Richard B the EMT

FDNY fire houses have a 2 tone alert system, followed by a voice saying or depending on what is needed. then, the house watch reads off, on the in house voice alarm system, from the teleprinter or display screen the destination, and if available, what type alarm (Structure fire, carbon mo detector, car accident, medical run {engine company only}) Yes, I have heard the "Emergency!" ring tones, the house alerts, and someone actually had the sound of a Federal "Q" ring tone. Before you ask me what my ring tone is, be advised, I might be the last man on the east coast to NOT have a cell phone! (PLEASE, Don't ask)

Whipped Cream is a topping, is it not?

I've mentioned FDNY, and the FDNY EMS do not allow members to have firearms on department premises. Locking such weapon into a locker is not good, either. Department regulations read that the department has the right to cut locks on lockers under specific and specified conditions, in the presence of a supervisor, if possible a union rep, and the NYPD. Weapons and potable alcohol found in the lockers is an offence could get a member fired.

Prior to my working there, one of my past employers (1980-1985) used to use a "T-Shirt" "uniform", which I never would have worn, at least in public. I'll use the name, as the company is now long time defunct. The shirts read, Now you know why I never would have worn that in public. I still don't wear the joke "T" my girlfriend bought me:

Years ago, I pulled a "pick-up" on my VAC, which ran 1 Crew Chief, 1 Motor Vehicle Operator, and 2 attendants (1 person dispatching, too). It was interesting on that crew, as the "I fall down and go 'Boom'" intox patient was hitting on the lone female crew member, who happened to be both the Crew Chief and a Roman Catholic Nun! Me and the other 2 guys, coincidentally all of us Jewish, really took it kind of badly, but the Sister just laughed it off. Then, a number of years later, on the FDNY EMS ambulance I was assigned to, I had one guy and one gal as my partners. On days I was off, they worked together, as I worked with one or the other as per the crazy FDNY EMS schedule (covered in another string). She reported to me that the other guy on the ambulance still stopped to hit on the ladies as they walked past the ambulance, or as he drove the ambulance past them. He'd even ask us, when we drove, to slow down and stop that he might talk to the ladies. PS, he never hit on her, as he had attended both hers (an EMT to another EMT) and her sister's (EMT to a Paramedic) weddings.

Can I top that? Yes. Give me the whipped cream... lol

Probably not a "Q". As far as I am concerned, the "Q" is the loudest vehicle mounted electrical/motor driven siren in the US, as I have been able to hear one from over a mile and a half away, with the wind against the sound. Probably be a good Air Raid/Civil Defence siren.

Perhaps a better qualification: an omnibus, a large vehicle that can transport up to 40 seated passengers and an additional 30 standing passengers, used intra city as in a route bus (check out NYC MTA), or intercity and/or interstate, as represented by well known US/Canadian interstate bus line companies like Continental Trailways, or Greyhound Bus.

Ali Hakim, the peddler, "Oklahoma!"

The Federal Q comes in a hand crank version?

Cross reference to the string on EMS dating sites, this was the woman who blew off her marriage to a VAC EMT by getting pregnant with her Municipal EMS partner. Speculation was, she tried doing some kind of preemptive strike on my mentioning it.

No need, just whistle an imitation of a siren warble.

Wasn't there a real case, where a female student's mother faked being a teenage boy online, first befriending another female student, then suddenly turning on the girl so viciously, the other girl committed suicide?

Just to prove there is nothing sure in this world except death and taxes... I treat all my women colleagues with respect. What did this earn me? Due to a misunderstanding when I told a woman co-worker that she looked like someone from my old Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and she went ballistic, almost bringing me up on sexual harassment charges that I was using that line to 'hit"on her, other women co-workers came to my defense by saying I never disrespected them, to the point that some of them thought I was "Gay"! (PS: The woman in question didn't just look like my VAC co-worker, it turned out that she WAS the VAC co-worker! I still don't know why she blew up at me.)

I'm not allowed a pet dog or cat. How big and how furry is a pet peeve? LOL

Looking at those glasses, one thing comes to mind... [marq=left:51b37abd1a]Disco Lives![/marq:51b37abd1a]

I've had a couple like that, without shooting. The "I've fallen and can't get up" buttons misfire, the person is so fully asleep, they don't hear the FD sledgehammer banging on their door until it splinters, and suddenly they're awake and screaming, understandably, "Who's going to pay for that door?"

Random testing keeps individuals aware that management wants to run a clean ship, and presumably mandatory testing after an incident can either clear the crew, or give management enough ammo to throw the member under a bus. (A qualification on that, this use of Bus is as in Greyhound!)

Itku2er and Spenac, am I going to have to pull over and separate you two...AGAIN?? Either that, or I have to figure out how to rent Madison Square Garden for a charity Death Match between the two of you, as all of the EMT City will pay to see that event! Raise a couple million for something other than the infamous M. B. P. Fund, possibly given to Muscular Dystrophy, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Cancer Research, or possibly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. (FYI, the MBP Fund translates to my wallet, kept in My Back Pocket...)

In another string, and probably more, we have discussed the "Dole" Test, halfway joked about as the "Pee In A Cup" test. It is my understanding, that, if a New York City Transit Authority bus driver or train driver is involved in any operating incident, to put the public at ease by proving there are no drugs involved to impair the driver, almost the first thing done with the driver is a blood and urine drug test, usually within an hour of the incident. I will state here, I have never had the situation happen with either me or my partners being either randomly or directly told to pee in the cup, except at yearly scheduled medical examinations. Having stated that... Has anyone ever been so tested? What were the results? Has anyone ever been in a situation where, to protect their own integrity, they ASKED to be so tested, as to prove their innocence? Let me qualify this, as to include both on the job, and off. Comments? Discussions? Situations?

Per an online search, check this one out. disclaimer: no guarantee of veracity. <a href="http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/pectinate+muscle">pectinate muscle</a>

Can you arrange to have the partner be a part of a hunting party with Vice President Dick Cheney?

FDNY EMS uses "Military Style" long sleeve and "Polo Style" short sleeve shirts. Those of us that still have them are allowed to use the short sleeve "Military Style" shirts. My only problem with either of the short sleeve shirts is the color-Navy Blue. In the summer heat, that is the only problem I have found, from personal experience, as they seem to hold in heat, unlike the pre-FDNY merger short sleeve "Military Style" shirts then worn, which were white. The fit of these shirts is the same, so that is why I say the FDNY blue ones retain heat.

I express uncertainty with job related "affairs of the heart". I recall several EMS couples ended up married, some who divorced, and at least one marriage that started in a VAC, but one half of the couple caused the divorce by getting involved with another EMT on a municipal service. I met my now 20 year "steady" at that same VAC. She was originally a "Paper Pusher", tried out as an "in house " first responder, and left the field, which I, obviously, am still in.

Most of us groan at the mention of the urine tests for drug abuse. Has anyone ever requested it to prove innocence? Never mind, I'm starting a new string on just that topic.