Goose

Send it back promptly (i think you have like 2 weeks to reply), stay healthy, stay out of trouble, and don't get your hopes up. Hope it all works out for you.

By all means, tell us how you really feel.

They do not carry firearms, though they do have batons and if memory serves me correctly OC. As far as police powers, they have peace officer status.

Canvass letters don't typically go out that early. It's likely for the fall class. FF1 is right, you're over thinking this. Just forget about it and go about your daily life.

Usually Westchester offers the CPAT twice a year, in February and then again in August. Like i said in an earlier post, there are already a fair number of people within the 100s who took the CPAT in February. Just stay healthy, in the gym, and taking tests and you'll do fine.

You should still get your hands on a vest and do the stair mill. I'm not sure any particular workout, other than hitting the mill with the vest, will prepare you fully. You'll get a letter if they chose to send you to the CPAT. There are, however, a bunch on the list who have already passed the agility. Good luck.

No word on staffing improvements?

For what it's worth, everyrhing has been different this time around. CPAT first and then you are solid for two years and can be hired by any dept who uses the county list. You can defer and remain on the list, fail and you are removed. Everyone of us who took the CPAT got a letter confirming pas fail this week.

When did tramadol stop being an opioid? And yes, i did look it up because i've never read/heard/have been told its not an opioid (the serotonin effects are kinda of cool to read about though) http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=cabccc8a-6f9f-414c-93f0-6dec331ed74b

Won't matter in westchester given the average bls ambulance response time. You're guaranteed an anoxic injury.

I think as of right now they are unofficially called the "NY Collaborative protocols." I first heard rumblings about this over a year ago, but it has since picked up steam close to home. My understanding is that the REMO region (up and around Albany) is probably one of, if not the, leading EMS region in the state when it comes to protocols. From my reading of the collaborative protocols they generally seem far more forward thinking and progressive than what the lower hudson valley providers are use to. In addition, my understanding is that they have a very well established and active protocol committee which not only puts out the document but is constantly reviewing and making revisions as medical technology and trends change. I think that EMS regions in general struggle to find members who are engaged, experienced, and really know what is going on in the field (watch a web casted westchester REMAC meeting and the majority of doctors have little to no understanding about how EMS is administered county wide). That said, i think the general consensus of a number of regions throughout the state is why should we struggle to create protocol and keep up with medicine when REMO does it so well? So, given that, a number of upstate regions as well as hudson valley has adopted the REMO protocols rather than developing their own. I know westchester had been looking into it and the general opinions seemed to be positive with some minor concerns regarding inter-facility transports and maybe EMT Intermediates (i could be mistaken about the EMT-Is). Don't quote me on any of this - i've just deduced it from a few years as a paramedic and trying to keep up with what the REMAC (after all they govern what i can and can't do) is up to. Hope that helps.

We should make it worth it. Just imagine what would happen if everyone banged in?! Problem is - EMS doesn't have the cohesiveness like FD/PD so there will always be someone willing to fill that open tour. That said. CT's CMED and hospital patching system is impressive. Some hospitals even have the charge nurse carrying the CMED radio on their hip! I cant tell you how many times ive tried to make a radio report on Westchester's trunking system to no avail. I can recall one early christmas morning i had sedated and intubated a traumatic closed head injury and there was nothing but crickets on the other end (kuds to the 60 dispatchers who took the info down for me and notified on my behalf).

On my leather pants belt i have my radio in a motorola leather holster and a key ring (for narcs and truck keys) and the narcs themselves. Naturally, i keep my ID wallet w/ credentials, my regular wallet in my back pockets. Sheers, note pad and gloves in my hip pocket. Thats about it - less is more if you ask me.

Its an insurance thing.

Most of the commercials require you be 21 to drive but will hire you if you are younger....you just get stuck teching every job (maybe not a bad thing if you need / want the experience). Empress will hire you younger than 21 under the above stipulation. As far as per diem work - you basically work whatever tours you can based on how you availability lines up with what tours the agency has open. Essentially, you work when you want. Some places have monthly availability requirements in terms of the hours you have to make yourself available to work, others don't. Given that you're somewhat limited by public transportation you may want to try to find agencies close to bus routes or the metro north lines. I know a number of the river towns hire per diem EMTs....they tend to be slower (so you can study) and pay a bit more than the commercials.

Don't waste your time with the "I" program. It has no traction in this area and I would argue the same for areas upstate. Work on being a strong seasoned BLS provider and if you want to move foward in EMS (probably a bit of a oxymoron) go to paramedic school - it will afford you better training and career opportunities. Long Island is also changing with the times - more and more agencies are looking toward paramedic level service. As was said before the CC program was maintained due to the lack of paramedic services in upstate regions.

Your burnt out? Try working 70 - 90 hours weekly in this "system." That said, forget per diem and forget part time. EMS providers deserve a real career path. Either allow a larger pre established agency (in this case GPD comes to mind) handle it or start going to the media and hope change will begin.

Nassau isn't much better off. Read this article: http://resqrev.blogspot.com/2013/06/volunteers-vs-patients.html

Volunteerism is a honorable thing, i think few would argue that. However, the volunteer EMS system simply doesn't work here - it cannot guarantee a timely and appropriate response to requests for service. Its 2013, enough is enough already. Have to say that i "face-palmed" quiet a few times watching this video. I think it's honorable that leadership met with the town and was honest about the situation - but i just feel it was a bit too "off the cuff." That said, correct me if i'm wrong, but there currently exists no legal requirement that a municipality in NY State provide EMS service (i remember this being an issue many years ago up in Pawling).

Jesus, just imagine if Quinn was running for Westchester County Exec....30 minutes is quick!

Every agency develops its own M/A policy and more often than not those policies don't put patient care first. Besides, just because the medic requests mutual aid doesn't mean your getting an ambulance any faster. I can recall many an overnight as a flycar medic and 60 dispatchers putting tones out essentially begging people to sign on. I think it went something like " 60 to xyz VAC is anyone going to sign on or out there to answer this call?" It got so bad I would have them send me however could drive and I would ride BLS jobs in because it was quicker for me to get back in service and quicker for the patient. That's the sort of thing we are dealing with here.

Personally, i would argue thats probably already happened. It will probably only get spoken of after there is some large scale incident that occurs on a weekday during normal business hours, you know...the one we don't have six month notice for and is not on a weekend. It's all laughable really.

Problem not solved, and more problems created. Again, this is lifted directly from the Fitch study that the county government commissioned in 2008. Anyone who works in a flycar paramedic system knows that EMD in this county does nothing to appropriately manage resources. I work in three agencies that all receive direct dispatching and EMD from 60 control. The first issue is that 60 control is inadequately staffed to provide consistent EMD - anyone that gets the ipage notification on their phone knows this ( the "no EMD due to call volume / staffing" note at the end of the text), the second issue is that many of the primary PSAPs (local PDs) don't properly transfer the 911 caller to a 60 dispatcher. If that weren't bad enough, a medic gets sent on every job because the paramedic is the only resource in this county that is GUARANTEED TO SHOW UP. I know i'm not the only one who has been stuck on scene for an hour waiting for a bus or has had to RMA patients that require ALS care because they know they can get to the hospital faster than waiting for the ambulance. All any media outlet would have to do is FOIL 60 control response time records (i'm assuming they keep some sort of log) and boy would they have a field day. I guess the point i'm trying to make is that the problems are numerous and have metastasized across the county. I look at Putnam & Dutchess (both counties i have previously worked in) and wonder how in the hell did they get everyone on board with centralized dispatching, at least for fire and EMS.

This is simply not just an Irvington problem. It's a county-wide problem. Bottom line is those (politicians and governing bodies) with the power to push / demand / enforce real change just don't care. As far as people dyeing or suffering needlessly, we passed that threshold a long time ago. Fitch & Associates did the study in 2008 and no one did a god damned thing about it. http://www.westchesterlegislators.com/pdf/2008_EMS_Study_Final_Report.pdf There it is, in black and white.

I found out about this last night only a few hours after asking someone how she was doing. I had the privilege of being precepted and working alongside Irene during my time at Alamo. I happened to catch her maybe two years ago while crossing paths at WMC ER, brought back a lot of great memories from likely the most memorable years of EMS in my career. I really am sorry to hear that she has passed - she was such a nice person and a great practitioner. May she be in eternal peace.