Pudge3311

good point about putting the dirty bag on the nice fresh cot. but then again, we decon everything else, how often do we decon the first in bag or the Oxygen tanks that we place with the patient? Its sounds great that we should decon everything that we use, but lets face it, who wants to decon every piece of equipment after every ambulance call? If you look at the extreme, we should be deconing the whole back of the ambulance after every call. That would just take entirely too long, and since most of the EMS in the county is volunteer, who is going to take the extra 30 minutes to do it?

rwc130, I didnt mean to make it seem that the apparatus has anything to do with manpower. The issue was really more about pointing out the fact that Mt. Vernon, I believe, is one of the only cities in westchester that seems to have a budget surplus. Having said that, im not saying that they should spend it all in one place, or not save for a rainy day, but improving something as vital as a fire department might be a good idea. Adding more manpower would be my first thought. New equipment also seems like a good idea, first to update the fleet but also to improve moral. Thats not to say moral isnt high, but new equipment usually brings a renewed desire. If im not mistaken, the city is awaiting two new engines, a new foam truck, and may be looking into a new rescue in the near future. Any confirmation on that would be welcome. Again, apparatus is a tool used to put out the fire, and you cant put out the fire without the men to use the equipment. Sorry if i gave the wrong idea.

Dont think it will happen any time soon, if ever for that matter. Not to take a swing at any departments, but heres my take. Who would want to do anything with Mt. Vernon. A fully paid fire dept. still using open cab engines and trucks as first response apparatus. Pelham and Pelham Manor have talked about consolidating and such for a number of years and are back at it. As usual, nothing really comes of it, it is talked about and then something else becomes more important and it is dropped yet again. Also the Manor has officers, while Pelham does not. New Rochelle would be the loser in all of this. They have the most current fleet of apparatus, and are able to staff their five engines and three ladders every shift. Now if only they could staff their rescue as well. The other questions that would then pop up, what happens to the Volunteers in Pelham and Pelham Manor? Who decides which stations stay in service, what apparatus is in each station, and what the staffing level would be? Simply put, if u really wanted to combine the departments, you would have to do the whole county, like they have out west, leaving cities like yonkers and white plains to decide for themselves if they wanted to be a part of it. Otherwise, might as well just leave things how they are.