Richard B the EMT

I'm still thinking from Thanksgivings Day (USA), of some soda maker's idea of (wait for it...) Turkey and brown gravy flavored SODA!

Careful, brother! I used to be one of those volunteers! Great bunch of dedicated personnel.

FDNY is trying to keep the VACs and VASs out of the 9-1-1 system. All VAC and VAS agencies have direct dial numbers, that individuals in the communities they serve can call. Many of them monitor Police "Scanner" radios, to keep abreast of anything happening in the community (fires, shootings, lost children), and a few respond, unsolicited, to the monitored calls. FYI, I am a "registered" monitoring "station", using vanity "call signs" KNY2SC, and (courtesy Popular Communications magazine) WPC2SC. These call signs have no legal bearing in the international radio communities, but look nice when telling a station someone heard their transmissions.

Wait a minute, here. I believe the original movie that had the new English captions placed on it, as has already been done quite a few times already, is "Inglourious Basterds", with Brad Pitt playing a US Army Captain who is also a "Native American" (Indian), leading a squad of Jewish soldiers specializing in killing German soldiers, and scalping them.

Welcome Aboard!

If the local Law Enforcement Officers didn't ticket you, it shouldn't, but the company you're applying to might find out about it, especailly if the accident was your fault, from your automotive insurance carrier. You've no control over THAT.

We have that system already in place, but the FDNY is fighting against it. The system used to be called MARS, for Mutual Aid Radio System, but I forget what the name got changed to. Pre merger into the FDNY, the EMS assigned my Peninsula Volunteer Ambulance Corps the first call ever oficially issued over that system, with PVAC's radio designator being 94Larry2, the 9 indicating a VAC/VAS, the 4 being the borough/county of Queens. The letter was arbitrarily assigned as each VAC/VAS joined the system. Furthering along, at the time MARS was set up, the EMS units used the first number of their radio designator to show what borough/county they were assigned in, 1 was Manhattan (New York county), 2 was the Bronx, 3 was Brooklyn (Kings county), 4 was Queens, and 5 was Staten Island (Richmond county). The second number was the part of the borough/county, as example, the Rockaways and Broad Channel areas of Queens were the Q1, hence, EMS Station Rockaway units were designated as 41 (whatever). Letters "A" through "S" were BLS units, and "V" through "Z" were ALS. the 1, 2 or 3 ending the formal designations indicated the tour (for the MARS units, the 2 or 3 indicated a VAC/VAS first and second unit from the same MARS unit). Overnights were tour 1, daylight was 2, evenings were 3. You'd probably only hear the tour part of the designators near the start or end of the tours. Before I was assigned there, which was after the merger, my EMS unit was 41Adam3. After the EMS/FDNY merger, the designations changed to reflect the FDNY Battalion it was located in, so Rockaway Station 41 became Station 47, Station 45 at Queens General Hospital became Station 53. Unit 41Adam3 became 47Adam3. The VAS/VACs retained their numbers, unaffected by this change.

Congrats for being fired? Go with the Groucho Marx line,

I and a partner have been chased down the ER corridor at Montifiore Hospital in the "Boogie Down" (Bronx), after the partner administered a sternal rub to an intoxicated "unconscious" patient. We could run faster, and Security intervened.

A formalized EMS system used throuout the city only came in around 1970. Some of the VACs have been around from the 1930s.

There's 30 VAC or VAS in the 5 boroughs, so ask around.

Nice, purchasing someting for your brother, now that he's an EMT. Not to be a wet blanket, but there have been many strings on this site re "wankers", those who feel looking the part is more important than doing the actions of being an EMT or Paramedic. The Army used to call them "Garritroopers", wearing paratrooper boots and aviator sunglasses, too far back from the front lines to get shot at, and too far forward to need uniform ties. Many strings mention that the more equipment, gift or not, that a "Newbie" carries on their belt, the more obvious it is that he IS a Newbie. The Galls catalog counts somewhat on this, and I say this as having been a customer for some uniform pieces. I, personally, have yelled a lot about great looking boots that don't fit properly causing foot pain ("breaking in" shoes and boots really means the foot adjusting to the footwear, not the reverse). A bit dumb, perhaps, but ASK your brother what he might want you to buy him as celebration of his becoming an EMT. If nothing else, it lowers the chance of gift duplication (gee, how many pairs of cut-all scissors can a guy get as gifts at one shot? In my case, for my birthday, 5, all with blue handles). Wish him well from me, and relay my congrats, will ya?

I should pay attention to my own words, that another's local protocols can and will be different than MY local Protocols

I see. Up placed normal down. Thanks for the clarification.

I would let CUPS be your guide on any and all calls, in regards to "Stay and Play" vs. "Load n Go". Reminder, or information to those in training: CUPS=CPR in Progress (or Critical), Unstable, Potentially Unstable, and Stable.

He obviously has issues with the LEOs and the EMS. Keep him under a 72 hour psych eval, before he next goes after Fire Fighters and/or school teachers and their students.

As I suspect that blood, stool, and urine samples probably would be temperature compromized prior to delivery, any chance of getting a sample of his hair, to the roots, to some relatively nearby hospital lab?

It suddenly dawned on me that I had seen that man before, like on the national and local (New York City) news broadcasts, but they focused on the shooting of the laptop. Then I viewed the entire video. OMG! DFIB, considering what he did to the laptop, I hope the authorities secured him, and moved the daughter to somewhere safe, which would preclude her working at the ice cream parlor for the near future. I predict a lot of family counciling for everyone in that family for the next few years.

Just though of something, here. Are we talking about "Up" being flipped to "Down", or normal "inside" being placed "outside"?

Don't you mean "Put a rush on the 'bus'"? lol

The fear I am expressing is that of someone calling themself a Doctor, who is not one. I have only had 1 time, over 38 years, where someone walked up to me, at the scene of a call, and offered help as a pysician. In this instance, the help was in doing CPR on a submersion victim, where we had to carry the victim, and assorted equipment, over 2,000 feet across soft sand to where we had parked the ambulance on a paved walkway, CPR for 2 minutes, and running with everything for 10 seconds, then resuming CPR, repeating these steps 6 or 7 times to reach pavement. With switching off the personnel compressing and venting, we had 2 EMTs (one of them being me), a Park Aid (who was an off duty EMT with my VAC), and the Doctor. The 5 mile trip to the ER was done in 12 minutes, and the ER crew worked the guy up for another half hour, until they called it. Regrettably, this was the first recorded death in the Gateway National Recreation Area, Riis Park/Fort Tilden/Point Breeze Division, from when the place had become a part of the National Park Service in 1970. I am aware of at least 12 more, to date.

In my volunteer service, optimum crew was all EMT: Crew Chief (designated by medical training officer), Motor Vehicle Operator (designated by driver training officer), Dispatcher (for safety of crew, next position needed to be fulfilled, by designation of the dispatch training officer, and, obviously, stayed at the base), and 2 attendants. Some Crew Chiefs and Drivers would alternate weeks. All positions assigned as per the scheduling officer. All personnel were trained as dispatchers before they were allowed to ride the ambulance, if only to make sure they knew the radio codes, so they could fill that 3rd position as I just posted. FDNY EMS Command runs with either 2 EMT-Bs or 2 EMT-Ps. Due to scheduling work week of 5 days on, 2 days off, 5 days on, 3 days off, each station developed their own policy of whoever came back from their days off (3 platoons, one always off), drove, then teched the next day, then drove, teched, and drove, following week drove, teched, teched, drove, teched. Other stations would do the reverse, where returning crewpersons teched, then drove, but to the same "rythem". Official policy was, whoever drove the first 4 hours of the 8 hour shift, teched the last 4 hours. I don't recall anyone actually adhering to that Some personnel liked driving, and ended up working with others who preferred teching. I had that deal with one of my long time partners. As for the reference "Bus" for an ambulance, per information I am currently unable to document, in the 1880s, when Bellevue Hospital, NY NY, started the first organized ambulance service in the US, the ambulances followed regular routes around the city, like an "Omnibus" conveyance, but would leave the route they'd otherwise follow if the "Ambulance Surgeon" (Intern Doctor) determined the case to be emergent. Then the Teamster driving the horses would start clanging the ambulance's warning bell, and head to their base hospital. Long as I've been on the ambulances, NO, I never crewed a horse-drawn or steam powered one. I'm "olde", but I ain't that old! Incidently, the LEOs of the NYPD have been asked for at least the last 3 decades NOT to call an ambulance a "Bus". Some of us still slip and use the phrase, ourselves.

What does it say of me, that I find it sick...but funny? On second thought, nobody answer that.

OK, I just sent the following to that company. To whom it may concern: I found a picture of your "Am-Brew-Lance" as focal point of a discussion on an Emergency Medical Services web site, of which I am an active member. I have a few questions about this vehicle. This vehicle appears to still have the forward facing flashers and light-bar in place. Are they still able to be activated? One of the men speaking about the vehicle in your video states that the radios are still in place. Are these set to any active Emergency Service(s) frequencies, or have they been disabled? In the video, I didn't see a siren. Is there still one on board, and has IT been deactivated? At a distance, I feel the beer stein in the blue star design might be mistaken for the "Star Of Life", an emblem used throughout the US, and many other countries, on ambulances, and the uniforms of those who work as their crews. Per the attached article, I understand your design was inspired by the Emergency Medical Services Star Of Life, but it is way too close to that design. I ask about this, as I was recently made aware of another former ambulance being used as a mobile Football Tail Gate Party central, which has both the lights and siren functional, they call the "Giants Fanbulance". I have posted protest to the fact that the lights and siren are now being used for other than actual emergencies (see article and video at http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012301310047). FYI, I am going to post this on "my" web site (EMTCity.com), and intend to publish your response, or lack of same, therat.

Just accessed the on-line address shown on the vehicle pictured, and it is out of Fairfax, California. Why does that it's from California not surprise me? While the link doesn't address the issue of if the red forward facing lights the vehicle is equipped with, and no mention of a siren (they do say it still has some of the radios), they are describing it as a "Green" vehicle, as it is equipped to run on recycled vegetable oil from the sponsoring bar. They deliver beer in it, and have it in parades. They call it an "Am-Brew-Lance"! Then, some New York Giants football fans have a converted type 3, decked out for tailgate parties, with Giants emblems all over it, but the forward facing reds and the siren are connected, and in use to celebrate Giants wins, like the Super Bowl. Check the "Fanbulance" out at http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012301310047, and tell me if you are as upset with the concept as I am, that a former ambulance is still gigged out to be mistaken for an active Emergency vehicle?