helicopper

I can't speak to this one as it predates my service with the County. Could be true, could also be the lore that is the historic rivalry between the old Parkway PD and Sheriff's Office. I'm happy to hear that some people don't mind the helicopter noise! The Westchester County PD Aviation Unit was proposed many times through the 80's and early 90's but it wasn't until 1994 that all the stars aligned, ducks were in a row, and the moon was green (or whatever it took) and we acquired a helicopter. As you probably know it was a small military surplus observation helicopter and the unit became operational on July 1, 1995. At that time the unit had two pilots assigned, one a military pilot with oodles of experience and the other a fledgling pilot trained by the Department. They worked one shift and had a shoestring budget for fuel, maintenance, etc. As time went on and as they gained experience and the word spread about the unit, the two pilots split to cover two shifts but assigning a tactical flight officer (TFO) to do all the police work was a challenge. Budgets were tight, layoffs threatened, and personnel were quite a commodity so the unit languished for several years with no major changes. In 2003, I was assigned to the unit and a couple of years later a fourth unit member was added so we had two crews covering two shifts. Operating only one helicopter (and an old one at that) was a challenge and flight time was "budgeted" to avoid maintenance during the busy summer season. Unfortunately when maintenance/inspections were due the unit was essentially out of service. That hurt the units rapport with local PD's because we were often unavailable when needed. We always lobbied for a new helicopter and were proverbially shot down until 2005 when a bunch of different things came together and enabled us to acquire a brand new Bell 407. It became operational in November 2006. That changed our operation dramatically and expanded our mission capabilities greatly. We are now able to downlink video to ground stations (a work still in progress), aid in fire suppression with a bambi-bucket, perform some rescue work, insert tactical operators and/or rescue personnel, ferry disaster supplies, etc., etc. Our two original pilots retired in 2007 and 2008 so we suffered with the loss of their flight experience but benefited from an infusion of new personnel and a change in philosophy; rather than being reactive and waiting for calls we are now proactive and respond with ground units whenever possible. Thanks to the support of our Commissioner and the Chiefs/Commissioners of many local jobs in the County this has been a tremendous success. We now arrive with or very often before ground units. Today we have two pilots, a third in training, two tactical flight officers (TFOs) (one of whom is a mechanic) so we will again be expanding our coverage to two tours. Hopefully if things continue to develop we may be able to further expand coverage in the future. I bet you're regretting asking a question after reading all this, arent' ya? The helicopter does have a map system that provides near pinpoint accuracy on addresses and the crews know much of the County so some addresses don't even require the map. From the aerial perspective, we can also cover an entire block so knowing the exact house isn't always a concern. Next time you see a Legislator or the County Executive make sure you tell them how happy you are about having aviation around. Times are tough and we can use all the positive feedback we can get! If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'll be more than happy to make up an answer! Happy Easter

Just like in Sixth Sense, "I see stupid people, they're everywhere". Don't be so surprised by stupidity or inattentive drivers. They truly are everywhere. "Placed under arrest"? Really? Perhaps they should have received a summons but arrest is a little bit much and given the storms and record breaking rain fall don't you think the police were a little bit preoccupied with other duties?

Could be random or based upon a complaint. There may also be routine examinations of records that trigger an audit when inconsistencies are detected.

More coverage: http://statter911.com/2010/03/30/elderly-man-killed-by-stolen-paramedic-vehicle-police-had-been-trying-to-stop-video-details-from-vineland-new-jersey/ http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Stolen-Paramedic-Truck-Crashes-Kills-Innocent-Victim.html http://www.app.com/article/20100330/NEWS05/100330106/Stolen-paramedic-vehicle-kills-Vineland-motorist http://www.nbc40.net/view_story.php?id=12740 http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2010/03/paramedic_truck_stolen_in_fran_1.html And sadly reports are that the keys were left in the vehicle making this a completely avoidable incident.

Well, NJ statutes are different from NY but he has already been charged with murder. I'm sure that a laundry list of other charges is forthcoming including (but not limited to), grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, felony evading, etc., etc., etc. As for any charges based upon the fact that the vehicle was an EMS fly-car "that could be used to save a life", I don't think there are any such charges - at least in NYS. They might be able to sustain criminal possession of controlled substances for the drugs on board but that's quite a stretch. And I have to agree with INIT, it is doubtful that this guy will do life or anything close.

Why post this? Because it highlights the fact that nobody, not even volunteer fire or EMS agencies, is above the law and even these agencies must be operated like a business. Nobody's accusing anyone of corruption, just pointing out that we have to be just as diligent with financial and business practices as firematic operations. There are in every community those who will question the budgets of emergency services, especially now. To have an audit with many inconsistencies and omissions only gives them a bigger soapbox from which to sound off. Given the economy and all the other issues we face, now is not the time to be pointed out as not following the rules.

Thanks. That policy statement speaks to AED's and epinephrine but doesn't mention 12-lead EKG's at all. I looked through all the policy statements and don't see it mentioned anywhere. Can anyone cite a policy statement or regulation for this requirement?

Wow, seems like the politicians are really gambling with their constituents lives and property. Not unlike the local issues we've been having.

That's one of the problems with these types of forums, sarcasm isn't so apparent in the written word. Agreed, they're not firefighters and should all be in jail.

What does that translate into? About 15 firefighters per shift? How many are no duty in Mt. Vernon or any of our other smaller cities these days? Yes, it is quite an inference but it is also highly suspect that this many suspicious fires would break out immediately after such an announcement. There is very likely a correlation between the two. This isn't an inference; it's an out that out accusation that I think is inappropriate. Statistically speaking there have been a disturbing number of wannabe firefighters (note, I am not calling them firefighters because we all know that true firefighters don't start them) responsible for arson fires. I would be very disturbed and disappointed if any Flint firefighters were actually involved in this mayhem.

Hang on, am I reading this right? The bank actually put a bag of money on the floor? If the bank did that I'd have to give them a stupidity award too! They could have just as easily have locked the doors and left a "gone fishing" sign on the door or even better yet, given them the address to the jail to pick up their money. Then the cops wouldn't even have to transport them.

Yeah, yeah... I want numbers prominently displayed on ROOFTOPS. And while we're at it, we need to standardize roof numbers on police cars. Some are too small to see on the ground let alone from 1000 feet.

I don't know which county you're referring too so I'm only referring to Westchester County and its police force. Some counties may have police districts (not unlike fire or EMS districts) so their funding and organization may be different. I'm not sure what you mean by the County PD fund the roads you drive on??? According to the Westchester County budget for 2010, the cost of Public Safety, Corrections, and Courts is 12.9% of the total budget. The Department of Public Safety (County Police) is 2.1% of that (7.2% is Corrections, the largest share of this subgroup). By contrast, social services is almost ONE THIRD of the County tax (31.7% to be exact) or almost 600 MILLION dollars. Summonses and arrests on the parkway system do generate revenue but that goes exclusively to the local communities and the State; with the exception of a portion of DWI fees/surcharges the County PD doesn't see any of the revenue it generates from enforcement activities. I'm not sure if you're implying that the County PD "bills" local communities for its services (Bomb Squad, Aviation, K-9, Crime Scene, etc.). If you are the answer is categorically NO. You're paying for the services already via the County tax so no local community receives a bill for services. Getting back to the underlying issue here, the proposed legislation should be a concern to all taxpayers. We're giving another special interest group another loophole to avoid paying taxes on income (however slight). This will have to be made up somewhere and will undoubtedly cause tax increases elsewhere. In fact, without seeing proof to the contrary, I suspect that the intended beneficiary will be hurt as much or more than they're helped because they'll be taxed more on their primary income. Would you be as defensive if we said that there would be more loopholes to reduce the tax burden on corporate big-shots? Simply put this is the same thing - special rules for special interests. Taxes are a disaster because of these and other inequities. To say that this legislation should be passed because there are other bad tax rules is like saying two wrongs make a right. We have to overhaul the whole system so we shouldn't be adding to the problem now. Fix it, fix it right, fix it once and for all. This is an interesting discussion so let's not start attacking each other for divergent viewpoints. Agree to disagree and fight the issues not each other.

I don't know about Canada but here in my little corner of the world the police were doing extrications before most fire departments. Only a small number of fire departments had hydraulic tools at the time. Times have changed and it has swung the other way but there are still a lot of places where the police perform extrications.

Tis the season again. Please remember this guideline when posting about brush fires. Thanks!!

Perhaps this is why it wasn't widely posted already. The speculation and rabble rousing in this thread is unbelievable. Does the Yonkers FD consult with the PD before buying equipment or vehicles, probably not because they have their mission and the PD has theirs. You're all calling it a "rescue" but it will be a POLICE emergency services vehicle and provide TACTICAL support (among other things) to the smaller trucks already in service in the city. This thread is a prime example of why people don't want to post things here. (shaking head)

See, we're reading jjb's comments two different ways. I read it as EMT's without sound clinical judgement are misinterpreting the patient presentation and applying the wrong treatment regime. He's not saying these EMT's are being taught to do it wrong; they're not being given enough information to do it right. At least that's how I read it. Either that or I worked with those same EMT's.

I was an EMS instructor from 1988 to 2006 and can tell you first-hand that the curriculum was dumbed down and does not properly provide the foundation to prospective EMT's. The watered down curriculum does indeed contribute to the quality because it is difficult for an instructor to raise the bar when the student can say "but that isn't in the curriculum, why is that required"? And agencies and even EMS course sponsors try to do the bare minimum required (probably an economic concern) and don't encourage more, more, more. Quite the contrary, in fact. You completely missed the point that was being made in the posts about the recipes and calls where EMT's without sound clinical judgement simply followed protocol blindly (without consideration of the altered mental status or nature of the chief complaint). This is not an isolated incident and I'm sure many more EMT's and paramedics can tell similar stories. I also think that there is a reliance on ALS by some BLS providers who are unwilling to perform an appropriate assessment and initiate treatment even on BLS calls. That's not entirely a training issue but rather a system issue and one that's been discussed here before. That you know the protocols and recognize that the treatments initiated were inappropriate speaks well of you and your training. Sadly we've all got negative experiences that we can point to illustrating the other extreme.

I don't think they are failures of the ICS, I think they're failures to implement the system properly and effectively. If you go back to my original post on the topic I said that using ICS is more than just designating an IC and Safety Officer. We don't use the system to its full potential. You can by all means have a resource unit leader without a full planning section or even a Planning Section Chief. There's no reason not to if you're worried about accountability and tracking of resources. In addition to ICS, NIMS also includes resource management as a key component so between ICS and NIMS there is a great deal of discussion about it. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying that we can do better with ICS implementation and use the process more effectively because it isn't a failure of the system. It works on major incidents so it should definitely work on the average sized ones.

This thread and the accompanying linked audio highlights the point and also shows quite a few other issues. http://www.emtbravo.net/index.php?showtopic=36137

Chris, I'm missing your point. Are you saying that the plausible scenarios posed by bnechis are "what if's" that take the discussion to an illogical conclusion? I don't think so. I think we have paper plans that are nothing more than that - paper. There are many benefits to a tag system but only as a part of a greater overall accountability and resource management system. If you get a mayday from within a burning structure and are holding a ring full of tags, what do you do? What does that ring full of tags tell you?

EMS instructors are usually hourly employees or they are full-time staff at the training facility where they teach. EMS course sponsors receive a nominal stipend for each new EMT certified that is associated with a volunteer EMS agency. Non-affilated and/or commercial candidates receive no state aid. The cost of the course far and away exceeds what the reimbursement is from the state. As far as EMT skills go, new EMT's are weak because they receive inadequate/superficial training. THAT is because the curriclum is written as a bare minimum and includes virtually no real time for any practical experience. It is nearly impossible to meet all the instructional objectives in the time allotted and when you go over, people complain that the course is too long. Supposed EMS associations have fought tooth and nail against increases to the curriculum because it is too cumbersome for volunteers. To that I cry foul because I don't want inadequately trained responders coming to my house for my family. EMT's have to recognize that they are healthcare professionals and that requires a commitment to training. THAT will correct the problems that you cite but it will entail more hours being edjumukated. Too many people just want the patch and don't focus on the training.

The IC shouldn't be accounting for or tracking individual resources unless it is a very small incident. The Safety Officer isn't the guy who should be standing at the door collecting tags because he's then not doing fulfilling any of the other duties and responsibilties of the Safety Officer. Sounds to me like we need to start turning pages in the ICS books, getting past the IC and command staff, and start using positions like status check-in recorders, staging area managers, and perhaps most important resource unit leader. On every greater alarm fire in NYC a battalion chief is assigned as resource unit leader and on really big jobs they roll out an entire incident management team to support the operation. There's no good reason for us not to do something similar. We bastardize terms from ICS and NIMS to suit egos and attitudes or just because "we've always done it that way". As bnechis points out, we need to know more than just who is on scene. It's high time we start walking the walk instead of just talking the talk.

I think it is very telling that the majority of topics listed by people for additional training are "operations" related and only receive cursory coverage in the State curriculum (5 hours for all of it). This superficial attention should cause EMS agencies to spend substantially more time on these topics during new hire orientations/field training (and volunteers are "new hires" too). Two whole hours in the curriculum are dedicated to haz-mat awareness. It receives even less time in the refresher so it is entirely appropriate to focus on such subjects in continuing education programs.

Please cite the source of this requirement. Thanks.