JTF429

The New Hackensack Fire Company's 3rd Annual Benefit Ride will honor Rich Qiugley this year. As many already know last January Rich suffered a fatal heart attack after stopping at an MVA on the TSP while returning from an over night shift. We are hoping for a good turnout to establish a trust fund for his boy's. We are looking for car's , bike's, vendor's, and donations. It will be held on Sunday Sept 27th. Reg 10-11:30. Live music from 1-5. Location is New Hackensack Fire Station 217 Myers Corners Rd Wappingers Falls Ny 12590. Please come out and honor Rich. Pass this along. Further info nkfd.org. or Call Joe at 845-297-5531. Thanks.

Your post makes no sense. Many departments have spare engines and trucks. As far as spare gear goes, the gear today is fitted specificaly to the person wearing it. You might have a hand me down set when you join but you will get fitted for a new set sooner or later.All the members on my job have 2 sets of gear that we rotate.What do you do if you go to an MVA and get covered in blood. Sorry I forgot you have your vest to protect you. You gear has to go out and get decontaminated now what. If you pull gear out of the closet that doesn't fit you, now you get hurt. Sure for some departments it can take a few years to get everyone a seconed set. Your gear and SCBA are the most important pieces of equipment you have....

Are you kidding???

Any shots of the Fire Fighters pipe band from Westchester?

I am sorry but I have to disagree with you. The out reach programs the state teaches IS NOT THE SAME TRAINING that career firefighters go through. I feel comfortable saying this as both a state instructor and a firefighter who has gone through two academys. The biggest problem I have with alot of state courses is that you can not transfer them from state to state. With that being said NYS has made tremendous improvements with there programs. Belive it or not OFPC does listen to our/your recomendations for improvements. The classes now are better than they were but still need some improvements. This is not a paid v.s volunteer shot. 95% of my students are volunteer and they are great students and I have the ut- most respect for them. This is not a shot at you either. I worked very hard to be hired by two departments and went through two academys. In total I spent 32 weeks away from my family. That is alot different than 2 nights a week and an occasinal Saturday. JK

The argument has always been it is tough to work in EMS. On one hand to have 1 agency serve Dutchess would be great, unfortantley it will not be a county wide system that would offer benifits like civil service offers. Most commercial agency's put PT care first but a close seconded is profit. Response times are important and the Town of Wappingers times greatly improved when Trans Care was awarded the contract. I briefly worked for Alamo and left because it wasn't for me. They get trashed alot but pepole forget that they have some dedicated outstanding crews there. This is an interesting thread because it lets EMS workers vent. Mabey someday Goverment will look at the importance of EMS and there employees. I give those in this feild alot of credit. I say let them vent on here. Rumors are just that.

This has been a problem for years. How many PTs suffred because of delayed response. You hire commercial services to be dispatched at the sametime or provide a rig at insane costs across the board. They talk about money and spending, the state of the economy etc. County wide EMS. Cost effective, jobs, PT care. I worked in Northern VA for 9 years and most of the counties are combo departments. Voulnteers were allowed to ride 3rd on county rigs anytime or if they had a crew could put there own rig in service and run calls. Every 4 years we get a new president and a different commercial service has the majority of the county. Commercial agencies are there to make a profit period. Most provide good care, have good employees, and try to do the right thing. This topic has come up and will countine to come up for ever. Until pepole realize its not about power or a red light or white hat its about Patients and doing the right thing.

Roofsopen, You are way out of line with your comments. Leather helmets and time and a half have nothing to do with this and are past issiues long before Rich got on the job. I don't know what job you are on but the Members of local 801 support our brother. The department is progressing forward because of selfless actions of all our members. We are lucky enough not to close houses and lay off members because of strong leadership and commitment from our job. I find it insulting that another IAFF member if that is what you are would take a shot at that. Do you even know Rich? AJ

Try looking at CT. In the greater Danbury area there are agency's that Hire EMT-I. Danbury hospital is one they handle 911 calls for Danbury. They are a good company with little turn over. Contact me if you have any further questions. You can go to the CT DOH website to see if they will accept your cert. They should if NY is. As far as taking your medic I know what you are saying. I am currently in an I class myself. This is what I am getting out of the class, good PT assessment skills and being able to understand things as an EMT on a more advanced level. You might not be able to do as much as the PARAGODS can but you will be able to deliver better PT care. Just because you can deliver meds doesn't mean your a provider. If you are a bad EMT you will be a really bad medic. Alot of pepole say EMT i is a waist of time, but I have seen some medic students recently who couldn't even function as a CFR. JK

It was a real pleasure having the Yonkers guys march with us. They sounded great and had alot of fun. I look forward to playing with them again in the future.

I echo what has already been said. I know times are tough all over but this is going to get alot worse. Speaking about Dutchess since thats where I am an Instructor. They just cancled 3 classes that departments have been waiting months for. They now excpect us to re-schedule them until April and now they want to cut our hours to boot. I am sure this is a problem all across the state but its time for the departments to be heard. What the politicians are doing to the Emergency Services Police, Fire, and EMS is criminal. Mabey we can't shut down Albany but if we go on a writting campaign, mabey we can get the point across. If departments took ad's out in News papers and publcations, Marched on Albany got radio and television spots. Mabey it would do something. Just a thought, I will get off the soap box now. AJ :angry:

Book photo unit think book. Great pic's.

The original poster asked a question to generate some discussion on a post, so what I didn't see it as taking a shot at anyone. We see pictures online, in trade publications, in classes and talk about it. So its a career officer so what. Nobody questioned how many years he had on the job or anything about him. ECAFD3 you asked how many LODD occured because of an unbuckled waist strap. Does it matter if it is 1 or 20. If this was a firefighter from kalamazoo would you be getting all bent out of shape? AJ :angry:

RIP Rich I considerd myself lucky to know Rich. A true class act. No one could say anything bad about him and he never had a bad word to say about anyone. I got a call at work one day that they were taking my wife to the hospital when I found out that Rich was the medic I knew she would be ok. After that everytime I saw him he always asked about her. If I could be half the man he was I would be a better person. AJ

They do a great job too.

Nice reply. Reguardless of the job they have to do how hard is it to pull down your goggles or reach in your pocket and grab eye protection. Latley on this site theier have been some excellent photo's posted. Not to knock the members of HillCrest, but we should be at least protecting ourselves out there?

Date: Time: Location: Frequency: Units Operating: Description Of Incident: Writer: The New Hackensack Fire Company in Wappingers Falls NY is holding a benifit ride/car cruise Sunday 9/28/08. This is to benifit the Chiefs daughter who is sufuring from Lymphoblastic leukemia. Go to www.nkfd.org for more information. Please come down and enjoy the day and support a good cause.

They are a good buch of guys. I know there Chief Tony and he is an outstanding fireman. Sadley one of there members passed away recently. He was also a great fireman. How about the Chief racking hose. You can find the good and bad with anything but I think they reminde us of the pride and tradition that is lacking in generation Y firfighters of today.

Try the Westchester County Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes and Drums. E-mail me for the contact info if interested. JK

I do not enjoy the site as much as I used to. I started visiting the site because of the alerts and info. I was hoping for a site that had quality information on it. Lately all you see is posting on topic's that are just pointless. A person will ask a simple question or try to start a discussion and they get slammed. It turns into my playground is better than yours. It takes money to run a site, so I can see where this is going. It is a goodsite. I would not subscribe to it myself because it does not offer anything new worth paying for. This is not a knock on the administrators. The pictures are good, but I already pay for drama with cable. For a good argument I can stick around the firehouse ktchen for coffee and not be censored. JK :angry:

I have been seeing a lot of old pictures from the 70's on here lately. my dad was a Yonkers wheel man in the mid 70's to mid 80's. he retired in 1992. P.O. Gene Kovalsky #594. If anyone knew him or has any photo's I would love to hear from you. jtf429@yahoo.com. Thanks, Joe

sorry I didn't know the caps were a big deal I will work on it next time

It is aterm sometimes used for bike cops also know as motorcycle cops.

Why is it NY is always against progress. Look at our training programs most other states have pro board certs. Not us too many hours. Look at VA and MD they have been running county wide fire departments for years. They are combination departments that utilize volunteers and make thm better with training and tradition. What would be wrong with a combination department supplimented by volunteers or paid staffing during the day and volunteer duty crews at night. 2 person engines with 3 probies at a fire just does'nt cut it. :angry:

THANKS FOR THE REPLY. I HAVE AND I HAVE SOME STUFF FROM MY DAD THAT I AM DONATING TO THE MUSUEM. I HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH 3 OFFICERS FROM YONKRES WHO HAVE BEEN ALOT OF HELP WITH THAT STUFF. THANKS AGAIN JOE MOD Note: Joe, when you post, please turn off the CAPS LOCK!