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Let me clarify our modus operandi for you a bit. Team members carry their own personal gear (climbing harnesses and gear, search packs, medical small-kits for those of us who are EMT's) in their vehicles along with uniforms. When something requiring a very quick response goes down (eg missing child, missing Alzheimer's, rescue) we respond TO THE SCENE in our personal vehicles. Nobody will EVER run hot to the shed to go get the truck. Some people have bumper stickers, some of us use these handy little magnetic panels that come off and on with our team's logo on them... but all of us in some fashion try to identify our vehicles when we get to a scene. The local PD tends to argue a lot less with the search leader who gets there if the search leader has a vehicle with emblems and lights on it (sometimes there isn't time to change into uniform prior to arriving on scene and sometimes city PD or rural folks are kind of dense and not really sure who we are even though they requested us...) so that's another function of why we have members with lights... everyone who has lights, to my knowledge is a rated leader of some sort on our team. All our important gear, including our various baskets, large basket wheel, rescue kits, ropes, medical kits, O2, avi beacons, probe poles, shovels, winter sled, etc. is in one of our primary response vehicles; one looks like a big ambulance that's just full of shit, while the other is more of a truck with boxes model. Those vehicles are ONLY driven emergent by individuals certified by our sheriff's office. I drive them non-emergent, as that is what I am qualified for. Both these trucks also have additional lighting, with the best lighting coming from our primary truck, not our backup (our primary is the ambo style with a light tree you could make toast with on the roof). Sometimes, there is no good place to park onscene, so you end up stuck halfway off the road. Lights are a good thing for this, and we try to sandwich vehicles without lights in between vehicles WITH lights when that happens. Different countries, different modes of operation. This seems to work pretty well for us. Nobody said this guy has a ton of lights, and nobody has yet to prove to me that he's a whacker and deserves to have a SIMPLE QUESTION hit with a bunch of negatives. This whole reputation system was supposed to be based on quality of post, rather than whether or not your opinion was popular. Since threads in the damn FUNNY SECTION can be upvoted or downvoted, there goes that idea... Drives me nuts to see everyone who's got an issue with POV lights downvoting someone for asking a friggin' question. If he were arguing that it just looks cool and he's got to run hot to everything, I'd understand... but he just asked how to install the lights he's got. OP- my hubby suggests you visit a Dodge truck forum, as there's bound to be threads on that kind of thing with which wires to splice, etc. Wendy CO EMT-B

Heh..some of the folks I work with would swear to you that I've forgone PO and been put on a pump. Unfortunately my testosterone toxicity is naturally occurring and chronic. No cure in sight... Who in the hell gave you a negative for this post?? I fixed it for ya.. Dwayne Note: Grin chaser. That would be the expected result, though Babs is smart enough to know not to fight a drug/hormone addict. She uses coercion instead and gets everything she want.. :-)

That statement is not always the case, per state protocols. In MS, with the exeption of trauma, a pt has the right to ask to be transported to any hospital they want that is inside the services transport radius, reguardless of the appropriateness of the choice. If you for force a pt to go to a hospital they do not want to, you can be charged with kidnapping. The only way around this is to have online direction telling you to go to a particular hospital. As long as the pt is A/O, you typically won't get those orders though.

Screw the side effects! http://natebloch.com/

You'll have more luck in a fire forum getting an honest answer to your question. I can't help you, I only know Toyotas as far as that kind of vehicle goes. Two questions for the OP: Are you required to have these? If not, think about whether you really want/need that visibility... only you know your area, but know that lights bring risks along with benefits. Are you going to be running "emergent" driving with these on? If so, what training requirements do you have to do so, and are you aware that driving fast while running emergent drastically increases your likelihood of an accident? To all of you folks in here bashing this poor guy for asking how to install his lights, why the hell did you assume off the bat that he was a whacker and didn't have a legit purpose for lights on his vehicle? Some of my SAR team (search managers, rescue leaders, etc.) have lights that are hidden on their POV until in use, and let me tell you, it DOES enhance your safety as you're parked in a wonky spot along a road because the unfortunate guy you're rescuing went through the guardrail there... people can see you from a lot further off, especially at night. They're also a godsend as you're trying to fight your way up the Thompson or Poudre canyons- people get out of your way in *safe spots* and you can make it to the scene faster. (I don't have lights on either my vehicle or my husband's, but I know the people who do run with them- safely, I might add. You drive like an asshole, you get your sheriff's understanding and certification for lights/siren yanked immediately.) My team, having operated since 1979 officially as a nonprofit organization with a memorandum of understanding with the local sheriff, has YET to have an incident with a member running hot. EVER. The worst that happens to us is someone falling asleep at the wheel as they head home from a search... thank God nobody's wrecked... Not everyone with lights is a whacker. Not everyone asking about lights is a whacker. Since this guy mentioned green for rescue and blue for fire, I'm betting he's not running hot with them, especially as he doesn't have reds and a siren. It may be policy where he is to have lights on his response vehicle based on his qualifications. Ya'll are knee-jerk reacting to something, and guess who looks the fool for it? Wendy CO EMT-B

As expected Phil, rx torn up, Babs kicks his ass, all resumes as it should in the household. JK D

Err... tablet and slate PCs have been around for a while now. What I can't imagine having any uses is a computer that can't multitask.

So what happened when you took them Dwayne????????

Actually it is because the people in the community are taking an active interest in their health care that these issues may arise. Insurances are also putting the fear of medical debt into their clients. For some cases such as a MI, you can asure the patient their emergent needs may be covered by their insurance at another hospital. People who have Kaiser insurance will be hysterical if they land in another facility regardless of how serious their emergency is. Also, as soon as the patient has had a cath or has been intubated and stabilized for whatever reason, Kaiser will insist their patient be transported to them. Thus one has to be aware of the patient concerns and address them to the best of your ability but don't make promises. Granted insurance issues are not your concern except to complain about people who don't have any that ride your ambulance. Just considering the patient to be a moron and ignoring their concerns without at least expressing some interest in them even though you will still have to transport per protocols isn't exactly good patient care either. My own insurance will not cover many emergencies if I go to a hospital out of network. It may be left up to me to prove I was going to die if I didn't go to the closest hospital. So your report had better reflect that since I will be sending out copies to the insurance and probably an attorney if the bill is significant to get copies of your protocol so the issue can be resolved. If I break a leg and cannot get to a network hospital by POV or taxi, I will be paying 50% of the bill. That may be 50% of $20k - $220k depending on the severity. If at all possible I would choose to be transported out of the ED by another ambulance to a network hospital but then that might not be possible without an accepting physician and bed availability. Since the ED also wants their bed back, I may be stuck at that hospital and going into serious medical debt.

Hey Chris, Up here we run green for rescue and blue for fire. I am involved with both. Its weird I know, but I can't change things. It's NYS law. Whether I am running either my blue lights or green lights I can be seen 360 degrees around. I don't drive recklessly when I have my lights on and I don't have a siren. Siren's in NYS are only required with red lights. My lights are primarily for awareness.

Hey Chris, Up here we run green for rescue and blue for fire. I am involved with both. Its weird I know, but I can't change things. It's NYS law. Whether I am running either my blue lights or green lights I can be seen 360 degrees around. I don't drive recklessly when I have my lights on and I don't have a siren. Siren's in NYS are only required with red lights. My lights are primarily for awareness.

Thanks for you input Mobey.

POV lights should always be mounted on the wall in the basement for those hoppin' dance parties!! Do you also have a siren? Are you under emergency services insurance? Are you 100% sure if you get in a wreck while L&S, you will be covered by insurance if you kill someone who does not yield do your POV? Are you sure you can live with yourself if you do injure someone on the way to a brush/garbage fire? Just some questions to ask yourself. You may be able to tell, I am not a fan of POV lights. If you are required to respond "Hot" to the hall, they should supply you with an emergency vehicle with the proper reflective decaling, safety standards, and provide defensive driver training.

Ashes, not sure where you are located, but this could have been solved by your dispatch centre using the ANI-ALI system (I can't remember what that stands for, but I am sure someone will remind me)... what that does, is any call that comes into dispatch shows up on the screen of the dispatcher's computer. The phone number, address, and name of the person whose number it is shows up, if it is a land line. If it is a cell phone, the phone number and the carrier (Telus, Bell, Rogers, etc) shows up, and the tower location they are bouncing off of. At least if that cell phone caller doesn't know where they are, it is a starting point. There is nothing more you could do in the situation you had. You used all the resources you could. If your dispatch uses this, the call you described should have never happened. The dispatcher would have been able to tell if it was a cell phone or not, and they would have had access to the number called through the entire incident, as it would have stayed on their screen. If it was a land line, the exact address would have shown up too, and they could have referred back to it. This gives no chance of human error by copying down a wrong address or phone number, or the caller giving completely wrong information that is unable to be verified. Now, having said that, there are so many other ways that dispatch can mishandle a call - paging out the wrong crew is a big one. I have had many calls where I have argued with dispatch that the call is not in my area, and they have argued with me. Since I have worked in the dispatch centre here, I tend to tell them to turn around, pull the big wall map down from the ceiling, and look at a certain area, which I describe to them... within a few seconds, I get the "your unit can stand down, and we will page unit XYZ." One of the biggest problems our dispatch centre has is staff turnover - they have almost a 50% staff turnover every 3 months... this has been going on for at least 5 years, and the powers that be haven't done a thing about it. Obviously, with that kind of staff turnover, there are administrative issues. Having worked there, I can tell you what they are, but that would take a whole other thread. With that kind of turnover, and shortened orientation times, staff do not know the region, they do not know how to read maps, and they end up on a desk before they are ready. Add to that the politics that goes on in that department, and it is a recipe for disaster. The provincial dispatch centre is going to have a number of wrinkles to iron out, but that does happen with any change. I am hoping that it will be better than what I have in my area right now... because my head is starting to bleed from banging it against the wall...

Any EMS agency that chooses IAFF to represent the employees after the Kansas City MAST betrayal deserves to lose their jobs to the fire department. It's completely stupid to rely on a fire fighter union to look after your needs when the same union is gunning to move as much EMS as possible into the fire departments to save fire fighter jobs. This is the proverbial fox looking after the hen house.

I agree there. There is a lot of things it's lacking. Like you said, it's nothing more than a large 1st gen ipod. Apple needs to pull their heads from their butts and start putting out quality products that are up to date. Not starting from the beginning and keep upgrading/releasing new of the same thing. They know their mistakes/problems from the iphone/iod. So, what did they do with the ipad? Started it off just like the iphone. It's just a money maker.

The iPad is great. FOR ME TO POOP ON!

Just how is this going to 'do great things for EMS'? Will we be able to 'point and scan' like the tricorders do on Star Trek? Will it record, analyze and transmit EKG strips to the recieving facility? Since it's iPhone technology, does that mean that iPhone will open a .pdf or other forms? Will we be able to use it instead of a MDT for dispatch? Will it suddenly spit out some revolutionary new treatment methods that will automatically heal our patients? Does it have Xray, CT or MRI technology? Let's be honest here, it's nothing more than just another 'gadget' that will take up space and allow web browsing between calls and not much more. Oh wait! It has the built in 'paperweight app' so it can call itself 'functional'! It doesn't even have 'stereo capability' so it fails as a .mp3 player!

Way to be Apple, 7yrs behind and still can't get it right.

I think the iPad is going to fail. It's too much of a niche market. Sure, you will always get the "gotta have it" people, and apple fan boys. But as for mainstream penetration, I don't think it will be the force that the iPod/iPhone is. It is simply not different enough, especially with the new iPhone that will likely be released soon after the iPad. The only way that I can see it becoming mainstream is if the 3G version can act as a phone (with BT or speaker phone only) and will be subsidized by providers. That and they probably should have had "Snow Leopard" and not the iPhone operating system. EMS applications? No way. Even if it was "military speced", it is all proprietary. And LOL @ Steve Jobs wetting is pants about how "great" the web browsing is... No flash support? Phfffft....

Well, there's always the i-Do for when Apple finally gets down to truly screwing their customers.

I will wait for the itable.

I don't understand.

And were might I ask is the statistical data to prove that EMS services are diminished by fire department participation?

Such negativity over a product most of us have yet to even hold in our hands. Having used my iPod touch for the last year I can't help but think the iPad has a legitimate future within EMS. Careful software development with Bluetooth and perhaps in conjunction with Phillips, Medtronic, etc. could yield some spectacular results. A truly innovative ePCR system could in fact be just around the corner. What about eCharting within the hospital setting? Imagine physicians being able to pull up any patient's chart from anywhere in the hospital and update it on a hospital server in real time. How about viewing lab reports, pathology reports, medical imaging, etc. all from a patient's bedside? All of these things could easily become a reality with careful software development.

Hello all, I have a 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck. I recently bought these lights (http://www.ledoutfitters.com/index.php?target=products&product_id=16 ) for my truck grill as I am an EMT/firefighter in New York State. Can anyone help me with mounting them? Also I noticed that they are a little big for the opening between slats in my grill, can anyone help with that? Thanks.