TRUCK6018

We tried to get a hardware store to go for this idea years ago but due to "liability concerns", they declined.

Congratulations to the Bedford Hills Fire Department for receiving a $61,902 award in the catagory of Fire Operations and Firefighter Safety in the twenty-fifth round of the 2003 Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) program.

I think what they're doing is every firefighter on the fireground will have one availible to them. Both Yorktown and Bedford Hills already have one HT for every riding position on their vehicles and we're in the process of doing the same thing. For us, every riding position will have a UHF portable radio for fireground op's and the MPO will have the portable on the trunked system when it goes online. Currently we switch over to fireground at the IC's orders. Once we get a few more HT's in the rotation, switching over will be automatic.

Just to add a few things to the subject of "armchair qb'ing": As a command officer of a job, you get reports from multiple sources. Whether it be PD, EMS or your own officers operating under you. Someone watching the television or even being on the sidelines of the incident will never know all of the things going on. The only things you will see it what's in front of you and what's being transmited over a scanner. That information, in the grand scheme of things, is limted at best. Assuming the role of IC isn't easy (I say this from experience). To constantly receive reports, initially draw up and constantly revise game plans takes training. My philosophy is to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Are there times that additional resourses are called in and not needed? Yes, absolutely. I know I would rather have them there and not need them as opposed to not calling them in and wish I did later on. It's very easy to criticize after everything is said and done. It's not so easy to assume the role and do everything during the heat of the moment. **Orignally Posted In The IA Forum, Split To A New Topic In The WC Fire Forum By EMTBravo 3/4/04 1705hrs**

The new voice paging system went online within the last week or two. It is being used in conjunction with the I-Page system currently in use. As was stated there was a problem with some of the team members getting the pages with the I-Page.

According to the web site, it's an alpha page only, NOT a voice pager.

On the medical side, being that he is "mentally compatant" he can't be forced to receive medical care. I don't think signing an RMA is appropriate at this point. That's when you forget your a medic and remember to protect life and property and forcefully remove him.

I drove past there this morning, you could clearly see all the tire marks going off the almost the whole length between the two points. If you got on the BMP @ Route 6 it would be the stretch of road heading North/West, toward Peekskill (Route 9).

Well, first and foremost, you would have to consider the legal implications of what would happen if you picked up and continued to the original reported alarm. Should you keep responding, you could and probably would be charged with leaving the scene of an accident. Secondly, considering the MOI of the MVA, you would have to assume the worst given the situation. Along with the legal obligation of any medically trained personel of the engine crew (CFR, EMT or Medic) to stop and offer assistance. Thirdly, consideration would have to be taken for any local (department) policies regarding MVA's with apparatus. With all of that said, I would make sure my crew is allright and then radio either dispatch or a chief officer (assuming one was responding to the fire) of the MVA and have PD and EMS respond. Then assess for injuries of the occupants of the other vehicle. Then determining the outcome of the actions up to this point, treat the current situation and await for PD, etc. It would be tramatic if there were indeed persons trapped and the worst happened. However, it would be equally tramatic if you continued to the alarm and found of the worst of the other vehicle's occupants.

In the history of organized fire protection in Somers we have never topped more than 1500 responses but have come close in 2003. In 2003 we responded to 1436 alarms. BUT, of those 980 or so were EMS related as the fire department runs the ambulance. That leaves approx. 500 fire related responses. As far as terrain, we do have our share of hills and narrow, windy roads, but all in all, it's not as bad as some of the adjoining communities. At least all of our roads are paved.

The Predator chassis is what KME had written up in their bid package.

If that's true, why are the two 2001 models we have, have paint peeling, axles shifting, tires rubbing and doors moving off the hingles? Not to mention valves installed backwards and electronics wired wrong? With those items in mind, and possibly legal actions ensueing, Seagrave is low on my list.

If anyone knows where a juggling elephant can be gotten, pass the information along. I'm sure the anniversary committee will follow up on the idea.

The 1991 edition of NFPA 1901 was when NFPA first called for the fully enclosed riding area. Additionally, NFPA 1901's 1991 addition stated that the fully enclosed riding areas maintain reduced noise (dba) levels to keep the crew members safe, warm (or cool) and informed as to what is happening, seat belts and seats for all crew members riding on the apparatus, fail safe door handles so the sleeve of a coat will not inadvertently catch a handle and open a door, and signs requiring everyone to be seated and belted. Fire departments are not required to upgrade equiptment to meet current standards. If that were the case we'd all be scurrying to upgrade our rigs to the new 2003 edition. However, there is a schedule in the 2003 edition that has time frame recomendations for upgrades and replacements. With that said, we know the engine was more than 15 years old. With a 15 year old engine in a reasonably busy city, what else is wrong with it?

I saw and briefly played with this device at the Firehouse Expo last year. At the time it was brand new on the market. The set up was quick, considering it was done by a saleman in a controled environment. According to the article it is a pilot project. Maybe someone from Mohegan can fill us in on the specifics. Years ago, we had a similar device, "The Thumper". It was similar in nature as it automatically did compressions and went one further and did the ventilations. The draw backs were the two large O2 cylinders that powered the device. Once in the bus you could plug it into the onboard O2. This new one is battery powered with a strap you put across the patients chest.

Thermal imagers are a great tool used properly, whether it be for fire, search & rescue or haz-mat. The problem lies in traning the responders to use it correctly. When using the TI you can't rely on the image alone. You still must use all of your previous training to be safe (using your other sences, reading smoke, etc.) Too many times I see and hear stories of firefighters getting tunnel vision while using a TI. SAFE-IR is a great training program for TI use. It's a two day program that provides both classroom and hands on, live fire training. They can cater the training to manufacture specific cameras. We currently have three thermal imagers. Two Bullard T3 Max's and one helmet mounted FLIR. There are plans on getting two more Bullards. One will be TI Commander (which recently replaced the TIx). This will go on the new rescue truck currently in the works. We're also considering getting another T3 Max within the next year or so.

I doesn't take rocket science to figure this one out. :roll:

Westchester departments push for bigger, better firehouses By ELIZABETH GANGA THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: January 25, 2004) As the population grew in Westchester in the early decades of the 20th century, a wave of fire departments were founded in the hamlets of the northern part of the county where fire protection had meant long waits for the few local departments to come to your aid. Many of those departments are still answering calls out of the firehouses they built at that time, and the buildings from the 1920s and '30s are no longer capable of holding the equipment of modern firefighting and serving the other needs of changing departments. Because of that, at least eight departments in northern Westchester — from North Salem to North Castle — have built new or expanded firehouses or plan construction in the near future. Two departments in Putnam County also have built new houses, and some communities in lower Westchester, including Mamaroneck, are talking about new buildings. While neighbors have criticized some of the new houses as far too extravagant — comparing them to Wal-Mart or the Taj Mahal — fire commissioners and chiefs at each department point to deteriorating walls, low garage doors and jammed meeting rooms in the old stations to explain why new ones are needed. At the same time, the trucks they need to fit into the buildings have swelled. "Everyone has the same problems, from training to storage to new apparatus," said Barry Zezze, a commissioner in the Chappaqua fire district, where a feasibility study is planned for a new station. Between 1900 and 1940, the population of Westchester more than tripled, and places like Bedford and New Castle grew by thousands of residents. In a story repeated around the county, a small group of men would get together and form a department. In Armonk, three men realized the area needed its own department in 1930, when they were returning from a day of clamming in Connecticut and ran into the Greenwich department fighting a large grass fire. After using brooms to help beat out the flames, they returned home and began planning their own department. The Armonk firehouse was finished in 1932, and stations in Croton Falls, Bedford Village, North White Plains and Millwood were all built in the decade before or after. These departments and others are now trying to build or expand houses for amounts ranging from $2 million in Croton Falls to $7.9 million in Armonk. The hefty price tags, controversies over where the houses will be built and some residents' belief that the new structures — some with weight rooms and social halls — are glorified clubs for the volunteers have sparked opposition. "I think that the intention is really, really good with all of these departments, but the practical reality of how they're going about it isn't always viewed as appropriate," said Charles Persico, a new fire commissioner in Bedford Village who won election after questioning the $7.5 million price tag and location of the proposed firehouse there. In the years since firefighters wore raincoats and rode on the back of firetrucks, firefighting has changed in ways that strain the old houses. Trucks have grown dramatically larger, as safety regulations require firefighters to ride inside the cabs and the trucks must haul a whole slew of new equipment to fires and car accidents. Ceilings and doors are too low in many of the old buildings. "The really big truck 15 years ago is more or less the standard-sized truck of today," said Robert Mitchell of Mitchell-Ross Associates, the architects for the North White Plains and Armonk departments. In North White Plains, where voters rejected first a $3.5 million bond and then a $2.8 million bond last year, the trucks are too heavy to park over a basement boiler room, forcing them to stay near the front of the building. A spare truck had to be parked outside for several months and now is in storage in Connecticut. The department's first ladder truck, bought in 2001, barely fits. The number of hours of training a firefighter must go through has multiplied several times in the past 30 years, and several departments want to add training rooms. The buildings — often used for public commissioners' meetings — are not wheelchair-accessible and weren't built to accommodate female firefighters. Newer building materials mean firefighters return to the houses covered in toxic substances, and many of the old houses have no space for decontamination or to store the more complex safety gear firefighters now wear. Many northern Westchester communities now need to protect tall and bulky buildings they never had before. "You have houses today, my God, that scare you," said Erling Taylor, who joined the Armonk Fire Department in 1946. "You've got a lot of huge structures in town. Back then, you had a two-story house and that was it." In Croton Falls, the cramped 1938 firehouse in the hamlet cannot be expanded, so the fire commissioners are proposing to expand a 1970 building on Route 116. Currently, a small room for the commissioners' meetings has boxes stacked against the wall and a computer on a desk in the corner. A closet serves as a file room. The apparatus bays fit three trucks and a small boat. But another tanker and maybe a ladder truck could be needed in the coming years, said Ted Daros, a former chief. "There's no point in even talking about it until there's a place to put it," he said. Though the Croton Falls proposal hasn't riled up residents, the Armonk house has been harshly criticized by some. "Picture a Wal-Mart in a residential neighborhood, that's about the size of this thing," said Bill Carlino, who lives near the Armonk firehouse now under construction. Carlino fears the firehouse, along with other construction in the area, will change the quiet character of his block. But Armonk Fire Commissioner John Heimerdinger said the new location is at the center of the district, and the new house is meant to serve for the next 50 years. "Do we have more than we need?" Heimerdinger said. "Yeah, no doubt about it. But we won't have to come back to this community for a long, long time." Reach Elizabeth Ganga at eganga@thejournalnews.com or 914-666-6482. Side bar to article: Organization dates of fire departments • Armonk, 1931 • Banksville, 1949 • Bedford Hills, 1903 • Bedford Village, 1923 • Briarcliff Manor, 1901 • Buchanan, 1939 • Chappaqua, 1910 • Croton, 1892 • Croton Falls, 1893 • Goldens Bridge, 1909 • Katonah, 1874 • Millwood, 1924 • Mount Kisco, 1878 • North White Plains, 1912 • Ossining, 1883 • Peekskill, 1826 • Somers, 1930 • South Salem, 1938 • Verplanck, 1929 • Vista, 1941 • Yorktown, 1909

Peekskill's Engine 131's motto is "Veni, Vidi, Vici" Translated it means "we came, we saw, we conquered".

Date: 01-24-2004 Times: 1832, 10-30 transmitted @ 1915hrs Location: 135 Succabone Rd, C/S Bisbee Ln and Broad Brook Rd Frequency:46.260, Fireground 1 (453.0375) Units Operating: C2031, C2032, C2033, E199, E198, TL57, T5, R10 Description Of Incident: Reported structure fire @ rear cottage. 2031 Reports fire in wall with crews opening up, one line streched, all hands working. Writer: Truck6018

I agree wholeheartedly. The key part I was trying to bring out is that we're often taken advantage of. Example: An emergency ambulance service gets called repeatedly to nursing homes and doctors offices for what often becomes a direct admit. Why? Because the contracted ambulance for the facility is "unavailible". Or we get called to 123 Main St, USA for a "medical emergency" and you arrive on the scene and start your primary assesment to find a** (Apparent Samsonite Symptoms). The patient feels bad enough to call an ambulance but had no problem packing their bags for the trip. Then the patient states that he/she has been feeling like this for a week now (meanwhile it's 3 in the morning). Then when you get them to the hospital, not the closest hospital mind you which is only 5 minutes away. But the hospital 30 minutes away because this is where their doctor is, they complain you can't wait and take them home. Now I admit that this story is exagerated but I think all of us have encountered some of this at one point or another. I think we can all agree that more times we want to admit a taxi sign on the side of the bus would be more apropriate than the star of life.

Um, no comment. :-#

Oh well, maybe I'm wrong. :cry: I'm trying to find the elevation there. Either way, you're right about the hiking trails there. Although, I try not to think about that place too much. We used to get called M/A for brush fires up there fairly regularly. Not a fun place to carry an Indian Tank up.

At least now the county is no longer issuing "duplicate" numbers. Example: If Department "A" has ladder 123, the county will not issue tower 123 to department "B". I personally feel the county should have just one ladder designation and be done with it. If you look at most other numbering systems, it doesn't matter if it has a bucket, stick or no aerial device at all (old Mt. Kisco Ladder 43). A ladder company is just that, no matter what's on top of it. The area chief's, coordinators, etc should know enough what's what. If were going to individualy catogorize them why not go as far as the length of the aerial device? As far as the county changing numbers, they did it to us. Our ladder is designated as ladder 18, they changed it (with out our knowledge) to tower ladder 18. If you go back further in history the county did away with telesquirts, patrols, fire boats, and changed everyones former ambulance designations to the current A, B, and M units.

While I'm not sure about the tallest building or structure, the highest elevation in Westchester County lies within the Town of Somers. "Round Top" within the Heritage Hills of Westchester condo complex. While it is privately owned, there are some communication antennas up there.