SageVigiles

I'm not an EMT and I really don't have a dog in this body armor fight, but the whole "the scene should be safe before EMS is on scene" argument, while valid, isn't ALWAYS a fair assessment. Fecal material is known to occur from time to time. Its very easy for a scene that appears, at face value, to be safe, to go sideways. A perfect example is the call in Gwinnett County a few weeks ago when the Engine and Medic crew were held hostage. As I understand it, there was no reason to believe that scene was unsafe before they made entry on the medical. They were set up. Cops know that a BS routine call can very easily be an organized ambush on an Officer. The reality is that nowadays, the same thing can easily be done to EMS or FD units. So unless we're going to have the PD clear every scene before we get there, No, the vest would have done nothing to protect the ambushed Firefighters in Webster, but only a tiny percentage of shootings occur with AR-15 or AK style long guns. Do I think that necessarily justifies purchasing vests for an entire department? Tough call, its probably not necessary for most EMTs, but I'm not the one responsible for that decision on behalf of an entire department. But I have noticed an increase in the number of EMTs/Medics ordering vests at my part-time uniform sales job. I don't do body armor, so again, no dog in the fight, I'm just stating the facts.

Has FDNY taken delivery of this piece and/or put it into service yet? Haven't seen any shots of it other than the Ferrara ones. Also, in case anyone is interested, found this article explaining FDNY's HAZMAT Operations and their new PPE. Pretty interesting and it kind of makes sense of all the Special Ops units you see floating around the city. We actually got the Lion MT-94s for our HAZMAT Team, haven't used them for real yet but these new NFPA suits are much more comfortable than the traditional styles. http://firechief.com/hazmat/ar/fdny-chemical-protective-clothing-201109

Or maybe our softer, gentler society has had some unintended consequences...

True, there is a lot of money getting thrown at recruitment and retention through SAFER and other programs, but there's no hard research into how VFDs can recruit and keep members, so there's very few vetted "best practices" out there. But as I've said about a billion times on here: Most FDs in the northeast have at least one college within 30 minutes drive. "Bunkie" style programs work really well if managed properly. Every college has kids who were volunteers back home and every college has kids interested in the medical field who would love a chance to get some EMS experience. Right now that's the best recruitment system I'm seeing for volunteers that doesn't involve paid-per-call.

Like the fact that its 100% stuff-that-will-melt? Yeah, probably. I believe Under Armor does have a 100% cotton line though, not "NFPA Approved" to my knowledge but I wouldn't be particularly concerned. Honestly in my experience selling uniforms, not too many departments are wearing NFPA FR approved uniforms. Nomex and the like is ridiculously expensive and 100% cotton fades, shrinks and generally looks like crap in no time. We offer it as an option but if 10% of my customers bought it that would be a lot. Here's the contradiction: personally my station uniforms are almost all 65% polyester / 35% cotton, and while my department's certainly aren't the busiest in the world, I haven't really had a problem. I have a few pairs of "expired" hand-me-down nomex FR uniform pants that I wear from time-to-time, but until my volunteer department pays for FR uniforms, I'm not about to go out and spend that kind of money.

I would LOVE to know the story behind the cow.

400 vacancies? Of course you're gonna have people killing it with overtime! Even I can do that math

Black and White is usually on most state contract lists for paint, etc. If I'm not mistaken its a "stock" color scheme for most of the police packages out there.

Fair warning: I'm going on a bit of a rant here. The sad fact is that many rural communities follow that exact model. The only way they get away with it is because call volume is so low that statistics will very rarely catch up to them. I personally think this is selfish, there is a standard and it should be upheld. But the general mindset that guides this kind of thing isn't exclusive to volunteers. Many firefighters, career and volunteer, believe that because they're considered the "experts" in the field, that they shouldn't have to respond to the will of their customers (within reason). That's crap. "ITS NOT ABOUT YOU" is the phrase that comes to mind, and maybe it should be painted on the inside of every apparatus bay door in the country. The residents of a community are put at ease believing they have a fire department that is trained to do the job. Maybe its not a career department, because the town hasn't determined it needs/can afford that level of protection, but they expect the personnel that do respond to be adequately trained to complete the tasks they're assigned. Here's an idea: Lets pass a law saying if your fire department doesn't follow minimum accredited training standards, you're required to call the organization "Bucket Brigade" or "Cellar Savers." Just a little truth in advertising. You want the title? Earn it. Show that you're proud of what it means and that you're willing to go the extra mile to help your community. Don't take a cop-out route like this. This kind of thing is an insult to those of us who are proud to be volunteer Firefighters.

Damned shame, I loved that rig. Pierce did a good job refurbishing it when we picked it up from Newtown.

Hartsdale was using the former New Fairfield Truck 4 for a while, weren't they? I had heard it finally kicked the bucket but I didn't know where/when/why.

Part of the problem is that people take HAZMAT ops, do a powerpoint refresher every year, dress out in Level B's for 30 minutes and call themselves prepared. Fire, Police, EMS and Emergency Management SHOULD be doing at least annual exercises on this kind of operation. But as several people have mentioned, if you can't get a first due ambulance out to a chest pain call, its unlikely you're going to get them out for a decon call.

FBI HRT and MA State Police believe they have him cornered in a trailered boat in Watertown, MA.

If I understand correctly, Boston PD's Motorcycle Officers are their SWAT Operators as well. Pretty interesting concept, certainly allows for a rapid deployment.

To be fair if its a vapor there isn't much positive effect that decontamination of victims is going to do (product dependent.)

Boston Police is asking that people refrain from posting specific addresses of tactical operations to protect Officer Safety. This guy is online posting threatening messages to the Boston Police, so its not unreasonable to believe he's reading up on the search either. The media is already screwing this up pretty bad but please don't further compromise Boston's operational security by posting addresses of search locations, etc. UPDATE: Most Boston Police online feeds have been cut for OPSEC purposes.

Per LT Vance through News 8, CT State Police ESU is sending at least two Bomb Technicians to Boston after a request from the FBI.

Boston PD has ordered all Off-Duty Officers to report to their Districts.

Battalion Chief* He was posthumously promoted, since he was currently sitting on the B/C list with a decent chance of getting made. Godspeed Chief.

A pickup truck does not an engine company make. -Yoda I know the pickup truck thing is becoming the hot new way for bean counters to lower fire department budgets, but lets not pretend its anything tactical. I think someone invented a smaller vehicle designed to respond to medical emergencies and related incidents. If I'm not mistaken its called an ambulance. But departments don't want to hire additional staff to cover those ambulances or, worse, start a third service with the sole mission of providing EMS response.

Very sorry for your loss Chief. My thoughts and prayers are with you, your members and their families. May he Rest in Peace.

I don't know the details, I know that traditionally they have run their own physical agility, but what they are doing now is unknown. I'd advise you to attend one of the open houses if you're really interested.

Just a clarification that the union posted today, you need a valid license (any state) to APPLY. You'll need a valid CT license by the time of appointment.

You'd be surprised, an iPad with a Lifeproof case is pretty durable.

I got an iPad for my emergency management job. Its nice to be able to keep plans and reference materials on one easy to read format, but I fail to see the practicality of issuing them to all emergency responders. I'm actually taking a FEMA class this week that's iPad based, and I can't stand it. I want a book.