helicopper

So what's the issue anyway? Is it that we now have to take steps to protect our personnel operating at highway incidents or is it that there are few (if any) compliant garments out there? It seems to me that $40 or $100 for a compliant garment is pretty cheap insurance to minimize the risk of becoming a hood ornament. The thread has been off on a couple of tangents already, let's try to stay on topic. If you have points related to other topics brought up here, please start a new thread. Thanks!

Where is it broken down so simply? While it does sound a lot like common sense, I'd love to have the reference for future use. Also, it seems as though you're contradicting yourself here. Could you please cite the "rules" to which you're referring?

Interesting topic. I've never seen rifles or shotguns carried by DOC members inside a medical facility but I'm sure there are those rare case by case exceptions (as already described). As for EMS getting some kind of special training to deal with prisoner transports, I think the best thing you can do is simply be the "ambulance driver" in those cases. Odds are the prisoner knows who the cops/CO's are/are not and you'd only be asking for trouble by intervening during an escape attempt or other incident. Two things come immediately to mind... "Feet don't fail me now" and "Yes, sir. No, sir". One of those two options is probably better than your family finding out that your "training" was inadequate and how ridiculous the LODD benefits for EMS are.

Careful Jack! Don't use "scare tactics" - only 10 of the fatalities were APPARATUS accidents where seatbelts were a factor. I mean really, only 10 deaths, what's the big deal? [/end sarcasm] Even one preventable death is entirely too many. If we were able to reduce the fatalities from preventable accidents there could have been as much as 1/3 fewer fatalities last year and that would be the start of a great trend, don't you think? Look at how many of these factors can be engineered out in the future! Speed, driver inexperience, seatbelt use, driver inattention, failure to yield, drug use - are all preventable factors. Better driver training, adherence to policies (like no vehicles move if seatbelts are not on) and supervision by officers/chiefs could have a profound impact on all this. There most certainly can be litigation based upon the apparatus operator ignoring the fact that people weren't restrained prior to operating the vehicle and supervisors are most certainly accountable for the actions of their subordinates. To simply dismiss it does everyone a great disservice. While you may not be a fan of scare tactics... When all else fails... Entirely too many lives are being wasted in stupid accidents to worry about the statistics.

Ouch! That's really sad. OLM ran a great EMS program and an even better training program - do you know if they're still teaching EMT courses down there? They were one of the first in this area to build an ambulance simluator to give students the sense of what working in the back of an ambulance was really like. It was even profiled in JEMS (I believe). RIP OLM*EMS - a real loss for EMS in our area.

This may prove to be a problem because junk or not municipal property can not just be "given away". There are procedures that need to be followed for the disposal of anything bought with government funds.

It's the same shell game that the County plays. To illustrate, there are 20 posts but only 15 cops so 5 posts get filled by OT. This is because the elected officials (the same one's who complain about the OT) won't fund the additional positions required to staff all 20 posts on straight time. They say benefits and salaries are too expensive so they won't hire more full-time people while they keep writing the OT checks for people to pull double duty!

I believe that there is a law that requires police officers to reside within the State of New York. Until recently, it would have been an issue for police officers to carry a firearm in another state and I know that New Jersey still has restrictions about ammunition that can be carried. I'll try to find the legislation for citation...

How about taking the two people you're referring too and put them BOTH in an AMBULANCE. Problem solved. As for the issue of a response area being too large for a single staffed ambulance I'd submit that the response time across "town" will be comparable if not better than waiting for the 3rd, 4th or 5th agency to get toned out on mutual aid and respond. The bottom line is we need AMBULANCES on the road, not more fly-cars. Illegal is a bit strong. The County could operate an EMS system using the municipal "exemption" to the CON process or simply act as the facilitator of service on a regional basis for the existing agencies. Much like a "contract" servce would do it, no? For all those who already think the County is unncessary, you could have a consortium created to oversee the "system" and manage this process for you.

Without rehashing all the points that have been addressed last year and again now, let me say the following. The responsibility for insuring that the service mandated by the agency charter rests with the Boards and Officers of the agencies involved. To knowingly ignore staffing problems and allow mutual aid to cover their shortcomings is a failure of MANAGEMENT. It is not a failure of vehicles or the membership. If A-VAC, B-VAC, C-VAC, and D-VAC all rostered a crew from 0600-1800 on weekdays, it would be immediately apparent when they wouldn't get out immediately. If these four VAC's took their respective rosters and agreed to staff a single ambulance on those weekdays they could cover the majority of their calls. Monday - Driver A / EMT B Tuesday - Driver B / EMT C Wednesday - Driver C / EMT A Thursday - Driver D / EMT D Friday - Driver B / EMT A Voila, covered. Throwing a new BLS fly-car out there won't solve the problem with management nor will it insure that the victim gets transported. BLS agencies number one concern should be transportation so if you want to do it, put the people in an ambulance and call it a fly-car. That way somebody's bringing a stretcher to the scene!

Granted it looks pretty bad and the officer's description seems to be contradicted by the video, but I'm reserving judgement. There's another set of videos out there that shows a police involved shooting - one video paints a pretty bleak picture and appears to be completely unjustified but when you see the other video you see the suspect firing a weapon at police right before he's shot. While I'm not suggesting that's the case here, one video does not a conviction make.

It'll take some kind of tragedy in one of these non-rated or poorly rated (ISO) communities before anyone steps up and tries to do anything about it. Sad but probably true.

Hudson, does that mean each guy working the shift gets one? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you got them but wouldn't it be even better to add more FF? Of course that won't be funded by a foundation it has to come from the city. Never mind, I answered my own question!

Does it also bother you when an ambulette bears the name of it's parent ambulance service? Not an ambulance, but has the name... A name is just a name.

I was with a new OFPC employee yesterday who is in fear of losing his job so I think the outlook is rather bleak.

I'm aware of no state law, regulation, or other provision that would compel or require any off-duty EMS provider to stop and render aid. There are so many variables that could come into play here that it would be impossible to enforce. For example, an EMT driving home with his two toddlers in the car comes upon an accident scene. Does he stop and leave his small children unattended in a vehicle? If this were the case I imagine we'd see far fewer MD license plates out there since they're licensed healthcare providers. It is a very interesting question though.

No it won't happen here but objective and reasonable discussion here can enable those not directly involved with the incident to learn from it anyway. That's one of the main reasons for this sites existence.

Is there a legal interpretation regarding this situation that you can post? Is there a website from such an attorney that you can link us to? Sounds very very fishy to me. Were this the case, there would probably be much more discussion about it somewhere.

If you stop your personal vehicle and render assistance while off-duty you could also transfer care to another BLS provider who is the primary provider for that area. You do not have to transfer care to only a higher level of certification. If you're a paramedic, you're only operating as an EMT in such a scenario and also wouldn't have to wait for ALS to turn over care. Whoever is "on-duty" and arrives gets 'em. If you're in a marked vehicle you'd better abide by the rules and regulations of the agency who owns and operates the vehicle. If you're in the station, you better find out what the rules are. Personally, if there's no rule and I can sit and watch the big screen TV whle others respond to calls then its time to update the SOP! As for abandonment, unless you have had established a patient care relationship with the victim abandonment would not apply. You stop, drop an airway in an unconscious victim and leave 'cause you have tickets to the game = abandonment. I'm also under the impression that Good Samaritan Laws only apply to the lay public but its been a really long time since I've researched that and could be wrong. If anyone has any citations to the laws that apply to cases like this please post them so we can back up the discussion with facts. "I heard" doesn't cut it and as good as many instructors may be, erroneous information does get out there. Future posts citing a law or referencing an official regulation will be deleted if they are not backed up by a citation or reference to the source. The last thing we want is someone to use as their defense "But on EMTBravo it said..."

Yup, I was the guy holding the really big flashlight.

You're gonna have to enlighten us a little bit more as to why you felt that way... What made it so awful from the dispatcher's persective?

Well said!

Risk of Death from Conducted Energy Devices An expert panel of medical professionals found no decisive evidence of a high risk of death or serious injury from the direct effects of Tasers and other Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs). The panel's interim report said the risk of a death or serious injury is low when police use Tasers against healthy adults. Certain groups of people may be at much higher risk of injury or death from Tasers. These groups include children, the elderly, pregnant women and people who have heart disease. Police officers should avoid the use of Tasers against these populations unless the situation excludes other choices. The Justice Department is aware of more than 300 cases of Americans dying after Tasers were used against them. Some were normal, healthy adults. Others had medical conditions such as heart disease, mental illness or chemical dependencies. Review a summary and background information related to the report. Read the full interim report, Deaths Following Electro-Muscular Disruption (pdf, 21 pages). The panel expects to release a final report in 2009.

Empress is the contract EMS provider for Yonkers. Semantics, yes?

There's an Empress ambulance right behind the Greenburgh TRT truck.