helicopper

There is just as much nepotism and favoritism (if not more) in the private sector! With no exams or civil service protections it is probably worse in the private sector. Rather than strictly basing promotions on a single lucky Saturday, I mean written exam, there should be a more comprehensive approach including the written exam, skills evaluation (if applicable), interviews, and prior job performance. It makes for more well rounded candidates than just the exam. This way the guy who gets an 80 on the written but has high scores in everything else will have just as much of a chance as the test taker who hasn't done anything for the past year because they've been studying for the exam! That really sucks! What can you do??

You guys have facilitated "deliveries" from White Castle! I'm sure you can swing the Hawthorne FD!

I agree, free food is great! So what are you talking about? I think you have to actually BE 5 or under to get the food for free! Not knocking Hawthorne's efforts at all! Just having a little fun!

It is really disheartening to see the future of our respective industries attempting to mimic the cynicism or jaded perspectives of some veteran members of their agencies - or perhaps their own families. How on earth will these people be able to carry out our jobs when we're gone when they have such disdain for the government or agencies, etc. already? This is a really good example of why it's so important to set a good example when training or recruiting or simply interacting with younger members of our agencies.

Hey, Rob, when is this again?

Sits wasting away but still has a current license plate on it... What's up with that?

Lights and siren or not - for many of these vehicles traveling at the speed limit IS too fast! Gross vehicle weights, stopping distances, centers of gravity vs. curves/bank angles, cornering, etc. are all vastly different for a vehicle as heavy and high CG as fire apparatus. But we all think we can do it... The bottom line is - the overwhelming majority of apparatus accidents are caused by operator error and that is something that we can (and SHOULD) be fixing! SLOW DOWN!!!

Absolutely right - street distance doesn't include vertical transport times and traffic. BUT, the reality is where's the second medic during the transport? DRIVING - so how much is he/she really helping the other medic anyway? It will be interesting to see if our local school districts adopt such an approach to their next budget... Or will they simply increase our taxes by 20% instead of 10%. :angry:

Great until the first big pothole!!!

If you can find any more information about such a court decision, please post a citation so others may find it. Would these be the same department chiefs/comissoners who spend 20-30 THOUSAND dollars on an installation dinner? [/sarcasm] So, I guess the FIRE SERVICE was the first group to get a BAILOUT plan, huh?

There are a great many STATE laws that don't apply to cities of 1 million or more because they have different or more stringent CITY laws. It's possible that the City passed a local law on the subject. After all, the city is the 51st State...

Yes and no. In most places it is not a rank but a "designation". Due to issues with promotional processes and inequities, Civil Service did establish a test for it but most agencies don't call it a promotion and use the designation to avoid the testing requirement. I'm just surprised that Middletown will let anyone take that exam...

Very interesting - they allow any police officer to take their exam for detective? You don't have to be a Middletown PO to become a Middletown detective? Quite unusual.

This is very good advice. A legitimate question was asked and many tried to answer it to the best of their ability but some insist on bashing agencies and criticizing other members.

OK, so way back when there was a Town of Stamford (covered by volunteer FD) and a City of Stamford (covered by a career FD), then the Town and City merged but the FD's remained independent and autonomous. Thanks, that makes so much more sense to me!

Forgive an inquiry from a pesky NY'er... Does CT have any type of "home rule" or other legislation that would empower a municipality to develop emergency services protection as necessary for the City/Town and determine its own destiny? Is there an underlying issue that's dragging this out for so long?

That explains where the CH-47's I always see are going! Great resources, time to dust off those old emergency plans and start updating the info!

A tragic accident. Never assume that people know you're the good guys!!

For short distances a CH-47 or similiar helicopter might be able to sling load a container. But a number if issues arise... Where is the nearest Chinook based? Is it available for immediate release to a civil mission such as we're describing? What is the response time? How much weight is in the container? Was it loaded to military specifications and is the crewchief and/or pilot going to accept it if it was loaded by someone else?? Can it be safely transported from its place of storage to where it's needed? I don't know if they will carry a load like that over downtown Stamford/Waterbury etc. By the time all this is worked out it might be faster to drive it. As for fixed wing airlift, again do we have ready access to such resources on short notice? Do we have airports that can accommodate such planes? Not just runway length but taxiways and ramp areas as well. Again, are the loads packed to military standards? yada, yada, yada... Air transport is a great idea but if you talk to other federal teams (FEMA USAR, NDMS DMAT, etc.) there are many issues associated it - many of things carried in your load may be prohibited by the military. Some things may not be allowed in the same containers and that's how you've stored it. I'm not trying to discourage it; I'm just urging those so inclined to make all the necessary arrangements NOW because it may not work out as intended if you don't. It's great that we're discussing it in advance of an incident because someone might actually try to find out the answers to some of the above.

I'm so glad that someone else brought up this point. I was reluctant to for fear of being accused of shameless self promotion and advertising on the site! Seriously though, NYPD could transport a large contingent of specialists from the city, we could transport a smaller group from Westchester, and the State Police could transport a group down from the Albany area so that should definitely be put into the toolbox. Even if a full ground response of a complete team from one of these places isn't warranted, the technical expertise and experience could be used with existing resources to resolve an incident. If a ground response is warranted, air assets could be used to move additional personnel or special equipment (SAR K-9, acoustic or fiberoptic search devices, etc.) to the scene while the heavy equipment is brought in. Great idea. It is great to see people considering non-traditional methods to resolve problems!

I'm not surprised at all. Sadly it is so difficult to recruit, properly train, and retain volunteers that to expect them to add additional responsibilities above and beyond being a FF or an EMS provider is simply unrealistic. It becomes a cost/risk vs. benefit and fortunately there aren't that many incidents requiring one to make the expense (financial and personnel) worthwhile. I'm sure everyone's going to jump on me and say that everyone everywhere needs to be ready for everything all the time hence the propensity for oversized rescues dotting the landscape. But, can you actually train and maintain a team capable of performing these duties in areas such as Dutchess? How about the State team out of Albany? How much work do they actually get?

True but unfortunately in the past standards were not always maintained and people "coasted" through. Hopefully none of them are actively involved in haz-mat responses...

Can anyone say credentialing and resource management? I'm sorry, those pesky NIMS requirements we all try so hard to ignore... Yes, it's great that he got caught but you have to wonder how many times he didn't. http://www.nimsonline.com/docs/credent_faq.pdf

The following was posted in another thread but was off-topic so it is being created here for those who'd like to discuss it.

Tragic! My condolences to his family, colleagues, and friends. RIP.