helicopper

At the October Town Board meeting, Sheryl Luongo, Captain of the PVVAC, announced that the Corps had recently placed a third ambulance in service (34-73). They are the only volunteer EMS agency in the County to operate three ambulances. Congrats to the Putnam Valley VAC on their new addition.

I would be very skeptical about those trucks being operated by Troopers for speed enforcement, especially if they say "H.E.L.P" on them. I doubt most people are going to pull over for them. The NYPD operates HELP trucks in NYC and they are all marked with NYPD logo and letter and they might have vector light bars.

Discussions on the topic of river responses in the winter: http://www.emtbravo.net/index.php?showtopic=29759&view=&hl=Flight%201549&fromsearch=1 http://www.emtbravo.net/index.php?showtopic=29740&view=&hl=Flight%201549&fromsearch=1

The first step might be to define firefighter as one who is fully qualified and stop calling members firefighters until they are. That is until they've completed FF1 or an academy. It's also misleading when a department claims to have 150 members and only 30 are "interior qualified".

What national standard are you referring too? What federal regulation trumps state law on such matters? BTW, if this were true, all police cars would be red/blue front/rear because that's the national standard - but NY doesn't recognize it so it is NOT the law. Please cite your sources. Thanks!

EMTBravo is going to become whatever the membership makes it. Personally, I like the hard discussions about sensitive questions. It shows that we're thinking and we're willing to address things that need our attention. I think we get too wrapped up in WHO said something instead of paying attention to WHAT was said. So what if a career guy questions a volunteer operation or vice versa. So what if an EMS person brings up a law enforcement issue or vice versa. The point is we should be discussing the issues and stop being so sensitive about who said it; the issues are going to be there regardless. Maybe some of these discussions will actually move from the internet to a meeting room somewhere and change will actually become a reality. There are a great many issues that can and should be discussed here. There's simply no reason NOT to do it. Some of what I'd like to see discussed in 2010, if you have a thick enough skin: Response times in FD and EMS Staffing issues across the boards (paid, combo, volunteer, FD, PD, EMS) Capabilities - what can we actually do versus what we claim we can do Consolidation/Regionalization/Partnerships/Cooperatives (whatever you want to call it that will put it on the agenda) Budgets - are we cost-effective? Minimum Standards - training, staffing, etc. The gauntlet has been tossed down! Who's going to pick it up and run with it?

I'd just like to point something out that is completely off topic but entirely relevant to the site. How many posts in this thread call for "something to be done", "close this", "delete this" (post or thread", etc.? Yet the staff is criticized for doing it's job and moderating and big words like "censorship" are batted about. Pick your poison! Either we're going to endure threads that make you mad or simply shake your head and get over it or we're going to become so politically correct that nothing ever gets discussed. Someone asked what EMTBravo is becoming and that question is flawed. It should be what are you contributing to EMTBravo. This site is about the membership and all these discussions are YOURS. Some of them get heated and some are more critical than others but that's the price we pay, we take the good, the bad, and the ugly. And for those of you who think it's funny to speculate on how long a thread or post is going to last, ask yourselves how you'd like it if you were a moderator on this site?

I thought that they were managed/overseen by DOT and dispatched/coordinated by the State Police? Since when do HELP trucks have sirens? Unless the law has been changed, the lighting scheme (and sirens if they have them) on the trucks is illegal as they are not defined emergency vehicles in the law. On 87/287/95 they may fall under Thruway Authority regulations and there may be a provision for different lighting but that still doesn't trump the law does it? INIT, do you know under what authority they have red/white lights?

The "A-team" is short for Apprehension Team and will work work with special units for scheduled warrant executions so as not to tie up street units on these details. It also affords them the time to plan for the warrant executions and to train, train, train as noted above. The HAMR teams are the haz-mat response teams who go on all the white powder jobs and other such things. The Hercules patrols are the counter-terrorism details that pop up randomly for both counter-surveillance and deterrence.

Thank you for that!

On what do you base this statement? Red and white lights are addressed in the NYS VTL (Section 375-41) and there is no distinction about the direction they're facing.

Follow the guidance from the DOH EMS Program and your agency's SOP for such a designation. The DOH Policy Statement is attached for your review...05-02.pdf

A few? It is just a top 10 list, right?

I believe that it's usually two but there may be additional ESU resources assigned to the same response area (HAMR, Hercules, A-Team, etc.). Of course last night there were probably four given the holiday and crowds.

Hopefully this will be what's needed and won't only be one more thing they give up as the City continues to slash from essential services.

Too bad there's no national EMS agency or cabinet member to jump on this and cite the EMS system as the for the reduction in murders because as ALS points out, assaults certainly aren't decreasing!

I'd just like to point out that this flight did not originate within the US and therefore security was not under the purview of the TSA. Security at almost all international airports is comparable but the screening failure in this case was not the fault of the US. Other issues, like the warning from the terrorists father himself, are of greater concern and should be addressed. All the hype about improving and streamlining the exchange of intel after 9/11 were rhetoric because all that changed is the size and complexity of the bureaucracy. At some point we have to decide what security is going to mean and what we will do to achieve it. The debate over civil liberties and screening/security is absurd. If you don't want to submit to screening, drive yourself to Disney or whereever you're going! You shouldn't be allowed on the flight with all who do submit to the required security procedures. On the subject of terrorism, how about discussing the President's use of the word suspect instead of terrorist or combatant and his insistence that we expend millions of dollars to try them in civilian courts, like New York City. The costs and security implications of this are mind boggling and yet we're willing to incur this expense. Why?

My two cents: It's a great tool and definitely has a place in law enforcement. Like any other less lethal option, it has risks associated with it. The bottom line is if a Taser has to be deployed, someone isn't listening!!!

It will probably be deemed inappropriate to have spent 27K on pencils, magnets, and lollipops when you need 13K for a new boiler in the firehouse. The article is very short on facts so we'll have to wait and see but in the interim, how many pencils and lollipops do you get for 27K? How many people live in the district?

It's not censorship, it's management of the site. One topic has been specifically identified as problematic and it wasn't because of passionate, intelligent discussion about a controversial topic. It was because the thread had become nothing more than a rant about certain agencies that was 100% counterproductive. I am one of the staunchest advocates for letting discussions go even when they become controversial or empassioned but this particular thread was no longer controversial, it was over the line. Consider this a "cooling off" period and we will go back to our regular programming of discussions shortly. As for how members are dealt with in situations like this, that is between the offending member and the administration of the site. We will not discuss such actions publicly. Rest assured that appropriate action is taken in all cases.

Before anyone cries "censorship", there's a very good reason for this action. It was brought on by some slanderous and outright criminal comments have been made lately. It is one thing to be opinionated (not that I'd know anything about that ) but it is completely another to outright bash people and agencies for the sole purpose of inciting animus toward them. We really need to find an outlet for hostility besides this forum! Perhaps a dart league or something (oh wait, sharp objects that won't work). Lighten up, everyone!

Interrupted residential burglary of a house in Mt Pleasant. The astute homeowner was able to get the plate number and units responded to the address for the vehicle (in Greenburgh) ahd arrived as it was being hidden in the garage. Three suspects apprehended inside the residence, proceeds from burglary(s) recovered and investigation ongoing. The job in Yonkers was another reported burglary in progress but happily that one turned out to be nothing. Very busy for a Monday night.

The full Comptroller's report is available here: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/firedists/2009/nyack.pdf

Another year draws to an end and as we prepare to start 2010, it would be nice to know what the membership would like to see on EMTBravo in 2010. Post your ideas, comments, suggestions, and issues if you have any and we'll see what we can do to make them happen in the new year. 2009 was a good year with the roll-out of the new software and all the features it has but it is the membership that makes this forum what it is so, let's hear it! If you don't want to post your ideas or comments, feel free to PM them to me or someone else on the staff. Thanks and happy new year!

First off, do you have a cable modem already? If not, Cablevision will have to install one so you have the internet access. From there you have the option to build a wireless network with a router (Linksys and Netgear are good manufacturers) from Staples, BestBuy, CompUSA or somewhere similar?