Goose

Very odd...but i am sure that the ME did, in fact, testify.

There is no mandate to provide EMS...take a look at the state constitution..only police and fire suppression... And Chris...are you sure about all that stuff? I've heard some shady things about both companies...no doubt most employees do their best, but many of us have worked commercial EMS and i will be the first to admit...there are things that go on that never consider patient care...

2 trucks

any idea why they are getting rid of the pierce?

A paramedic who works commercial or some other third service EMS is not a public servant? Don't they serve the same public the Firefighters and Police Officers do?

Interesting points? Complete garbage. Maybe you just can't/won't understand. I can't explain the feeling when they find bone fragments of you're loved ones on-top of a building or in a storm drain and all you have to bury can fit in a zip lock bag. It was liberals who spit on my father when he returned home from Vietnam, it's liberals who left us with our pant's around our ankles in the 90s and allowed (in part) 9/11 to happen, and now it's the liberals who want to give terrorists the benefit of the doubt... You people may have forgotten that day, tucked it away as long ago, but i can tell you that i live with it every day - in fact i make it a point not to forget. And there are thousands that do the same. It's just a DAMN shame that our leaders are not amongst that group.

Thats the least of Holder or our problems...when asked if there was legal precedent for this...we got the response "ughhhh....i dunno....."

Well, at least Gov. Patterson gets it. I've got to give him respect for that!

I may just frame this and hang it on my while. Strong work!

Correct me if im wrong, but i'm not sure hes actually rethinking it. From what i saw last night it seemed as if he felt that if our esteemed lawmakers in Albany can close the budget gap and come up with the money in another fashion he will scrap the plan. If not, we will all be shelling out 25 green backs for the tin.

BVFD, i've heard all the talking points but thanks for the refresh. I don't care if you teleport the SOB, it still puts NY at an increased risk, in my opinion. And i said nothing of the NYPD - i've got blood on all jobs (PD, FD, EMS) as well as close friends....i don't want to see them or anyone unnecessarily and ignorantly put at an increased risk so our President and his administration can grandstand their moral fortitude. Like i said a few posts back, put one in the head and two in the chest for good measure and let's be done with it.

NY10570 - i don't think any of that. I just respectfully disagree. I'm sick an tired of hearing that these people (not sure they even deserve that much) have rights. If you ask me, they gave those rights up the second the committed themselves to a life of terror. Moving this into the civilian sector really scares me and here is why: 1) What sort of additional security thread does this add to an already large target and how will this impact/effect every day life (ie: pulling cops from patrol to deal with moving this guy in and out of the court house, does NY become a fatter target with a personality like khalid sheikh mohammed living in downtown manhattan)? 2) Any defense lawyer that defends him is going to bring up water-boarding (which i have absolutely no problem with), we know that the libs pissed and moaned about this and it took this technique for him to spill his guts - will anything he admitted after being water-boarded be admissible? If not, how bad will this muck up the US prosecution? Look how many times it took the government to prosecute John Gotti Jr - they won't get it right and i fear the day that justice is adverted because of some bull$hit technicality or a poor prosecution.. Like i said earlier, terrorism and terrorists are not a law enforcement issue. It is a national security issue and should be dealt with via military channels. It's a testament to this country's morality and principled existance that these guys are even still alive.

That made me laugh. I'm not sure what closure you speak of, either. I still have vacant seats at my holiday dinner tables and these slugs are alive, well and entitled to civilian court privileges. We already tried treating the issue of terrorism as a law enforcement issue, and look how far that got us. We got what we need out of these people, now lets put one in their head and two in their chest and call it a day. Thanks for posting EFDCapt, much appreciated.

Have to agree with part of what BFD said when you look at these sorts of things from a general perspective (i'm not singling out Somers). If you volunteer, then you should do just that - volunteer your time and service without a desire to be or a need to be compensated monetarily. These ring around the rosie "solutions" have always been silly to me. Either pay people or don't. And most of all don't mislead you're population - if you're paying people, maybe volunteer should come off the side of the apparatus....

Better late than never.

As a caveat, Advocates for EMS also worked extremely hard on this bill. From what i was told by them, it was a very difficult fight and it still does not include the complete language they wanted. If the federal government declares a health emergency the 48 hour notification is waived. The health groups pushed for this and began to make the whole discussion rather contentious, given this agencies representing first responders allowed for waiver of the 48 hour rule during a federally declared health emergency in an effort to have the notification under normal circumstances reinstated.

Forget the ICU...straight to the morgue.

Didn't one of the volly houses just get a new Pierce? Ironic.

My understanding is that they secured an ALS licensee (CON i guess?) sometime over the summer and ARE operating at the Paramedic level. Just what i heard from some guys working WP EMS for TC.

No one is going to fault an officer if he/she hits a perp in the chest during a rapidly deteriorating situation. Taser simply refined its preferred target zones - the back being preferred and major muscle groups if aimed at the front of an individual. Do some quick research, there have been 400 deaths preceding taser use and out of those, medical examiners have determined 30 were either caused directly by the taser or the taser was a contributing factor. This isn't about someone getting away with anything, if you get tasted you're still getting hit with 50,000 volts - this just further reduces the possibility of an adverse cardiac event. If anything, this seems like a positive for agencies and officers...

I really have a problem with discussions like this. Already this is turning into a whole lot of group think and i don't think anyone has hit the central issue. Anyone who is employed or volunteers in the public safety sector should know to conduct him/herself as if someone were taking pictures and/or video taping their actions. These two guys made a bonehead move to get a bit too involved with the late night atmosphere and got caught - clearly a lapse in professionalism. Now, this lapse may been momentary, but however momentary it is a lapse. While i agree their actions were harmless and not ill-intentioned, someone needs to reminds them that someone is always watching. Hopefully this all blows over for them quickly and without any further complication.

Relax. I never said there shouldn't be plans in place for the possibility of large portions of the workforce being sick. I'm offering my opinion on the matter. Additionally, i speak from my perspective which is EMS but that doesn't mean that lessons learned elsewhere can't in some way be applied to other sectors of public safety. We don't have to re-invent the wheel - like i said look at what Toronto did during their SARS outbreak and i'm sure you will be able to find a host of things that can be applied. I'll even break it down for anyone who is interested (can't find anything about the Toronto fire service though): Toronto PD response to SARS outbreak, a retrospective: http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/in...;issue_id=42005 Toronto EMS and SARS (article from the CDC, tells part of the story but some of the good stuff is left out) http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol10no9/pdfs/04-0170.pdf

Once the vaccine hits the streets, its projected to be 95% effective in 95% of the population. Get it and you should be protected. It's produced the same way the seasonal flu vaccine is, and is generally safe as long as you have no hx of guion barre syndrome or are allergic to eggs. We should really be talking about prevention, if you ask me. In my opinion the top priority should be to vaccinate all employees. Mandate and have PPE protocols in place (ie: if you're going to use nebulized medications or have to intubate on goes gloves, N95, Gown, and eye protection, no exceptions). If things get pandemic bad at the local level (i don't foresee this) i think the REMAC should look to temporarily eliminate nebulized medications and intubation (they did it in Toronto during the SARS outbreak and it helped to limit the risk to providers and prevent further spread of the infection). Prevent sick employees from working and have them stay home for a minimum of 24 hours after symptoms break. There is a lot more to talk about but i would really urge people to look at how Toronto EMS handled the SARS outbreak, its a model for us all.

They probably got fired after they told them "well the majority of our day is spent sitting in the cab of an ambulance or in the station until the next run...and while there are surely some interesting trauma and medical runs out there, it's not every day that a high octane fuel tanker engulfs the interstate..."

Personally, i would rather watch paint dry. If you thought hollywood would get EMS right (they get little right these days...) you are very sadly mistaken.