helicopper

Epi pen...That's almost funny! For a single operational period event, even the ICS police wouldn't be looking for the 215-A.

And the back of the shirt said "SPEED TRAP AHEAD" for his B-job

Thanks, I didn't want to burst his bubble and tell him that the Captain was in Operations.

I don't disagree with you but there are many considerations for why some information is withheld as onthewheel so aptly pointed out. Arrest information may not be public if the case has been sealed by the court, if the charges have been dismissed or withdrawn(depending on the age of the offender), to protect the privacy of the arrestee, and for other reasons. Again, see the link for NYS above. Yes, we should be able to access government information easily and freely but in law enforcement and criminal justice there are some legitimate reasons to keep it confidential. If the PD refuses to give up their budget that's an issue. If they refuse to give up case reports for ongoing investigations that's 100% OK. "ALL" is a very broad term and not "ALL" government records fall under public information statutes nor should they. You shouldn't be able to walk into the FD and pull the personnel records on the FF, should you? Oh yeah, some municipalities will charge you for the copies if you do get them.

How about a political answer... Yes and No! http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/ojis/recordreview.htm You may be able to access certain information but criminal histories are maintained by DCJS. A link is provided to their records information.

Agreed. Also, if you include lesser charges and the defendant pleads guilty to one of them double jeopardy may attach and you lose the ability to pursue the murder charge. Murder is a class A-1 felony. Manslaughter is only a B and Crim Neg is a C. Why would you want him charged with lower offenses? As for a felony murder statute in NY, yes there is a felony murder statute and I'm sure he's being charged appropriately by the DA. You should review the indictment if you want to know exactly what the charges are.

From strictly an ICS perspective, without any prejudice from the climate/issues in Stamford, any resource operating at an incident must follow the direction and assignments of the IC - so long as the direction/assignment is legal, safe, and within the training and experience of the resource being assigned (you can't tell someone to do something for which they're not trained and equipped even if you are the IC). This is why it is so important for out of district resources to be be represented in the ICP by a manager (ranks omitted because they are irrelevant in ICS) who serves as the agency representative (ICS title). This is why it was entirely appropriate for the SFRD Chief to continue to respond with his resources and he should not have been canceled. He was not, by any application of NIMS or ICS, the IC for the incident so he should have been working with the local IC. The SFRD is obligated to operate within their own SOG's and policies - they can not be expected to learn the SOG's of the mutual aid department. This is why the agency rep is so important. If there is a work assignment that is contrary to the work rules, training, etc. of the resource, it is incumbent on the agency rep to bring this to command's attention. With regard to someone allegedly "naming themself the Safety Officer", that is not how ICS is intended to function. The IC designates the Safety Officer. If there are allegations of a person not being qualified for the position to which they're assigned, that is an issue but you can't suborn the IC by appointing yourself. (NOTE: These comments are strictly from an ICS perspective and do not consider statutory or other issues at work within Stamford). You can't call for resources and require that the resources come without a supervisor/manager. I've seen this at work on the law enforcement side where mutual aid was requested and came as a package with additional resources above and beyond what was requested (including a supervisor). The requesting agency had a fit and demanded that the additional resources leave - and they did, with the resources that were originally requested because the agency coming in had a policy to send a package to out of town requests. Yes, there may be company officers on individual companies but the SFRD has the responsibility and obligation to see to it that all the resources are safe - especially for an out of district response. This has been the subject of many discussions right here on EMTBravo when mutual aid jobs list a dozen or more Chief officers being on scene. These are the chief officers for the departments that are responding mutual aid. I'd say that this is a simple matter of communications and coordination but as evidenced by the preceding pages and pages of this thread, there is nothing simple about communications or coordination in Stamford.

No law is going to protect us from drunks and morons. Sadly, there will always be accidents but hopefully this law reduces the sideswipe kind of accident that is all too commonplace.

The one year old child of two local police officers (identity withheld for privacy) was just diagnosed with Leukemia and is in dire need of Type B Negative blood immediately. Blood donations can be made at the: Hudson Valley Blood Services 525 Executive Blvd. Elmsford, NY 10523 914-784-4612 Although they take walk-ins, it's recommended you call ahead. When making a donation, tell them it's for Aksel. Please pass this on to every emergency service provider in our area. Thank you!

Wrong law. This law will do nothing for accidents while responding. This one is designed to safeguard us working a scene or on a stop at the side of the road. It now requires that motorists slow down and/or move over to give us more room.

Able to function, yes. Able to function as well as when not exhausted, no. There are definite reductions in fine motor function and cognitive abilities the same as there are with alcohol impairment. Do you want the guy beside you or behind you to be impaired as you go down that hallway?

It never ceases to amaze me that A) people take discussions like this so personally and/or make it personal and suggest that the only way to be entitled to an opinion is to be inside the service/industry/etc. Almost everyone has an opinion on politics but virtually nobody has ever run for or held office and I bet some don't even bother to vote. Yet there's no issue debating/discussing politics is there? What gives the emergency services, especially the fire service, the exclusive rights to opinions on the provision of their services? Absolutely nothing. Everyone has an opinion, everyone's entitled to an opinion and since most people fund our services through taxes, they have an absolute right to ask questions, offer opinions, and seek information. I have volunteered; I've been a volunteer officer and board member. I know first-hand how dismal the response is to most calls in most places but I fail to see why you would suggest I'm not entitled to an opinion because I'm not currently a volunteer. As I said above, this isn't personal. Back to the topic at hand... You're right. The people in that town are lucky. They're lucky that fatigue didn't cost them a house, an injury, or a life. It shouldn't be based on luck, it should be based on sound management and well-informed decisions. Studies consistently demonstrate that fatigue can cause the same level of impairment that alcohol does. Yet because of a snow storm, a very common phenomenon in the Northeast, we have people working 67 hours straight with (according to their information) only six hours of sleep during that time. My point is that this should not be heralded as "model volunteerism" but rather as a sign we can and must do things better next time so nobody has to work 67 hours straight. Your examples of 24 and 48 hour shifts are fine except for the fact that they're all allowed to sleep during that time. And, if fatigue becomes a factor, the member can get rotated out of fireground operations for rehab. If you're going to tell me that they're all so busy all the time that they don't sleep for 24 or 48 hours I'm going to respond by saying they're impaired at the end of that time and they shouldn't be operating apparatus or entering IDLH environments. They probably shouldn't even be allowed to drive home without resting first so we don't read about them crashing during their long commute home.

The article says they got about six hours of sleep over three days. That's what I'm basing my statement on.

It really is hundreds of years of tradition unimpeded by progress...

This isn't a pay issue. It's a physiology issue. How do you turn them away? Very easy. The CHIEF tells them to go off shift and get some rest and uses some other workers (again no distinction between paid/volunteer). If there aren't enough workers, prioritize the tasks, reassign other resources, call in mutual aid or other assistance. It's called management and firematic officers (paid and volunteer) do it all the time. There's a reason why there are work-rest requirements in virtually every industry.

Amicone is just perpetuating the problem. Overtime costs will not go down if they don't hire personnel to fill vacancies (note this is vacancies, not new positions). They haven't hired in 2 or 3 classes and with attrition the problem is only going to get worse. Not hiring in this class costs them another full year because even if they hire in July, those cops don't hit the street (and have an impact on the shortage) until early next year.

Thanks for the reminder. The Ambrose-Searles Move Over Act is actually section 1144-A. Section 1144 has been the move over, dummy, there's an emergency vehicle behind you law that has existed on paper, though not in practice, for years. New Section 1144-A below: Link to another thread on this topic http://www.emtbravo....comes-law-1111/

I'm not so sure that this is an example of what to aspire to or how to operate in an emergency. Fatigue is comparable to intoxication in that it impairs your judgment, reaction time, and cognitive processes. Sending physically exhausted personnel into a structure fire or even allowing them to operate apparatus is a sign of either poor management or desperately inadequate resources (personnel). These guys should have been required to get some rest. Another example of the need to plan better for these types of incidents.

Unreal.

Well said. Thank you crime cop and stay safe!

Thanks for the update and information on this blood drive. PLEASE! PLEASE! Make an effort to donate on Monday. Let's make this a very happy new year for the Jarosz family!

Date: 12-30-10 Time: 1330 Location: 34 Poplar Street Frequency: YFD Units Operating: Engines 306, 303, 304, 308, 310 Ladders 71, 74 Rescue 1, Mask Service Unit, Battallion 1, YPD 3rd Pct and Traffic Units Weather Conditions: clear Description Of Incident: Fire in one story auto body shop. Partial roof collapse Reporters: helicopper Writer:

I'll liked the because Fitz said so answer but thanks for the added info!

Kudos to Yonkers for apparently having more foresight than their big brother to the south. Now just a stupid trivia question for the curious with cabin fever types... How come it's engine 317 and Ladder 78? What about 315 and 316 or 76 and 77?

The devices on the left side of the picture (darker yellow) are turbine powered melters. It's essentially a jet engine with the exhaust venting forward to melt snow and ice. The exhaust on one of those is in the area of 900-1000 degrees F so it will do some serious melting. I believe NASCAR employs similar devices to dry race tracks after it rains.