Goose

...or you could try and balme TurboTax If this were you or i, or anyone else for that matter, and we tried to run for public office or a special no-elected position...there would be hell... This is also a little food for thought about the new economic bill trying to be pushed through... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtFwS2W3ITI

What gives Dutchess a great edge is that 1) you have centralized dispatch, 2) dispatching is highly organized - ie: there are procedures and policies on everything from units that cannot get out to MCIs, 3) most areas have chosen to go with paid EMS solutions and 4) volunteer agencies like East Fishkill do get out for the majority of their jobs

The system is not working. Honestly, what is there to fix? What needs to happen is we need to start from scratch. Period. As far as an increase in taxes there very well may be, but at least we would have something tangible to point and look toward and see those tax dollars going to something worthwhile. If a county system is created in a thoughtful and intelligent manor i think tax payers would go along with it, not saying it would be easy but it could very well happen. Essentially, the tax payers need to stop having the wool pulled over their eyes and agencies need to come clean about response times and staffing. The problem is that 1 request for service overwhelms the vast majority of agencies in Westchester County. That's not a system i am willing to make the best of.

Sure, Chris. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090113/ap_on_...reasury_nominee If anyone watched the actual hearings, he admitted to and apologized for the "error." I'm having trouble finding tape of the hearings, but i'm still searching. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVYyYhp8ov8

The leg injury into cardiac arrest / massive MI happened to me in a region WITH priority dispatch. Not the dispatcher's fault, they dispatched according to what they got. And, if it matters, i did call them up once i finished the job just to let them know what it was and to my knowledge it was reviewed. Other than that i pretty much agree with everything you've said, i think my posts reflect that. At the end of the day it is clear that EMS within Westchester is in dire straights. So?

What's the matter, bro? You don't want to spread the wealth? This kind of garbage is status quo so far for our President. I mean for christ sake our about to be confirmed secretary of the treasury is a tax evader!

If anything i feel bad for them during the winter months a naked head has gotta be cold! During the summer too...gotta watch out for sunburn!

I use the term battlefield loosely. Some may have showed up on the battlefield proper, but how many returned to terrorism in general? There are a thousand and one roles they could be playing - and I'm not giving these guys the benefit of the doubt. I don't even think Seton Hall can answer that one. When you give people like this the benefit of the doubt you are playing a very dangerous game. If you haven't, i suggest everyone read Lone Survivor by Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell. He talks very eloquently about giving these people the benefit of the doubt and what happens when you mix politics into the decision making process.

Very, very unfortunate. Hopefully he will 1) be relieved of his duties as asst. chief and that light bar ripped off his battle wagon, 2) these families will get their money Just another example of total lack of accountability....

And for Gitmo, i never minded it. People make it out to be some horrible place where innocent men are beaten and tortured. We actually treat these pieces of trash better than we treat some of our own citizens. Not for nothing, the second you involve yourself in terrorism or sympathize, you relinquish all your civil/human/political rights in my book. Obama will be regretting this once we start picking these guys back up on the battlefield (which has already happened) after their "trials" in their country of origin.

Well, if you are convicted of misdemeanors or felonies and try to take an EMT course you can't sign the application for emergency medical services certification and the state then needs to review your case. Not sure how reporting works for currently certified individuals (not applicable in this particular situation, though). I assume someone would need to contact EMS.

Man, i miss Poughkeepsie.

I'm not a firefighter, but it seems to me that surround and drown is the best bet. It's just not worth sending anyone inside a heap of molten rubber - i imagine that stuff is like napalm when its in a burning/liquid state. Sounds like some sort of foam would have helped smother things a bit. Thats my take. As a side bar - so much for the builder's intent on a "green" home, he probably just blew a hole in the ozone layer the size of the Holland tunnel.

It's really more of a sleepy hollow issue than anything and after that its more of a volunteer ems issue than anything. When most of these VACs and VFD have "Volunteer" or "All Volunteer Since The Dawn of Time" plastered on their trucks and the people inside are not wearing uniforms it doesn't take a PhD to determine that those are volunteers. Likewise, volunteer agencies tend to have a large social component. I don't know about you guys, but i surely don't go to work on my off day or am anywhere near it after having been out.

Lunch Box to City 911, I'm 10-5.

This whole messiah crap is what is going to be his biggest pain in the a**. He will likely be unable to fix any of the above mentioned issues and will only be able to make a small dent in a handful. As was said, he is just a human being. American Government isn't exactly the most expeditious and come mid term elections he will likely be faced with a more conservative congress and will find difficulty getting things done. This whole "change" mantra is a load of bull the government today is no more accountable than it was yesterday. What's even most disconcerting is our lovely Speaker of the House is going to try and waste our time and money on investigating every second of the Bush Administration. Obama is not going to allow that to go anywhere, i assure you and that alone is going to piss a lot of people off. My summation of today's events: OK.....so yesterday America was a dark and horrible place and today it's bright and wonderful. Wow! Can you feel the difference? What I missed was the Obama's and the Biden's standing on the Capitol steps singing Kumbaya as Bush coptered away. Also missed Cheney stroking a white Angorra cat in his wheelchair. It would have been soooo perfect. At least Biden didn't ask him to stand up. All I can say is the Left is going to be mighty unhappy with him when they go home and find out their mortgages haven't been paid and their kids are still Googling Britney instead of science questions.

I'm sure much more than a handful have already died or have been negatively effected by the status quo. It will take either someone VERY "important" to die/have to wait an absurd time or a major disaster until anyone does anything and starts holding people accountable.

DCFD naturally covers all of DC - including government offices (to the best of my knowledge). I saw a few pictures of FBI Paramedics (Special Agents who are part of the HRT/SWAT who are also Paramedics) as part of the various details - maybe one of those guys got things going and then care was transfered to DCFD? Not sure. He was transported by ambulance, though - apparently conscious, alert and oriented.

Like i said, any system like that - while a novel ideal - is just prolonging the inevitable, in my opinion. I'm not pulling this stuff out of my rear end, i see it when i go mutual aid. I'm not sure what your point about fictitious emergencies vs. true emergencies is. Sure, i respond to tons of things i perceive as complete BS and those things very well may not require an ambulance but who am i (and who are we) to determine that? You can't determine that. So every call gets the same response and is afforded the same evaluations and we go from there. Are you advocating that when i receive a call my partner and i go "hmm, well yeah, someone fell down the stairs...that sounds like BS so we are going to wait around and see if a legit job comes in?" I've been dispatched to a slew of leg injuries that turn out to be cardiac arrests/massive MIs and i've been dispatched to tons of cardiac arrests with CPR in progress only to find a conscious, alert and oriented patient upon arrival. As far as the Volly bus blazing to an already down-triaged call, thats a problem and it should be dealth with. But i don't work in a system like that. But, that's not even the real issue the REAL issue is getting an ambulance at all. Both ALS and BLS calls should be afforded an ambulance response in a timely fashion. Period. Just as many times as you have a BLS bus going Code 3 to a down triaged call you have a BLS bus not showing up on a pediatric arrest, severe diff breather, etc, etc, etc...you would need a lot of hands to count those incidents around the County. I am not advocating that every job receive a Code 3 response. I really wish we had a priority system in this county which would dictate responses it would create a much safe working/volunteering environment for everyone. But even then, on a low priority (no lights/sirens)your not waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, your waiting 5 - 10 max. The down side to this is volunteers won't show up for a Priority 4 / Alpha Level (i'm using the Putnam and Dutchess system here) job. And that is EXACTLY what happens - i've seen it time and time and time again in the field. Trust me when i say this - you do not want to 1) feel what it's like when your stuck at a call all alone and you know no one is coming out (despite page after page after page) to drive the ambulance and 2) having to explain to the little old lady who broke her ankle that i cannot take you yet because the volunteers to drive the ambulance don't seem to be showing up and neither are the volunteers from surrounding communities. Needless to say, on that job, i had to have the Medic pulled out of service to drive the truck because i got fed up at 45 minutes.

All EMS doesn't have to be paid, but all EMS in Westchester County has to be paid. The highest taxed County in all these United States and you can't get a halfway decent EMS response in 98% of the towns/villages/hamlets.

Honestly thats just prolonging the inevitable. It's like putting Volunteer EMS on life support. Someone just has to step up to the plate and start paying people - if that happened we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Yes, he collapsed and apparently had a seizure. Those shadowy bastard children who stare death in the face every day and were absent from the presidential address took him to the hospital.

I'm not so sure about EMS.

The man hasn't done anything yet. I'll tell you what impresses me every 4 years is the way we handle a transition of power. it is a testament to the greatness of America. Despite all the rhetoric and partisanship today is a day all of stand hand in hand as Americans. God Bless America and it's new President, his family and all of his administration. While he was not my choice, he is my president and i will support him 110% (unlike many of my liberal brethren).

Quarterbacking a job your listening to on your scanner? You're telling me its about payroll and not pride? You had a 500 dollar bill for service. What's your complaint? You called and they rendered you a service and they deserve to get paid for that service. And you complain? Maybe if they were properly funded by the taxpayers they wouldn't have to bill? But you would probably vote that down, right? Police and Fire Departments charge for burglar alarms and automatic alarms - why can't EMS bill? I'm not sure i follow your point about mutual aid. The purpose of this post is about the ABUSE of the mutual aid system aka an agency who simply does not get out and lets the vast majority of their calls be covered by surrounding agencies. We are not talking about an agency with 4 trucks who cover 4 of 5 jobs that drop all within 10 minutes. We are talking about agencies who do 500 - 1000 calls a year who get 2 - 3 jobs during normal business hours (separated by a reasonable amount of time) who cannot get their ambulance out the door and rely on other communities and their agencies to respond in. I haven't read or head anyone denying mutual aid to an agency - career, volunteer or combined - so not really sure what you're getting out there.