Beekman

If we adopted the "you call, we haul" motto, the public assist calls would come to a screeching halt. " I just needed help getting into my wheelchair and they took me to the hospital!" As for the Fast track and no waits in the ER, that must be in the same Fantasyland where ambulances are plentiful which would not be Dutchess County or near where Mac works. I know a lot of people blame Rescue 911 for the explosion of 911 calls, but I've seen a huge increase in RMAs, not related to MVAs, in the past few years. It just seems like there is a lot more abuse of the system with people expecting a medic or EMT to diagnose and fix their issue instead of seeing their doctor.

"Ummm, you're not an emergency and the Emergency Rooms are real busy right now so you will be waiting in the waiting room for quite a while". I've actually had a few patients talk themselves out of going. Sign here please. The backups in the ER are actually working for us instead of against us especially if the patient was recently at one.

If you are referring to Responding to Emergencies, you should probably contact the Health Department. It's an EMS class for people who work in parks.

Ok, I give up. What does the rail grinder do?

The last time I asked the Town Highway Superintendent how much State Bid gasoline was (as we get gas from the Town), it was $0.80 cheaper a gallon than the gas stations down the road.

The Beekman Fire District has one in the works. Hopefully it will be delivered by the end of the year. Combining two trucks into one (Engine and a Rescue).

May 23, 2008 Link to article

PV has a pretty progressive Fire District. It actually saves money by contracting out to the commercial agencies. Please remember that in NY, Fire Districts cannot bill the insurance companies, contracted companies can. Also would you really want your career guys leaving town on a P4 taxi ride? The P4 and nonsense calls are the norm, not the guy actually having a heart attack or a stroke. As for Beekman, UV, Dover and Pawling, it was discussed for 2 years. When the bids came in, it was cheaper for the 4 towns to go it alone with multiple units. Makes no sense but the commercial agencies were the ones who submitted the bids. As for when are the units out at the same time? More than you would expect. The calls come in waves. Center for Rehab doesn't help things either. As for the Clinton comment on Pojo- anybody know what that was about or was it just an ignorant comment?

I bet its got something to do with a red ladder truck coming to save the day.

Sugar Maple Farm on Route 216 in Beekman

The New Hamburg boys need to behave because the Wappinger folks now have access to their place and the NH trucks may suddenly ripen overnight.

Hey Doc, LOVED the rant! Guys, if you want change, start local. Dutchess County is busy in court and there is a movement in Westcheter to get rid of the County government. Combine that with the EMS situation in Putnam and most people have serious issues with the counties. Does a town need multiple Districts/Departments? Probably not. One good example of merging is East Fishkill. "4 Companies, 1 Family". Their system works. It could probably work for Fishkill too.

You want this guy in charge of your "County" Fire Department????? Legislature files contempt of court charge against Steinhaus By John Davis Poughkeepsie Journal Seeking to get Fred Knapp, assistant to the Dutchess County Legislature chairman on the payroll, the Legislature and Knapp have filed a contempt of court charge against county executive William Steinhaus and personnel chief Earl Bruno. The “notice to comply” was filed in county court today. The legal action was taken to demand Steinhaus and Bruno comply with an April 29 ruling by state Supreme Court judge James Brands that Knapp be put immediately on the payroll. The ruling by Brands was triggered by a lawsuit filed by Knapp and the Legislature after Steinhaus in December declared a hiring freeze and has refused to pay Knapp this year. “The county executive is not above the law and we will prevail in our efforts to uphold the charter of our county and the decision of Judge Brands,” said Legislature Chairman Roger Higgins in a written statement Friday. The Democrats gained control of the Legislature in January following the November elections. Higgins, a Democrat representing Poughkeepsie and Wappinger, was elected chairman. He appointed Knapp, a former Democratic lawmaker representing the City of Poughkeepsie, to be his assistant. Steinhaus, a Republican, could not be reached for comment this evening on the announcement, which was issued at 4:56 p.m. by the Legislature via e-mail.

Hey Chris192- Both VAFDs exist because there isn't a career department within the VA's criteria for response. The VA tried to get rid of Castle Point years back but City of Beacon couldn't meet the 4 man minimum for a responding crew (The VA does not recognize volunteers). Another issue was that CPFD sits in the middle of Chelsea. Several VA Fire Departments have been shut down as the outside municpality was able to provide a 4 man career crew within the required response time to the facility. In those cases, the VA pays the municpality for fire protection.

Up in Dutchess I'll agree with Doc that turning things over to the County is not a good thing. A certain FD was looking to purchase fuel from the Town and County. It took a week to get the approvals and the keys from the Town. It's been 2 1/2 years and still counting for the County. Way too much red tape and politics. I love DCDER and DCSO but forget the rest of the County departments. They can care less about anyone but themselves.

So Mike, went on a cruise did we? Where are the souvenirs for everyone including your favorite VA Assistant Fire Chief?

East Fishkill Fire was having issues. Don't know if it was EFPD or the State Police. Chief Scott Post is involved with the legislation to fix the problem. I'm sure he'll pop on here shortly.

If you submit your NFIRS through the OFPC website, they have all the training records for everyone in the State on-line. Unfortunately the records are a bit of a mess if you belonged to more than one department anytime in your career.

There is a Hazmat Tech class going on in Westchester for a specific department. Your old stomping ground Mac.

From the Daily Freeman 03/31/2008 Fire chief crashes on way to call By Robert M. Miraldi , Freeman staff ELLENVILLE - The chief of the Ellenville Fire Department was hospitalized and issued a traffic ticket Sunday evening after striking another vehicle en route to an emergency call, injuring two people who also had to be hospitalized. Advertisement Ellenville Chief of Police Phil Mattracion said that Fire Chief Steven Krom was traveling northbound on U.S. Route 209 in Ellenville at approximately 7:30 p.m. while responding to a call. Krom, who had his emergency lights on, struck a sedan with his sport utility vehicle while crossing the intersection of U.S. Route 209 and Center Street. Krom was operating a fire department vehicle and it is unclear if he had his siren on, said Mattracion. The speed at which Krom was traveling had also not yet been determined. Mattracion said that Krom, as well both passengers in the car, were taken to Ellenville Hospital. Krom was conscious and alert at the scene, but complained of stomach pain. The two people in the car, a male driver male and an unidentified passenger, were described as being in their late teens or early 20's. While the nature of the their injuries was not available Sunday night, Mattracion said he believed they were not life-threatening injuries. Mattracion called it an unfortunate incident, but said even emergency officials need to be aware of a driver's right of way. The car Krom struck was passing through a green light. "Nobody likes to see something like this happen," Mattracion said, "but we're held to the same standard as everyone else." Assisting at the scene were members of the Ulster County Sheriff's Office and members of the Ellenville Fire and Rescue Squad. Authorities said it took approximately an hour and a half to clear the scene.

It keeps being mentioned about Towns not paying their fair share for EMS. I know of two Towns that are paying 10X and 2x as much for this year's contract and don't think for a minute that the medics or EMTs have seen a dime more. Also both Towns keep wondering why they are paying big bucks and other Towns in Dutchess are getting 24/7 coverage for free.

Here are a few of the reasons my department had the siren rebuilt when the motor finally went bad; 1) It is connected to the Station fire alarm system. On one occasion some genius broke into my alarm panel and disconnected both phone lines for the dialers. 2) Dutchess doesn't have I-page and I've received several VA pages hours and even days later. 3) Didn't Putnam have a situation a few years back where they lost the communication system and had the Stations manned and used the sirens for calls for a few hours? 4) Yes it does remind the public that we still exist. I've also received letters from residents who go and acount for their children when they hear the siren. Hell some will go turn on their scanner and listen in. I've turned my portables on scan when I hear East Fishkill or UnionVale's sirens go off. 5) Anyone remember the wonderful Minitor 3's, before the recall, when the selector knob would switch between alert and monitor and not activate? I reponded to a brush fire only because I heard the siren. 6) If your house is on fire wouldn't you want to know that the Fire Department was dispatched and hear that siren???? 6) Redundancy is the name of the game. Technology is great but I do remember sitting in the dark with the rest of the East Coast a few years back. Just my thoughts.

The two Andrews did a great job and it was well received by PVFD. You guys did a good job of preserving part of your history with that video. All too often rare pictures like that disappear from the Stations never to be seen again. Great job.

I guess you'll have to keep in mind the case up in Dutchess where the Courts odered the State to pay $2 million for the woman killed in an MVA by a State Trooper responding to a call that was downgraded to non-emergency. http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pb...=73311161476565

While I definitely agree with consolidating Fire Districts when several are located in the same municipality, I do not agree with the Town Board taking control. I would rather see one larger Fire District. I don't really see any arguments against consolidation of departments. Same equipment, same rules and regs, bigger pool to draw officers from, etc.