue teams that may not be "divers" that we haven't identified yet?

No, at least then I would have had some pizza!!! My partner says that if you're early you're on time. If you're on time you're late and if you're late we're in trouble!!!

Date: 03/25/07 Time: 2050 Location: Route 9A southbound south of Route 117 Frequency: Units Operating: WCPD, MPPD, numerous EMS Description Of Incident: Rollover with ejection - at least three ejected. Unit on scene requests thermal imaging to check woods for additional victims. WCPD Aviation responded for thermal imaging scan of wooded area. Negative results. Writer: Chris192, DFFD227

You're absolutely right! We are our own worst enemies! If a class or meeting starts at a certain time, we should be there on time. I had a college professor who locked the door at 9:01 (for a 9:00 class) and if you were late - too bad, you were in the hall. Amazing how many people made it to that class on time. Maybe we should start locking doors at the FTC and PA????

That is for SURE! I think Oswego's right - it is still under the municipal housing authority and will likely be the site of a new housing project, in a newer more modern building.