SageVigiles

Article in the Stamford Advocate today says an FDNY CISD Team will be going up to assist, as well as SRFD's Chaplain. Glad to see the guys will be getting the support they need.

Merry Christmas everyone, and for those working today please stay safe!

Interesting Rescue for UVM, do they have their own fire department?

There is one in New Haven next to the I-95 "Q" Bridge. Would be an interesting incident.

Congratulations on your retirement Chief. Best of luck to you and your family!

http://www.hazmatiq.com/ This course is apparently gaining popularity fast. I just got on the regional HAZMAT Team for CT Region 2 and this is primarily the system we use to make initial decisions at an incident. Anyone have any experience with this course? Pros? Cons? Also, does anyone know of any courses coming up soon? I need to get in one ASAP.

From what I understand they are interviewing off the list from the last test, but Capt. Meehan would be better suited to answer that.

Saw it in person the other day. SHARP looking rig, and the cab layout seems preferable to the older style. So far the guys of Sq. 2 like it, much better than the days of FRANKENSQUAD!

Rest in Peace Brother. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and Brother and Sister NYPD Officers. Godspeed.

Rest in Peace Brother. As you all know, about a week ago was the 12th "anniversary" (I hate using that word for this, but I can't think of another one) of the Worcester Cold Storage Fire, that took 6 of Worcester's Firefighters from their families. My thoughts and prayers are with their department and families now, I can't even imagine what they are going through. May the injured FFs also recover quickly. Everyone out there, watch each others' backs and stay safe.

North Hollywood, Columbine, VA Tech, etc have all showed showed the "wait for SWAT" technique does not work. For mass shootings PD's time and time again have advocated Active Shooter training and an aggressive patrol rifle program. The cop on the street needs to be able to intervene immediately. That's just common sense. Yesterday's incident isn't something that's really college campus oriented though, and isn't an active shooter either. This is a scenario that occurs relatively frequently as far as police LODDs go. Traffic stops turn deadly all the time, addressing it as a "college campus" issue I think isn't really an accurate way to treat it. However, giving University Police agencies the tools and training they need as opposed to college administrations treating them like highly paid security guards with guns. Not saying that's necessarily the case in this particular incident, but a lot of times Campus PD's get bastardized. But the specific way to help prevent incidents like this at traffic stops? 2 Officer cars. It may not PREVENT the shooting, but 2 trained individuals with guns are better than 1.

I say draw and quarter the POS.

Rest in Peace Brother. Rough morning for the fire service, particularly in NY and MA.

It is my understanding that they cannot. 16 year old EMTs must be supervised by one who is over 18.

I wouldn't advocate lowering the age for Interior Firefighter, but if NY doesn't allow EMTs at 16 I think you're missing out. As many have mentioned it gets people involved and develops their skill sets early in a well supervised setting as opposed to finishing EMT school and throwing them into the breach. Its basically a 2 year FTO program to develop good habits. I'm ALWAYS an advocate for quality Explorer/Cadet/Junior programs in Fire, EMS and law enforcement to help cultivate membership and to pre-train members for FF1. In Wallingford our Explorer program teaches right out of the Firefighter 1 book so that when they do turn 18 and begin the actual course, they have a leg up already. We would really like the state to have a program in place where when the member turns 18 we can submit the training they have already received and allow them to do their laddering, live burn and the other skills we can't currently train with, then be able to "challenge" the test (much like out-of-state certified FFs have to in CT) and obtain their certification. Obviously there's a lot of legalese and logistics involved with something like that, but it would be nice.

Ah, thanks.

Actually, that brings up a good question. What in God's name is an AirFlex Unit?

Medic 1, Medic 22, Medic 23, Medic 25, Squad Medic 47 Squad Medics are there versions of FDNY HAZ-TAC/Rescue Medics I'm assuming EMS 2 is some kind of supervisor, but I can't recall, its been a few years since I've been there. Very big station, lots of equipment, lots of manpower.

In CT the only ones of size that I've seen in the media have been: CT State Police New Haven, CT Police

So much for Brotherhood, eh? There's a difference between giving honors to an active member who passes away and a Line of Duty Funeral. A BIG difference. But I have absolutely no problem putting on my Class A's to pay respect to a Brother who dies on duty or off. Regardless of the circumstances, Mahopac FD lost one of their family members in a really horrific way, and if they decide they want to do a service for him, that's their business. All the guys and gals I've met from Mahopac are stand-up people who take care of their own, and despite all the other BS that goes on in the fire service, when it comes down to it, that's one of the core elements of who we are and what we do. THAT'S the Brotherhood, its more than just a T-shirt or a sticker on your helmet. THAT means something. Having been to LODD funerals for both Fire and Police Brothers who have paid the Ultimate Sacrifice, I can tell you there IS a difference. Even if the two services were exactly the same, you can just feel the difference in the air. I pray that those of us who have experienced that never have to again. And if you never have had the honor of attending one of those services, count yourself among the lucky. Stay safe Brothers and Sisters.

Code save, nice job!

DEFINITELY not rambling, I appreciate you sharing some of your memories of LT DiBernardo. May he Rest in Peace.

Fair point, and as I mentioned the statistics do not tell the whole story. I'm just saying that someone DOES need to come up with a solution to this problem. Obviously the solution isn't a simple one, otherwise I'd have come up with it and made millions of dollars selling it... but seriously though, I think this does need to be looked at a little more closely.

Chris, while I respect the tactical needs of an officer, look at the statistics from 2010. Note: Its kind of quiet at work so I'm amazed I have the time to do this... Total LODDs: 162 LODDs as a result of Traffic Fatalities: 72 LODDs as a result of Gunfire: 61 Of the 72 Traffic Fatalities, 16 were Officers struck while outside their vehicle. Of the 61 Gunfire Fatalities, 8 were traffic stops/pursuits. Twice as many cops were killed on foot in traffic than were shot and killed at traffic stops. Granted, that can include Officers directing traffic, etc. But we can AT LEAST say that the numbers alone (which admittedly never tell the entire story) show that the risk of an Officer being struck by a vehicle is AT LEAST comparable to that of an Officer being shot, so maybe the steps we take to mitigate that risk should be equal as well. Also granted that this is just ONE year, and it would take more data than that for an accurate statistical analysis for the overall risk involved. (Source: http://www.nleomf.org/assets/pdfs/reports/2010_Law_Enforcement_Fatalities_Report.pdf) Maybe its time for a creative solution. Maybe a jacket that has hi-vis scotchlite and fluorescent yellow on the BACK only (and no, I'm not just talking about a TROOPER pulldown with a little reflective material like they have now, I'm saying it looks like a traffic vest on the back) with an special ANSI standard to go with it or something like that? I don't know the answer, I'm just saying SOMETHING needs to be done to address it. All the move over laws in the world aren't going to completely solve the problem, and if we can come up with something simple to fix the problem it would definitely be worth it.

Sikorsky in Stratford is also hiring security guard/EMTs. Must have CT Guard Card, Pistol Permit and EMT