PEMO3

I have to agree with Chris on this one. The patient base in Newburgh is either under-insured or uninsured. This leaves question to income based on call volume as an uninsured, unemployed patient is someone you are not going to recover from quickly. Add to that the additional costs of full tour equivelants and the fact that you need to have personnel to cover sick leave, comp, vacation time and RDOs, you are working with more personnel than you need to run the buses. This does not take into account that you just don't go to Avis and rent an ambulance, this is equipment and supplies that require purchasing to the tune of approximately $100K per rig not counting having any spares and preventive maintenance cost. If you take just 3 people per tour ( 1 off 2 on) and 3 tours and multiply that by apx $100k per person (salary, benefits, vacation days, sick leave and pension) you are at $1 million per unit for the first year. Any we have not even touched on insurance, gas, supervision, etc. While I would love to see NFD expand its operation I am missing how they can claim the savings unless it is a long term goal because to me the first year would be a deficit.

To answer your request, in 1990 the National Personal Transportation Survey was conducted and in summary found "Considering accidents of all levels of severity, drivers 16-19 had the highest rate per mile in 1990, experiencing 3.3 times the risk of drivers of all ages." The entire report can be viewed at http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/1007/2/83596.0001.001.pdf . Similarly another survey found "Drivers ages 15-20 accounted for 12% of all drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2008 and 14% of all drivers involved in police-reported crashes." The entire report can be found at http://www.rmiia.org/auto/teens/Teen_Driving_Statistics.asp. So it can not be said that this is regular vehicles and not "emergency vehicle operation the Wisconsin EMS Association found: "Whenever possible, emergency vehicle drivers should ordinarily be between the ages of 25 and 70. All vehicle crash data clearly shows a significantly increased risk for those drivers under the age of 25 with a graduating risk for drivers beginning at age 65. Emergency vehicle crash data show the same results including four out of the five last fatal crashes involved drivers under the age of 25. Because of the nature of emergency services, some EMS organizations may have limited options with regard to driver age. Whenever possible, emergency vehicle operations should ordinarily be completed by those within the 25-70 age bracket." This report can be found at http://www.objectivesafety.net/WEMSAEmergencyVehicleOperations.pdf I hope this provides the data to support the theory.

PFD, I do agree with you to some extent. If you read my earlier post (" While there are exceptions most 18 - 21 year old drivers still do not have the maturity level to fully comprehend the responsibility that such operations come with.") you will note that I state that there are the exceptions where a younger member is mature enough to be trusted with such a massive responsibility. You are right that because of trend in volunteerism agencies are being forced to rely on younger and younger members to fill the shrinking ranks. There are some older members I would not trust with a horse and buggy let alone a piece of emergency apparatus responding to a call.

I have a question. Based on this rule what makes other drivers know the vehicle approaching the intersection is an emergency vehicle and not a delivery truck? The whole point of a siren is to grab the attention of other drivers so that they look for the vehicle with flashing lights and what their intention is. Sounds to me that failure to use a proper audible warning device would leave you open for some level of liability in an intersection accident, which by the way is where a majority of responding accidents occur. Every accident I have every had information on the key questions where: where the emergency lights on, was due caution used and did the driver sound the siren upon approach and as they continued through the intersection. Putting it in an SOP - no siren on a toot or two of the air horn is like putting a nail in the coffin.

I have noticed an interesting trend to this thread. Our 18-21 year old members feel that having younger members drive emergency response vehicles is safe and has no issues. Our "older" members (myself included) have laid out reasons why driving should be left to the older, more mature personnel. Each time this has been rebuffed (no pun intended) by our 18-21 year old group. I think it is safe to say lets just all agree to disagree, let the agencies decide who they want to drive and how young. Hopefully that 18 year old flying down the road with lights on a siren blaring in that hulking piece of apparatus won't be stuck in the "siren tunnel vision" and will be the exception to the rule for maturity and get to the scene in one piece without creating another call and/or taking a life.

Personally I do not believe an 18 year old should be behind the wheel of an emergency vehicle. While there are exceptions most 18 - 21 year old drivers still do not have the maturity level to fully comprehend the responsibility that such operations come with. If you look at most insurance companies, they recognize the delay between "adulthood" and "mature adult" by maintaining a surcharge on drivers younger that 25 years of age. EVOC should be a must regardless of your age, 18, 21, or 55. It helps drivers comprehend the proper operation of an emergency vehicle, hones their skills and does reduce accidents. One of the biggest problems with younger apparatus drivers is "siren tunnel vision". Simulator studies have shown that "siren tunnel vision" is a real phenomenon that causes drivers of all ages to unintentional accelerate and loose peripheral focus. Younger drivers are more effected than older operators, while older operators do seem to be less dramatically effected and are prone to take less risks.

I am surprised that the way the city spins things that they did not say that 4 firefighters and an officers still has the staffing at 5 men, um politically correct mode, members per engine.

Fantastic. Congratulations to both. Well deserved.

Looking at this Home Depot video. Here is this old woman left alone in the isle of the store with her husband in cardiac arrest and not one store employee, manager, bystander, clerk there with her? Are not most stores now equipped with AEDs and if so are their staff not trained in their use? While I agree that I would also want to know if a neighbor collapsed based on this program it would be a wild guess because their house is not a public place. Great idea, good intentions, but in the real world to many issues that can and will arise to make it a royal headache. Just my opinion.

The new system is supposed to send alerts out the general public through both twitter and facebook and each alert will finally have an expiration date. A good idea since when it first came out the "Yellow" alert level meant something and people paid attention. Now "Yellow" is the new "Green" since it never was reduced and "Yellow" became business as usual. Having an expiration for a specific threat is also a double edged sword since once the expiration date comes people will assume the threat has passed and the door will be possible open for the threat to occur without scrutiny.

Firebuff, I have to disagree with you on this one. One knee jerk reaction does not justify another one. Pulling your resources does not help those helpless civilians you are sworn to serve. Secondly, unless the trooper is an EMT or Medic, depending on your level of training, you just can't pull out and say they have patient care now. Can you spell lawsuit? the defense that the trooper was a bone head or hurt your feelings is not going to be a valid defense. I would rather defend the ticket or arrest than the wrongful death/injury lawsuit from pulling out. I know which one I will prevail on and which one will drain my and my department/municipalities wallet on the award. Lastly, don't the taxpayers of North Merrick drive on that highway along with the out of town motorists? This is a simple case of "lets sit and talk with the higher ups and let cooler heads prevail".

You would think after actually having to pass laws such as the NYS Move Over Law some out there would put two and two together and realize that this is about safety in an environment full of distracted drivers. Maybe I am missing the troopers logic but if the car is in the center lane and it usually requires at a minimum one additional lane to properly extricate a patient, how was this to be done in a single lane with traffic on both sides. While it is understood that PD has scene control of the highway and traffic, what ever happened to we are all working on that road and safety needs to come first. Sounds more to me like a power play or something deeper.

Anybody notice this shot about a minute in. A tiller driving over 2 charged lines.

Thank you, these are some really good photos.

It's cold out there.

I think this excerpt may help you : "Under the UFA contract, of the city's 194 engine companies, 134 are staffed with four firefighters and 49 are staffed with five - if medical leave rates stay below 7.5%. Another 11 companies are always staffed with five firefighters, regardless of the medical leave numbers." (FDNY Restorse Engine Company Staffing Levels, January 4, 2010, http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/fdny-restores-engine-company).

Sounds like a really good idea but not one that someone should do arbitrarily without first checking with a dealership or mechanic. A lot of the newer vehicles on the road loose information such as radio unlock codes and other information when left without battery power of some level for an extended period of time. While your car may turn over like it was "warm" you may have more trouble than a jump start would have fixed.

PFDRes47cue it looks real impressive. A few quick questions, does this unit set up similar to the pop-up tents? Is the vent on the top part of the heater unit or a fresh air intake? Good luck with it. Great to see agencies thinking outside the box for solutions.

I would love to see some photos of this set up. Sounds like someone did their homework.

Sharp looking truck. I like the use of the flush lighting instead of a light bar.

Sad part is that this bartender is not as up on the news as he makes himself out to be. The PD presences at the new Freedom Tower was reported to be NYPD resources not PAPD resources so the "airport" comment could not have been further off base. As far as his manager is concerned, whatever happened to customer service and the customer is always right. Guess not at this bar. I say B-O-Y-C-O-T-T-!-! Finnegan's Bar and Grill - either way it will make a nice parking lot.

Unfortunately, a lot of people look at unions in a negative way like you did. If a union and employer work together the process can protect employees from being unjustly terminated for minor infractions while the bosses "brother" has his infractions overlooked. A union can level the playing field on the terms of labor relations. To not unionize so you can fire at will is a dangerous train of thinking. Imagine the shoe on the other foot. A union gives the employee a voice they otherwise would not have.

Seems like a well handled job based on how fast things went south from the video. Also never once did I hear the word "expedite" used. The use of pre-arrival assignments made it clear that the IC had a handle on the job and his approach. The statement to have the medic units stand fast with their units until called for in staging prevented freelancing in what was clearly a dangerous situation. Utilizing multiple staging areas and an aide for communications was another item that stands out as a plus in this operation. Of course this is all based on a condensed radio record and just my opinion.

Are you talking about the fire at 204 Second Ave on February 27, 1975 that took out their switching center along with most phone service in the New York Metro area?

I would be surprised if they don't come out with an app for that too!