helicopper

Don't stop there INIT, you're on a roll... Then you have... CAPTAIN INSPECTOR ??? Is this rank used in the SP MAJOR DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT SUPERINTENDENT ...right??? And if a SGT and Technical SGT are on the same scene, is it the SGT who's in charge?

Is the CO monitoring based upon an oximetry sensor or ambient air? I'm guessing the former because the latter isn't really a use for the LifePak 15. I think we're talking about apples (ambient air monitors that can alert responders) and oranges (patient specific diagnostic tools), right?

I, too, respectfully disagree. This is simply inappropriate for display on a public vehicle and I seriously question the appropriateness on any vehicle (but that's just me). While we may agree to some extent about political correctness, this isn't political and it isn't correct. Nuf said.

At a time when budgets are being cut, people are being laid off, and we have to fight to preserve a professional image in the emergency services, THIS Is what we get? What a colossal waste of time and energy.

Date: 11-28-10 Time: 2100 (approximately) Location: Multi-Family Dwelling in Sleepy Hollow Frequency: various Units Operating: Sleepy Hollow PD, FD, EMS, Transcare Medic Weather Conditions: Clear and Cold Description Of Incident: Two unconscious victims (one a 5 year old) of CO poisoning brought into Phelps ER via POV by third victim who was cooking in basement of MFD with BBQ style equipment. Extremely high levels of CO in all three victims. Phelps ER staff notified Sleepy Hollow who responded and found five more victims (two adult/three pediatric) in building. All five transported to WMC for hyperbaric treatment. Original three transported to Jacobi for hyperbaric treatment. Reporters: Tapout Writer: helicopper Thanks for the tip on the incident. If you have more details/info, please PM and this will be updated.

If they told you they were just trying to justify their existance then they did themselves and the rest of us a great disservice and grossly under-explained why those checks are being done. As for the probable cause, the right to conduct a safety inspection (which is what we're talking about here) is reserved by the Coast Guard and designated law enforcement personnel for any vessel on the water so let's not start down that road, please. Overkill is a matter of perspective. We can go round and round with many issues and cast the "overkill" stone. If it were not part of a bigger strategy to insure the safety of those on the Hudson I might agree that being checked three times in 3 hours is alot but given the nature of traffic on the river, it can happen.

I think the discussion about what FD's can do to protect themselves and the requirements for reporting hazardous materials in their business is relevant and useful and entirely appropriate for this site. To call someone a "kill joy" for intelligently discussing the fire service is contrary to the purpose of this forum and an unnecessary attack on someone who has taken the time to contribute. If you don't want to engage in a discussion, don't ask questions. I don't understand why we're killing the proverbial messenger here.

Just a couple of points - the Sheriff's marine unit does much more than write tickets on the water. The boat being acquired is not coming from tax funds, it is coming from grant funds and/or the Port Authority (as someone aptly noted). The Sheriff's Office and Department of Emergency Response have different budgets submitted by different entities so the Sheriff can budget for a boat while at the same time reducing his personnel (right, wrong, or indifferent). The DER chose to sacrifice their FID in their budget submission, perhaps in the hopes that the public outcry would be enough to have it restored, who knows? It is not appropriate to compare capital acquisitions in one department to operating expenses in another especially when both are overseen by different elected entities (CE and Sheriff). To justify their existence? Remarks like this are inflammatory and only demean our brothers and sisters who were doing their jobs. Perhaps you'd be interested in knowing that the US Coast Guard and New York State coordinated several week long high visibility patrols on the river intended to promote safety, increase voluntary compliance with rules and regulations, and interdict criminal activity on the water. Sounds like your FF buddies were caught up in one of those details. Finally, a boat such as this one will be very useful in emergency responses up and down the river. We shouldn't oppose this because we're unhappy with other legislative action (the FID cuts). Fight the FID cuts; don't fight the Sheriff's Office promoting its operation.

Date: 11-27-10 Time: 1740 Location: Route 9 IAO Horsemans Trail Frequency: PC911, PCSO Units Operating: North Highlands FD, Philipstown VAC, Putnam Medics 1 and 2, Putnam County SO, Putnam County DAO, Hudson Valley Ambulance Weather Conditions: Clear Description Of Incident: Head-on collision requiring extrication. One victim medevac to WMC in critical condition, one victim ALS to St Francis. Route 9 closed for extended period during accident investigation. Victim later died at WMC. Reporters: helicopper Writer: helicopper http://www.lohud.com...crash-in-Putnam

Let's not get fixated on theory or what-if's here. This thread is about the Briarcliff fire. The discussion thus far has been great and let's keep it that way without getting into petty debates about 100% vs. rules of thumb. I don't think anyone here is naive enough to think anything is 100% certain so let's not nit-pick the little stuff and forget that there was a really big fire that needed to be put out. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to all. If you're working today, a special thank you and be safe!

It may not have simply been the turnout gear, it may have been the combination of turnout gear, emergency lights, and more that we're not privvy to. Use of emergency lights by a photographer is a bit much too. I'm reasonably sure that in time we'll find out more about this case.

Your simple math is right on the mark. Once a patient is transport ready there is no reason to wait for a helicopter if you can begin ground transport. If the helicopter is there, running, and the crew is ready to take the patient and transport, fine, but how often does that happen? Response times are often estimated to be lower than actual, scene time is far longer than 3 minutes, and the flight time/off-loading time really nets you no savings. I am a huge proponent of using air ambulances wisely but I don't think if you're within 20-30 minutes driving time of a trauma center you have a compelling case for flying. While some lawyers may argue that this doesn't give rise to negligence, others will argue (and charge handsomely for the privilege to do so) that it does and who's caught in the middle? EMS and the PATIENT! We should be advocates for the patient and the very real financial and safety implications of air transport needs to be thought about. If the patient doesn't present with findings that warrant a flight, they shouldn't get a flight. Unfortunately, many of the posters here are describing situations where this was the case.

Add to that the NYS BLS protocol which states that if the patient is a high priority, immediately transport. Intercept with ALS enroute. Given that most calls are covered now by ALS, there is no reason to delay ground transport in favor of air transport. That could be an argument for neglect. The protocol also states in several different places not to delay transport so that could be an argument for neglect.

A couple of points of clarification please. When you say "RAD" unit is that a name brand, abbreviation, or radiation detector? With regard to all the CO monitors that are being discussed, particularly with those associated with pulse oximetry or LP-15 (or similar), are these ambient air monitors for CO or for end-tidal CO2 monitoring? Thanks!

More and more air ambulance operators are adding night vision goggles to their operations and it will likely become a requirement in the future (it may be in the draft requirements now). For years it wasn't a requirement (it wasn't even legal for a long time) and many commercial operators balked at the expense. It is about 12K per pair of NVG's and the aircraft modifications can be quite costly. Most medevac pilots are ex-military or law enforcement. Some come from other commercial flight operations (logging, off-shore, etc.) and the minimum entry requirement is in the neighborhood of 2500 hours experience so they're not new.

The accident rate is entirely too high and there are countless studies and report to substantiate that (one such report is linked below). I'm not sure what comparing with ambulance accidents will do for us but suffice it to say the EMS helicopter industry is under an increasingly powerful accountability microscope and federal regulations for them are in the offing. Here's one nugget from one report to Congress: Mechanism of injury is only one criteria to make a transport determination. The PATIENT is more important and their physical condition should be the compelling factor in determining if flight is warranted. Apathy and complacency is not going to address the problem and even the NTSB and FAA are being criticized for moving to slowly to fix things. To deny the problem exists only compounds it. There are some common sense strategies that could help reduce these accidents and increase safety. http://www.gao.gov/n...ems/d09627t.pdf http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=11957 http://www.ihst.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1507&language=en-US http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-10-28-ntsb_N.htm

That's not a camera, it's night vision goggles.

Is this theoretically $7M or actually $7M? How much did their ISO rating change that it impacted their residents so much? If they were a 4 and went to 5 or 6, that's the same grouping so where is this impact? Didn't we talk about ratings being banded in another thread and learn that ISO 1-3 and ISO 4-7 were the groupings most used? Much attention is paid to this and I wholeheartedly agree that it is important but I just wonder if insurance companies are actually banging their customers over the head like this or if it is a potential increase that most don't see. All this attention being paid to the rolling stock but if 10 pieces of apparatus get to a job with 1-2 guys on them, you're still short of the 36+1 you need, right?

We'll settle for either! We're all glad that it worked out OK and they were just a little bit cold and wet (not to mention embarassed). It was a great team effort; thanks to the Croton FD for their hospitality and the Croton PD dispatcher for piecing together all the father's cryptic descriptions of the location. As for our camera, we talked about using the FLIR camera but quickly decided it wasn't worth tying up the crew or risking damage to the VERY expensive camera to try and get our own footage. There are other camera options, including helmet cams, but we don't operate with them at this time. Fireground what?

Absolutely. The same way they can refuse treatments, transport or anything. Providing of course that they're conscious and alert.

What's the big deal? Give everyone a few hours to use the firehouse kitchen to prepare their entry and voila, problem solved. How much worse would it be if everyone got sick from a bad batch of food (and we've all heard cases of that happening in places)? The DOH did it's job. We shouldn't be criticizing them for it.

The discussion was spawned by the LOHUD article and nobody is criticizing Yonkers FD, quite the contrary - most are pointing out the glaring inaccuracies or "misinformation" that is in the article. There is no reason at all to get defensive. Perhaps you could contribute to the discussion instead of criticizing others?

If your IA is a "possible" or "reported" incident, STOP! Do not post it until it is confirmed in accordance with EMTBravo guidelines for an Incident Alert. Over the past few weeks, several members have posted "possible" fires or "reported" incidents. As Truck4 indicates in the thread below, one of the great things about the IA's posted here is their accuracy. Please review the thread by Truck4 linked below if you're going to post an IA: http://www.emtbravo.net/index.php?showtopic=33395 If you have any questions about this, please contact an administrator or moderator. Thank you for your continued support! Chris192

Sorry, I misunderstood you. As I understand it, and I'm not privvy to inside information, the County will have a contract or IMA with the Town and be obligated to maintain certain staffing. If a unit in the Town is pulled for an emergency, I imagine that it will have to be backfilled but that's speculation on my part. It's an interesting evolution and also points to the potential for regionalizing police communications in the county to improve response times, officer safety, etc.

Mutual Aid is governed by a written mutual aid plan that specifies what resources will be sent to any large scale mobilization anywhere in the County. I'm not aware of any revision to that plan as a result of this merger so my guess (and I'm by no means speaking officially or reflecting upon anything more than opinion) is that the response will be the same (some from the Town and some from elsewhere). No community is stripped of resources in a mutual aid response so I suspect that this will continue to be true.