efermann

While I realize this site is a fire/police/ems site, the tax cap actually hits EVERY government agency equally (except maybe the village manager's/mayor's office). But DPW, building, etc are all unable to replace retiring employees. It's an issue that won't go away and won't make any governmental agency effective. Consolidation...only if the politicians will allow it to go through.

While I realize this site is a fire/police/ems site, the tax cap actually hits EVERY government agency equally (except maybe the village manager's/mayor's office). But DPW, building, etc are all unable to replace retiring employees. It's an issue that won't go away and won't make any governmental agency effective. Consolidation...only if the politicians will allow it to go through.

This is why NFPA 1901 requires AED's on all apparatus even if you do not provide EMS 1st Response. This is why all firefighters should have CPR and even CFR or EMT as a minimum.

I agree 100%. My father exercised regularly and took care of himself. He took a stress test in September and PASSED NO PROBLEM. This is the second time I've heard of a stress test inaccurately diagnosing any severe atherosclerosis or blockages. The only way they saw the blockages was through arterial catheterization. My father wants to tell everyone consult your doctor and see if this is an option. It may save your life or another's one day.

I'm glad to hear things are going well.
This is a reminder -- NOT NECESSARILLY IN THIS CASE -- but it's important to stay in shape for this job.
Again, NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS PARTICULAR CASE because I don't really know. Just a general reminder.

Hey guys here for an update-my father was responding to a full assignment on Monday when he suddenly collapsed. My brothers from WPFD used an AED to bring him back almost immediately. He went in for surgery yesterday and all went well. The doctors expect him to make a full recovery. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

In Ossining, a similar building has gone up and is just about finished, I think. The attached photo was taken last summer when my kids and I went to watch the modular components being placed on top of the steel frame underneath. It's going to be mixed use (stores at street level, residential units above). The two floors of pre-built modular components went on over a weekend and maybe one extra day.

Here's a question that fits this thread.
When you do live fire training, do you
1. Train new or up and coming IC's along with your Chiefs?
2. Plan a surprise simulated Mayday to which the IC must react? (e.g. an inside officer at a given time calls a Mayday-collapse- members trapped)
3. Do you do this simulated Mayday before a FAST team arrives? (so that the 2-OUT and the on-scene personnel must be utilized)
4. Do you critique the events?
Do you think you should?

So does this mean the new standard does not call for the capability to transport a second liter bound pt?
That vent is quite handy to get hot air out of the rig if it has been sitting outside, parked for hours. Also, if a pt feels too hot but the rig will not cool down any faster, turning on the vent during transport will help the pt think it is getting cooler even if it is not.

Next time you go to work look at the guy sitting next to you, I bet he has it figured out.

FAST, RIT, MAT, 2-OUT, RESCUE TEAM, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT MUST BE IN PLACE WHENEVER THERE ARE MEMBERS IN AN ILDH.
That's not my opinion, it's OSHA's and it's the law. You are not allowed to put your RIT to work without replacing them with another RIT first. OSHA doesn't particularly care exactly how you accomplish this but they are sticklers on that you accomplish this with no gaps.
This tip might help you as to what should be established on the fireground:
Years ago I learned the "20 minute rule." If on arrival you expect members to be operating for more than 20 minutes to gain complete control of the fire, you must call for more resources. why 20 minutes? Because that's how long an air pack lasts.
Its' not rocket science(although there are times you do need rocket science). It's more like baseball. You need 9 players on the field plus guys on the bench that can go in at any time AND play the position they are going in to fill.

I like the discussion here. But I have yet to really hear from any department (other than one) that is really interested in putting all of our heads together to work towards the same thing.
Firefighter safety, survival and rescue training is near and dear to me. I firmly believe the additional 24 hours of FAST training should be tacked on to the Firefighter I & Survival classes the WCFTC puts out. I also can't comprehend why survival training and rescue of our own is not minimum training for all of us. To make it a separate program and not make it required training STATEWIDE irritates the living hell out of me.
What further irks me is that guys walk out of the training center, carrying their Firefighter I certificates (most not take Survival, thanks WCDES) and never again take a course to better themselves in the interest of all those that they will be working with.
Survival and Firefighter Rescue Training needs to be a requirement - period, end of story.
/rant

Personally I can tell you I have never gone in when arriving first ahead of FD on a FD job. especially CO call. Not my job to go in. Yes people could be in danger or down but it's not my job. I leave it to FD and standby outside. If they need me for something they can let me know. My thinking is why go in if someone is ready down they are already in a bad situation and overcome. Ill just be another person down and creating more problems. FD is around for a reason. Just my 2 cents

So lets forget all our training and just run in?
A traffic vest is a big difference from an SCBA
You are correct we don't know what info they got. If it was off duty FF's we would be saying the exact same thing.
So lets get ride of all PPE and training.We could just risk it to save someone.
As a supervisor, I have a responsability to my personnel to send them home at the end of the shift (or call). If we can save someone after evaluating and minimizing the risks (thru PPE) then lets do it otherwise we are not providing a service to the community.
.

I saw nothing, smell nothing so it must be safe right?
Before reading the other responses all I could think of was would we have labeled this if they did not survive this incident. I bet its not "great job".

Both are correct with the different names.
2in/2out is the law and a FAST team can be the 2 out as long as they are ready to go in BEFORE the 2 (or more) members enter any IDLH atmosphere.
Their is no legal requirement for FAST, but their are standards that require it (and can be used in litigation against an IC &/or Dept).
NFPA 1710 requires an IRIC within 8 minutes as part of every response to a reported structure fire. The IRIC is an "initial rapid intervention company" and it consists of 2 interior FF's (the 2 out). The standard requires that upon declaring a "working fire" the IRIC must be upgraded to a RIC by adding 2 additional interior ff's.

I bought a ticket on behalf of all members here, and fully expect to win the Powerball drawing tommorow. I will post the ticket and our numbers tommorow.
Depending on how much is won and how many people post, each member who posts "I'm in" before 9 PM tommorow (Saturday May 17th 2013) in this thread will get $150,000 (hopefully much more), with the stipulation that an additional $25,000 must be donated to the charity of your choice.
Good luck to all who bought tickets!

I have no idea where things stand for that site in Sleepy Hollow, but not for nothing, any re-development of that property is likely to incur additional insurance costs at this point. FEMA re-did their flood insurance maps in the not too distant past (February?) and the cost of flood insurance is going to increase incrementally unless the buildings are above their newly determined flood heights.
I have a friend who owns a property in Margate (NJ) who plans on selling and then building a new second home. They are going to have to raise their next 2nd home so many feet in order to avoid the additional flood insurance rates.
This link (http://fema.maps.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=2f0a884bfb434d76af8c15c26541a545) pulls up the new advisory levels for flood insurance. Feel free to zoom in on any costal region to see the new advisory levels. Zoom in on the Sleep Hollow site in question here and you can see it's in zone ABFE: V and ABFE: A (those abreviations stand for the flood zone levels). Click in any of the pink areas and then click on the Frequently Asked Questions. Read some of that information...it's eye-opening, especially for future development or anyone who owns property within the re-classified zones.
My understanding is that it will be up to the local government on if they will accept the new zones, but I could be wrong. In any case, I don't think there really is a way to get around it, even if the local govt doesn't accept the new zones.
This doesn't really get at the question of "why hasn't anyone done something there", but might shed some light on why the property might sit for a longer time now.

PS My aunt is doing much better, she's awake and alert. Her color has returned and most of her vitals are good. She's still on a ventilator in the Trauma ICU, but she's definitely doing a lot better than she was yesterday.

On April 1st 2013, Scotland's 8 regional Fire & Rescue services were merged into a single national department. The 8 regional police services were also merged into a single national service.
The 8 regions were originally made up of many smaller depts. but during and after world war IIthey were merged.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21938388
Wow, 8 depts are too many for an entire nation so they are merging them into 1. We have 59 in just our county and they all believe that their community would not survive without them. Infact we have whole towns with 8 departments. What was most interesting is their reasoning for the merge, they wanted to save money, but most important they did not want to reduce services. All over America we see depts cutting staffing, cutting companies, cutting houses, cutting salaries and the number of volunteers dropping, but still no one is willing to merge to make sure the services delivered in the field remain strong? So this merger will save enough money to maintain every company, every station and the minimum manning on an engine will remain at 6 (1 officer, 1 driver & 4 firefighters).We really need to rethink how we do this and why we do this.

It appears from Seth's original post that he's looking for the initial radio report (that's what we call it here). For us it's windshield view report of the incident before anyone exits the apparatus and makes a 360 or talks to anyone on scene. We require the the following:
Corrected address if other than initially dispatched
Number of stories
Type of occupancy
conditions showing
assumption of a "named" command
additional alarms or requests as needed
Examples: "Tower 3 is onscene at 3-2-8 Main St. with a 4 story multiple occupancy with nothing showing, Unit 7 has Main St.
Command".
" Rescue 3 is onscene at North main and Broadway with a two car head-on with severe damage, multiple victims
probable, Unit 14 has North Main Command, start a two more rescues and recall a company."
" Squad 3 is onscene at 34 Talbot Ave. with heavy fire showing from single story unattached garage with close
exposures. Unit #2 has Talbot Ave . make this a first alarm."
We did away with requiring the construction type in the initial radio report as today discerning this from the seat is much harder and everyone agreed that how they responded upon hearing this information didn't change things for them. We also rarely state our mode of operation, except that when it's defensive, it's declared defensive. Anything with nothing showing or limited showing implies an investigation mode, anything with smoke or fire implies an offensive attack unless defensive is declared.
Upon exiting the apparatus, the initial IC will conduct his/her full size-up and make a radio update as necessary. Everyone else who arrives must do their own personal size-up and those who are company officers must be looking at the issues relative to their assignment as well.

1. With the TSP northbound closed during this incident due to a serious MVA, that doesn't help things.
2. People should know alternate routes and/or how to use a map/GPS.
3. There's a plethora of those nifty message boards out there. In instances like this, coordination of agencies (PD, OEM, etc.) should get them out there to help assist people. It's 2013, there's no reason why we can't get these now and not keep everyone in the blind.
4. The main alternative route was through Crotonville, down Quaker Bridge Road out to Route 129. This road isn't the best for the trucks that were detoured and I am amazed none of them got into any accidents.
5. Can you all imagine what things will be like should we ever need to evacuate... that s*** ain't happening!

Yes, it is part of the job. Unfortunately the reality is that we are all still human and can get frustrated, too. I don't know if that's the case here but it contributes. As it does in other services where I've heard "screw 'em, let 'em wait in traffic" and "I can close the road so I'm gonna close the road F@(*$% 'em". But that's a discussion for another thread.
Traffic direction and control does not equal information booth and the traffic would be worse if every car stopped to ask for their own personal set of directions. Follow everyone else and you can probably figure it out. Almost everyone has a cell phone/smart phone/GPS/map and can obtain their own directions. Laziness and stupidity are not excuses. An unoccupied police car blocking the road probably indicated that the officer was needed elsewhere on the scene for something else. Not much you can do about that when you have limited resources available to you. Any officer sitting in his car may be writing a report or performing some other duties that you're not aware of.
I often ask questions and post comments in fire or EMS topics. That's very different than specifically bashing an agency here (which IS a violation of the forum rules by the way) for their conduct at a job. When I comment in a topic, I seldom tell people how to do their job whereas many here think that it is perfectly fine to do so about law enforcement. There IS an anti-law enforcement sentiment on this site and many have complained about it in the past.
I'm not dismissing any members "complaint". I made a comment equally obnoxious though not directed at any one agency. Mind you that I'm not the complaint department for any agency. If the member has a "complaint" there are official channels to lodge it and EMTBravo ain't it. Now, if you don't think that drivers education is virtually non-existent today and that people drive like morons (that is different than calling everyone a moron) I don't know where you drive.

And then there are depts with lower staffing and taller buildings........We must be at a really big disadvanage