AFS1970

I must admit I am curious about something here on EMTBravo, if someone doesn’t really want to know the answer to a question, why bother even asking it? Recently there was a topic that was apparently so important that it warranted a mass e-mail inviting members to read and reply to it. This thread was called “If We Don't Talk About It, Is It Not A Problem?” Apparently it was not about a problem, because when people started talking about it, the forum staff closed the thread and suppressed or deleted all the replies. Wow, now there is a way to foster free and open discussion. Even the edited post keeps the phrase: “We're curious to know something.” But apparently not curious enough to care about the answer unless it is the predetermined acceptable answer. As the Seth can attest to, I have complained about things like this in the past, but usually via PM. I generally prefer the PM because in most cases I don’t think public complaining about the forums is all that productive. But this is one of the rare cases where I think we all need to get things out in the open; we do need to talk about it, so that it does not become a festering problem. I’m not sure why anyone would tell there members not to post on these forums, although there is a minor concern that something a member posts could be misinterpreted as the opinion of the agency. Most of us here are grown up enough to know the difference. I too think the lurkers should participate, but for whatever reason they do not. Hopefully one day they will see a thread worth replying on, and make their first post, and hopefully that post will survive so others can read it. Why do people keep things to themselves, because far too often legitimate replies get lumped in with other peoples rule violations and inane comments, then a whole thread is closed for being hostile. I realize that this is a privately owned and operated site. However falling back on the argument that it is my sandbox and I make the rules is the exact opposite of the concept that ended the post in question: “USE THIS FORUM AS A COMMUNICATIONS TOOL, THAT'S WHAT IT'S HERE FOR!!!” As mush as I enjoy posting here and I have actually learned a thing or two, I sometimes wonder if this really is the valuable communication tool it is supposed to be. I am sure that this thread will be closed or deleted, so not that many members will see it; I may even get suspended for this one, who knows. I do not regret making my personal opinion known.

My post was not about being dissatisfied, it was about being curious. I had a question, which I asked. Other members also asked the same question. So I guess it was at the very least as legitimate as any other question asked on the forums. My post was not meant as a personal attack or taunt against any individual. If it was taken that way, then that was the misinterpretation here. My statement about this thread getting locked or deleted was very pertinent to the discussion at hand and not meant as any kind of open challenge to anyone. I have never said I could run this site at all, better or worse than it is currently run. I have complimented the Moderators before, in other threads. I have also, as you invited, contacted you with concerns, and occasionally made suggestions. As with every member here has the right to do with every post here, you are free to utilize or disregard my suggestions as you see fit. I had thought that offering each other proposed solutions to issues was one of the hallmarks of this site, I will stop. I do not believe my post was ignorant, contained “lies” or “complete fabrications” and I certainly tried not to make it sound whiny. We all need to relax and have a thicker skin at times, because there will be posts that we disagree with. We should all strive to be civil in the debates we have online, and not tell each other what we think they are full of. As the replies to this thread show, there are a great deal of members who “have your back”. Maybe if the other thread had been left up, they would have posted in that one first. The long get well thread shows that we are aware of your situation and wish you a speedy recovery. I have rarely if ever seen a post on here that is 100% negative about EMTBravo. Many of the other replies to this thread have said the same as anything else I could add. Some of my fellow members have even said it better than I could. So in the name of not being a malcontent with a huge ego, I will end this reply here.

Badges for almost everybody stopped serving a functional purpose long before any of us were born. Badges in the Police and to a lesser extent the Fire service are sybolic of the shields that knights and other military units went into battle with. Since EMS is a relatively new service many of the traditions have been adapted from various Police & Fire traditions. Badges are one of those traditions. The idea that EMS doesn't need badges is to me just a little backwards, in that it is almost as if we as the combined Emergency Services are saying EMS isn't really part of the traditions and culture that the rest of us are. No badges have nothing to do with how well you care for the patient, just as my fire department badge has nothing to do with how good or bad a firefighter I may be. That does not stop me from putting the badge on my uniform whenever I am in a uniform with some formality. As function becomes more important that formality, look at all the departments in all three services that switched to badgeless golf shirts as their duty uniforms in recent years. But that does not mean that it is the only way to go, it is just one option. I was at a Parade this year that featured the FDNY-EMS Pipes & Drums. Now there is an interesting adapted tradition. The FDNY & NYPD pipe bands were likely formed because there was a time in history when these departments were predominantly Irish. Since EMS is not predominantly Irish, I am guessing that the band formed out of a love for tradition, adapted from the rest of the emergency services. I thought that was pretty cool.

I have noticed a lot of newer members in my area don't really take to parades (even the non judged holiday ones) the way some of the senior guys do. I am not sure if it is a change in personal and departmental priorities, which might be positive or a lacking sense of history and tradition, which I think is a negative thing. Maybe it is a mix of both. Maybe it is just the heat, but I certainly wouldn't want all the parades moved to the cold New England winter.

Politicians complaining about the "downtime" in a firehouse is always a problem. They do not understrand that time spent between calls might actually be better used to train or perform equipment maintenance. I can not immagine how cutting the grass in a park is in any way similar to checking hydrants, conducting fire inspections or visiting a school to talk about fire prevention. I remember hearing years ago the idea from somewhere (I can't remember where) that Firefighters should serve as school crossing guards. This would have required the crew to be split up at different interscetion and delay response while they reassembled. This plan was ultimately abandoned because it did not allow for who would act as the crossing guards if a fire call came in.

Suspensions are a strange thing in the volunteer service. First of all they end up usually being a much earlier step because they are the first step that has any real value to it. Verbal warnings will only work if the member wants to self correct. Written warnings are usually meaninglesss because if you get to setop 2 there was probably a lack of response to step 1. But both these warnings occur in a mostly private setting and don't provide any real deterent, in my opinion. Now suspensions work because like all punishments they take away something that nakes you happy, in this case volunteering. They do however take away manpower from the department for a limited time. The question that must be weighed is this, is it better to have disruptive manpower on scene or in the firehouse or not. I think in many cases the answer is clearly no, we can do without the offender for a short duration. I have also heard the theory that suspensions are like giving the member a vacation, in that he doesn't have to worry about responding for the period of time. I don't really agree with this because a suspension only really works if the member wants to be and is an active responder, then they will be upset at missing fires and not being at the station. Sadly because suspensions are one of the only two punishments that really work, they do tend to get over used. The other is dismissal, and since everyone pretty much works to not overuse that, once again suspensions become the only option.

The ropes that held mattresses tight were used well into the early days of this country. I remember reading that since these beds were very likely the most expensive thing in the house, one tool that was always carried by firefighters was a bed key, to loosen the ropes and disasemble the bed for removal. Saving the bed was seen as a very valuable community service at the time.

When FEMA proposed no codes, we got a copy of the article from a website on the back of a memo from our division commander. A few weeks later when FEMA backed off because the IACP was against giving up the codes, that also made the internet, but copies were not issued to every dispatcher. In my opinion while plain language is obviously easier to understand, the codes made for faster and more efficient dispatching and other communications in most cases. The places where plain language has been the most help is where one code covered a variety of situations. Such as a 10-24 (or 90C) which is a disturbance or breach of peace of any kind. Could be a gang fight or a loud car radio. or a Signal 12, whcih was an Ambulance call. Could be a stubbed tow or a cardiac arrest. But for codes like Signal 5 which was returning to quarters, and has now been replaced by clear and avalible, returning to quarters. Plain language has actually made some people become more long winded, and that has lead to more radio congestion. Maybe those folks holed up in the basement should stay there.

A bit of history that may explain why we get long winded when we probably shouldn't. This kind of started on EMS calls but has bled over to fire and some PD calls. Basically dispatchers get long winded, because we were told to be long winded and that has been passed down. For years Stamford dispatched by signal. All ambulance calls were signal 12's and all fires were signal 4's. You might get cross streets, or a box number, but there was no nature of the call. A typical dispatch for Turn of River would be like this: Attention all units, Base 600, Signal 4, Box 448, Northeast School. That was it, could be a false alarm, could be a multiple alarm, you'd find out when you got there. In the late 80's Stamford started giving out the type of fire or EMS call. The problem is that people with no medical training were told that "they need all the information you can give them" Which in the pre-EMD days lead to all sorts inconsistant questions and calltakers that didn't really know what they were typing into a call. That lead to dispatchers who had the same low training level and being told that the medics need all that stuff. The same thing happened with fire calls, when some well meaning folks with just enough knowledge to be dangerous started comming up with wacky questions to ask. I once heard a senior dispatcher scream at a calltaker because when taking a report of a structure fire in an occupied housing complex, with reported children trapped, he failed to ask what she considered to be the two most important questions: What color the smoke was that was comming from the windows, and How old the children that were trapped were. Neither of those questions would have effected the level of response. With the advent of plain language, which has been good for the most part, we have lost sight of the brevity part of dispatching. We now read the book that has been typed, instead of giving the basics that are needed to get the right units to right location prepared to do the right thing. One thing that is bringing back the brevity are the MDT's we are begining to use in Stamford. The majority of PD units and probably about half the FD units have the capability to read the cal as typed. So that even if a brief dispatch is given, additional information is avalible on the MDT. The FD's have embraced this for the most part, but the PD is still slow to adapt to these new tools.

Lets us always remember that the rights of free speech and public assembly, whose modern day decendants are what allow us to operate and participate in internet forums such as EMTBravo have been won and protected with the blood, sweat and tears of our hero citizen soldiers. That last video has an option to rate the video, lets all make sure we give it a 10 so it stays at the top of the list as long as possible, it is the least we can do for our soldiers and their families.

The Parks Police is a strange mix of an agency. In addition to the Stamford Police we also have Special Police Officers, who are full Police Officers but are not always full time employees. Over the years the city has had several enforcement jobs that they have made exclusively avalible to our Special Officers. This includes the now defunct Housing Police, The Parks Police and the Parking Violations unit (which is now called simply Stamford Enforcement) The Housing unit was down to 1 man all the time I have worked for the city, and is now defunct. The Parking Violations unit is now staffed by a mix of Special Police Officers and Violations Officers, who are not sworn LEO's. The Parks Police is the last unit left staffed entirely by Special Police Officers. Currently the Parks Police are a division of the Parks Department, which is a division of the Office of Operations. They have been shuffled around between Operations and Police for bugetary and political reasons in the past few years. They operate on the Police Radio, we dispatch them to calls in the parks, and elsewhere if needed. They are supervised by the Police Sergeants in the district they are riding in for all Law Enforcement purposes and by the Parks Department for all administrative purposes. The Special Police Officers in the Parks are in the generic city employees union (UAW), the Special Police Officers in the Enforcement division are in the Operations union (UE), neither are in the Police union (SPA). I will try to get pictures.

Very funny, I too am thinking of taking that to some other forums. But if watching a video were required to be verified, wouldn't there need to be a quiz of some sort? And if we have to take a test does that make us certified posters?

I may be remembering this wrong, but I head that a few years ago COPS did contact Stamford PD but the Chief at the time did not believe in any real media interaction and turned them down.

Rosco Labs offices are here in Stamford, on Harborview Ave. I've found them to be very helpful with most questions about their equipment. You can try calling them at (203) 708-8900.

We just received the funeral arrangements at my station: The Wake will be Thursday 5/24 from 4-8 p.m. at Waterbury City Hall, 232 Grand St. The Funeral Mass will be Friday 5/25 at 10:30 a.m. at the Saint Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Church, 67 Southmayd Rd. Staging for Friday Morning will be at 9:30 a.m., the staging location is not finalized yet.

Very well done. Looking at the related videos after that one I found this, also very well done from Allentown:

The staff & moderators do a very good job at catching these posts before allot of us see them. This is why I simply don’t understand threads (and the resulting e-mails) like these. There are thousands of members on this site, not all of whom post, but I would bet that the majority of us have never posted anything hostile in our time here. Getting this mornings e-mail reminding me not to commit an offense that I have never committed is insulting. If there is a problem, deal with it, trust me no one but the offender will have a problem with it. Those of us who are intent on keeping this an on-line community don’t need to be constantly told how bad it is, because it really isn’t that bad at all.

Rest in Peace Brother, and as always my thoughts and prayers are with his family and his department during this time of great sorrow.

While I doubt most people have thier entire couty memorized, I think everyone probably knows the nearby companies, especially if they run in together alot. Here in Stamford we use two systems that work well. Stamford Fire uses sequential numbers, with nothing on the frint line having a double digit. There are Reserves/spares numbered E10,11 & 12 but it would be rare that they are in service as those numbers and they do not conflict. The Other Departments are numbered similar to the way Darien does with each department having a differen leading number, but the second number is just sequential and does not mean anything, rigs must identify by type, like Engine 32, Truck 56, Tanker 78, ect. Anyone who works in the system usually knows what the units are. I actually like numbering systems like Westchester's that are county based, if there is a lot of intercity responses. Here in Stamford that doesn't happen often, so there are rarely conflicts. A year ago during the Canal St Fire, we did have Greenwich E51 & Noroton Heights T20 at Stamford Station 2, but we dont have any units with either of those numbers (Although Springdale used to have an E51). Greenwich E8 was at Stamford Station 3 & Stamford E8 was at the scene, but that is the only time I can think of a potential conflict. That too would be rare as Stamford E8 is a reserve and Greenwich E8 responds in an area bordered by Turn of River & Long Ridge, not Stamford. I don't see much difference in a two part system and a three part system. It seems to me that 11-22 would be the same as 11-2-2. But all the numberical systems are confusing to those outside of the system. If I hear Engine 63 or Engine 303, I known they are Engines. If I hear 11-4-5 or 23-16 The best I can hope for is knowing the county, or maybe the department.

I'm sure the company has the right to decide this, but I think it is strange that a station that prides itself on it's high volunteer manpower says they don't have the manpower to do this or that they need county career personnel to do it. I am sure that at least in part the county's desire for an ambulance in Kentland is due to the areas call volume and response times, but unless they are the only non ambulance station in the county, I doubt they can force one on them. I also seem to remember that Kentland has another station, I think it is 46 and there is an ambulance there, and I think it is a career ambulance, which means they aren't opposed to the service entirely. This will be an interesting story to follow.

You will not find many stonger advocates of our Freedom of Speech than me, but just like the proverbial yelling FIRE in a crowded theater encouraging others or saying that you are planning on assaulting or killing Police Officers is not free speech. So I would not agree that free speech extends to rap in this case any more than it extends to any other supposed art form that take a similar stance against the police. Second of all, I would venture a guess that he was actually fired for disobeying an order, since he was ordered to appologize to the PD and refused. This was after being asked nicely by his union to do so. Like all the other black eyes we all too often read about, this guy is a scumbag who just happens to have been hired as a Firefighter. He obviously didn't grasp the whole Brotherhood part of the Emergency Services. What seperates the gentlemen from the scumbags is quite clear, and actually more so here on these boards. Think of all the debates we have had, about police vs fire on scenes, who's in charge, who arrests who, highway safety, ect.....no matter how heated these fueds get, none of us ever advocated the wholesale killing of members of the other service.

Out of curiosity, why start at 31, instead of 1 or at least 11? Is there some historical reason?

As I started reading this thread, I was actually thankful that the pic was photoshopped, because I thought noone would be that crazy to put multiple roto-rays on a rig....then I say that there were real rigs like that. Add that to those train horns, and wow you really must have one hell of a budget to deck out a rig like that. I don't know if these are good or bad departments, but one thing is for sure, it doesn't matter if you spend money from taxes, donations or fundraisers....putting that much stuff on a rig is a waste of money. Money that could be better spent of emergency equipment for that or another unit. As for the 4Q rescue, I can't really understand the need for more than a single Q. If they are cycled together, I think there's no point. If they are cycled or controlled seperately then I think it would make a noise that at best is disturbing and at worst is confusing, especially as multiple rigs approach intersections. If there are multiple controls, I can think of alot of more important things to occupy my time in the front seat other than playing DJ with an array of foot pedals.

When I was a kid, visiting my Grandmother in Milton, MA there was a Firehouse just up the street in the town complex. On the same property was an old garage that had the FD's old snorkel-like truck still red, with one letter changed on the doors to mark it for the "MILTON WIRE DEPARTMENT".

I don't think it so much of a "you can't go back" thing as it is a case of starting fresh will take time, and not really provide the immediate solution the city needs. Think about what would be required to start a brand new Volunteer department, or in this case a division of an existing department. First of all would be the recruitment, which involves too big an unknown. Are there a large enough number of people looking to volunteer in that community to do this? Next would be training. Even if you didn't do a full time academy, the FF1 minimum would take a while to run, thus delaying the volunteers from being placed in service. Then of course is the issue of responses. Are they looking for home responders, or scheduled staffing, or a mix of both? It's not that it can't be done, I actually think it could be done. It certainly will not be a fast process and will not fix the budgetary issues.