helicopper

General questions: Did anyone actually do this for the utilities or was this just a request that was floated to see if assistance was readily available locally? If a fire department was requested to send fire police and they "activated" them to assist, would they or would they not be covered by their department? Are fire police also interior firefighters? I was under the impression that most (if not all) were not interior qualified and this was their way of staying involved and remaining active. Would activating the fire police really create a drain on fire suppression personnel?

Interesting. Does this apply to regular wires down calls not associated with a storm such as Sandy? Is this what you were referencing? Not to go off on a tangent but "fundraising" is considered line of duty???? http://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/firefighters/VFAW_inthelineofduty.jsp

Using that reasoning why are we providing "mutual aid" to fire departments on Long Island? It's a long-term disaster, not a short term emergency job yet we're sending dozens of crews down there two weeks later. Double standard??

If they are assigned to traffic direction/control by their department and that is a duty/mission of the fire police, I would expect that they're covered. Why is it any different than other wires/trees down call? Considering some of the incidents that are labeled "line of duty", I think this is appropriate and well within the scope of their duties.

Is all the equipment reprogrammed and adjusted for the narrowband? If you're still using hardware that has not been reprogrammed it may sound distorted.

Is that IMAC or EMAC (Emergency Management Assistance Compact)?

Another unthinkable tragedy. RIP, brothers!

On the incident management front: NYS IMT2 - Nassau County FDNY IMT2 - NYC FEMA Region 2 IMAT - Albany (State EOC) FEMA Red - NJ (red, white and blue are FEMA national teams) FEMA White - NJ FEMA Blue - NYC FEMA Region 4 (two teams), 9, and 10 all operating in NY. FEMA Region 7 in NJ FEMA Region 8 in CT NIMO teams are also on the ground in NY and NJ supporting management efforts. Additional type 3 teams are in the metro area or enroute to add depth to the management organizations already established or being established. For perspective, there are currently multiple type 1 incidents ongoing in the NYC metropolitan area. There are tens of thousands of individual "responders" in thousands of resources operating across the tri-state area and down the east coast. This is, by far, the largest and most complex incident in this area in modern history. On the USAR front: Indiana, Missouri, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Tennessee and Virginia TF-2 FEMA USAR task forces operating in NY. Virginia TF-1 and Ohio FEMA USAR task forces operating in NJ. Situational Snapshots:

They started out white but the city cut funding in the budget for keeping them clean so now they're just so dirty they look black.

Most of the stations that I went to had power but ran out of product. The storm's disruption of the deliveries and barge traffic really took its toll.

I wonder if they would have done this if we weren't four days away from a presidential election.

Now that's what I call mutual aid! Gotta love our armed forces and their capabilities!

Common sense finally prevails! Thank goodness.

Just some random thoughts from the peanut gallery: - Even if the marathon pays the overtime, the issue is the number of available police officers and where they are coming from. The Police Commissioner serves at the pleasure of the mayor. You can't tell him he's wrong too often and keep your job. - For years they have developed the minimum number of police officers that can make the marathon safe and protect citizens and runners alike. These officers are supplemented by RoadRunner volunteers. To suggest that these officers can be replaced (two days before the event) with boy scouts is absurd and I hope that CERT members are already helping their neighbors. - The private ambulances and volunteers are already committed to EMS operations in the City, for FEMA contracts, and other responsibilities. This is one of the problems. We count on the same resources in different plans and different roles and then when confronted by a disaster, we need them in two (or more) places at the same time. - "Stretched thin"? Are you kidding? Resources are stretched thin on a good day. They've altered the work schedules of the entire NYPD to support the Sandy response. There's day to day 911 calls, the Hurricane Sandy response, counter-terrorism (remember the plot they just thwarted to blow-up buildings in NYC?), and providing gas station security (a new responsibility thanks to the current crisis). They cancel days off to staff the marathon in a regular year and this is anything but that. - The city and state can cancel the race. They tell them they can't use the bridges, the roadways, and Central Park. Voila, problem solved. - The money isn't the only issue. There is also the perception that people are running a road race just a few blocks away from people who are suffering through the worst natural disaster to hit our area in a century. That's the issue. One last point. They keep saying that they ran the race in 2001. There's a big difference between 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy. The terrorist attacks were extremely focused and fatal. Sandy was more widespread and caused more suffering than fatalities (I hope and pray). There are tens of thousands of people in the dark, with no water, heat, or sewers. No food, no clothes, no shelter. It was also about 8 weeks later. Not six DAYS later. Postpone it. What's the harm in that?

Some info from the frontlines... I will post more as conditions permit.

Poll added to this thread.

All, please abide by our site guidelines for posting (especially photos/articles that are copyrighted) and providing citations for information reported here. Some amazing fallacies have been posted here and subsequently deleted. Remember, we only post CONFIRMED information. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation, The EMTBravo web team.

Article + Photos: http://www.columbiapage.com/id944.html Just a note about this from lessons learned last year during the response to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee... If you accept a 72 hour assignment, it is a 72 hour assignment. You can't do 12 hours and then say you're going home or worse, just leave without checking with anyone. This happened several times despite very clear communications during the polling and mobilization. Also, you may be assigned to a staging area during your 72 hours. It is critical to maintain adequate resources levels and resource reserves during events like this so if you think standing by in staging isn't an important role in this response, STAY HOME!!! The attittudes we got from some people who couldn't comprehend what a ready reserve force meant was mind-boggling.

First and foremost track every expense - even personnel time whether career or volunteer. Then have your chief or commissioners contact your local office of emergency management and find out how to submit that documentation to them so it can be included in the official submission for reimbursement. You may be able to recoup about 75% of eligible expenses but that is ONLY with proper and complete documentation. If you don't have the documentation you're going to be out of luck. The local states of emergency don't do anything for disaster aid. The FEDERAL declarations are what pave the way to reimbursements.

Flooding and storm surge is being described as substantially worse than for a category 1 storm. Severe flooding all over the city. High tide on the Long Island Sound in the next hour or two will result in more flooding in Westchester and Fairfield. Stay safe everyone!

The storm that hit in 1938 was a category 5. Sandy is barely a category 1. I think Hollie needs to check her information. That doesn't sound right at all!

The staging or mobilization area for Long Island is at Republic Airport in Farmingdale. Many assets are being held there until the storm passes and operations can commence. All the personnel on the island have the potential to be victims as well so this is a prudent step for preparedness. I'm sure there are additional resources remaining in all the counties providing mutual aid so there are no gaps in coverage. Better to have extra resources on the island than have to wait 2-3 hours for them to "respond" there.

As the metro area braces for the arrival of Sandy, state and federal preparations are ongoing to support local efforts. Federal Incident Management Teams (IMT) are on the ground or enroute, the State team is preparing to deploy as soon as it is clear where exactly it is needed, and other incident support assets are requested, responding, or staging as we speak. With storm surge potentially reaching severe levels, this has the potential to be a long and drawn out recovery. Pace yourselves and remember you don't do anyone any good when you pass out from exhaustion. Hey, Barry, you may not need the crane to get the boat off the top of R-4. Just park it outside!!! Stay safe everyone!

If the evacuation is mandatory and people still refuse, consult with law enforcement. They may compel the person to leave and/or take them into custody (for either a mental health evaluation or to remove them from the hazard area depending on the circumstances). You may not be able to force someone to evacuate but if it's a mandatory evacuation order, there are legal mechanisms that can assist you. The permenant marker suggestion has been around for years but it doesn't help you get people out of the area when they're being stubborn and/or stupid.

Congratulations and good luck, Detective! A story about a true hero that makes us all proud and demonstrates what the thin blue line is REALLY all about! I hope you wind up in a great assignment when your recovery is complete! I'm just happy this promotion wasn't made posthumously.