521 replies to this topic

[njboy13]

About how much a does SCBA weigh? Full and empty.

and

How much does full turnout gear and SCBA weigh? (Jacket, Pants, boots, Helmet, SCBA, and any other standard equipment included)

I'm starting to consider getting into fire service, and I just want to know what to expect.

[mortonfire]

About how much a does SCBA weigh? Full and empty.

and

How much does full turnout gear and SCBA weigh? (Jacket, Pants, boots, Helmet, SCBA, and any other standard equipment included)

I'm starting to consider getting into fire service, and I just want to know what to expect.

it depends on what type of air bottle you are using and amount of capacity. They are on average about 35 pounds..Full gear and equipment is about 100 pounds- but it does not feel that much when you are working as you are working hard. I'd suggest going for it and becoming a firefighter, try to find a local volunteer department to test it out. It's a great service and potential career!

[kyle308]

Quick answer is, its pretty heavy, not to mention bulky, and a bit awkward to work in. But, when your using it your adrenaline runs and you don't even realise its there.

I say go for it. I love firefighting

[theocd]

I searched this topic and could not find an answer so here is my question, apologies if its being repeated:

Why do American Ladder Trucks carry Jaws Of Life for Road Traffic Collisions? Is it to multi-role the unit as ladders are needed less or is there another purpose? As far as I know, in Britain, only Rescue Pumps and other Rescue Units carry Jaws Of Life/Hydraulic Spreaders etc. Ladders are pretty much used for their single purpose, be it Quint, Snorkle or Rescue Ladder.

Many thanks,

The OC-D

[Xplorer4x4]

I searched this topic and could not find an answer so here is my question, apologies if its being repeated:

Why do American Ladder Trucks carry Jaws Of Life for Road Traffic Collisions? Is it to multi-role the unit as ladders are needed less or is there another purpose? As far as I know, in Britain, only Rescue Pumps and other Rescue Units carry Jaws Of Life/Hydraulic Spreaders etc. Ladders are pretty much used for their single purpose, be it Quint, Snorkle or Rescue Ladder.

Many thanks,

The OC-D

Well first, lets not generalize this as a US thing. This is not the case in all of the US. If you dont mind let me explain roughly how it is done here in my city and county. In terms of Evansville Fire Department which handles the city, I believe there are some ladder trucks, well quints in our case, that carry extrication tools. Quint 9 has jaws and is assigned to the area I live in. There the only ladder truck I know of for sure in the city with extrication tools. Now just a few days ago there was a bad wreck in front of the main entrance to my apartment complex and it is located on a road with a 45 mph speed limit. So I dont know the specifics but I am guessing the PT Cruiser was more or less t-boned(kinf of like this -\ rather then a perfect t-bone like -| you normally see) so you can imagine the damage done to the drivers door. So 9s comes in but they have a combi-tool rather then a dedicated set of cutters or spreaders. Many FFs will claim these tools are a jack of all trades, but a master of none. In other words in most cases they find combo tools arent as effective as compared to a set of cutters and a set of spreaders. Others have said it is a matter of knowing how to operate them. Anyways, we have two rescue trucks in the city. They carry a dedicated set of spreaders and cutters I believe. In this case 9s I assume didnt think they could handle the extrication so Rescue 3 had to be called in to do it, 10 minuets latter(hey there coming from clear across town and Rescue 1 would be to). R3 shows up and do extrication.

A few months ago there was a bad accident on the may as well be high way around the corner from here. Q9 did extrication but again had to call R3 for assistance with extrication.

Also a few months ago a guy wrapped his car around a tree at a high rate of speed. The driver ended up dieing if memory serves me right but this time Rescue 1 had to be called.

My point is while atleast one of our ladders do carry extrication it is still mainly handled by a rescue, however county is a different beast. There are 5 different volly companies that handle the county. Knight Township which is about 1 mile from where I live and makes runs in this area all the time because of district boundaries, carries extrication tools on there primary engine at each station. McCutchanville FD covers the city of McCutchanville and other area outside city limits. I assume there rescue trucks carry jaws in there case. German Township has a Rescue Truck at both stations. In there case the Rescue trucks do carry the extrication tools. Perry Township has a Rescue Truck in one station that carries there extrication tools. The other Perry station houses a 2-man rescue pumper with a mac cab chassis.

Scott Township I wanted to break off from the rest because it is a different beast in its self. 4 Medic 1 serves as first due for medical runs. It is a medium duty Freightliner used for patient transport. Now it also carrys some extrication tools. However the heavier tools are carried on 4 Engine 1. Now 4 Engine 2 at Station 2 is considered a Rescue Pumper so they may carry extrication tools on it, not sure. However I have touched on Station 3. Station 3 has a full set of extrication tools on 4 Engine 3 so I assume there are no extrication tools on 4 Rescue 3.


I hope I didnt bore you here , but just pointing out that you cant sum things up based on a country, let alone a county.

[mortonfire]

I searched this topic and could not find an answer so here is my question, apologies if its being repeated:

Why do American Ladder Trucks carry Jaws Of Life for Road Traffic Collisions? Is it to multi-role the unit as ladders are needed less or is there another purpose? As far as I know, in Britain, only Rescue Pumps and other Rescue Units carry Jaws Of Life/Hydraulic Spreaders etc. Ladders are pretty much used for their single purpose, be it Quint, Snorkle or Rescue Ladder.

Many thanks,

The OC-D

Xplorer explained it very well, but just to summarize, a lot of major cities house only one engine and one ladder ( quint, tower, whatever you want to call it) and only 1-5 rescues per city. It may take longer and would pull a rescue out of service to handle a little accident with no injuries and just having to pop the door. With ladders carrying the extrication tool they an arrive on scene quicker and most often the engine will take care of the ems part of it, and like xplorer said, if needed a rescue can be called for more equpiment.

[Newfoundking]

Pleas note, it's not all fire departments! Equpment on each unit depends on the department. I know of departments here that have special vehicles for certain things like that. Sure jsut 15 minutes from the last SJRFD station here, there's another station for a different department that doesn't carry anything but ladder supplies on the ladder. Nothing else, not even the jaws. Stuff they'll need for the ladder's sole purpose.

[theocd]

OK, thanks guys. Expecially to Xplorer for his essay on the subject. I guessed it depended of departments but I though I'd ask generally in case I was wrong.

Many thanks,

The OC-D

[Xplorer4x4]

Xplorer explained it very well, but just to summarize, a lot of major cities house only one engine and one ladder ( quint, tower, whatever you want to call it) and only 1-5 rescues per city. It may take longer and would pull a rescue out of service to handle a little accident with no injuries and just having to pop the door. With ladders carrying the extrication tool they an arrive on scene quicker and most often the engine will take care of the ems part of it, and like xplorer said, if needed a rescue can be called for more equpiment.

Sometimes we follow this guide to. A few months ago there was a wreck nearby(stupid tress blocking my view). In thisw case Rescue 3, Quint 9, Engine 2 and Engine 4 were called because there were about 5-6 people trapped in two vehicles. In this case AMR was having a hard time getting to the scene because traffic was backing up since the detours just werent meant to handle that volume of traffic. I heard them over the scanner say that fire already had the patient on a backboard, bandaged and ready for transport.

OK, thanks guys. Expecially to Xplorer for his essay on the subject. I guessed it depended of departments but I though I'd ask generally in case I was wrong.

Many thanks,

The OC-D

lol no problem, sorry if I got carried away just thought it was the best way to describe it. Keep in mind were a mdeium size cit, I suppose, but alot of people myself included grew up here when it was more of a small town environment and some times forget how much the city has expanded over the past 5 years.

[Mr_Kaizer]

What is the difference between a Rettungsassistent and a Rettungssanitäter?

[Grim_Wizard]

What is the difference between a Rettungsassistent and a Rettungssanitäter?

A Rettungsassistent is a rescue assistant, and a Rettungssanitäter is a rescue paramedic. Judging by the names I'd say a Rettungssanitäter receives less training or has a different base of operations then a Rettungsassistent. Again just a guess, and I'd also say that the Rettungsassistent responds with the Artzuen, or doctor. Still I'm shooting in the dark.

[Mr_Kaizer]

I found out, you were right. A Rettungshilfer is EMT-B trained, and doesn't normaly work on rescue ambulances (RTW), just the transport ambulances (KTW). A Rettungssaniteter is EMT-I trained, and can work as crew on the RTW, or as crew chief on the KTW. A Rettungsassistent is EMT-P (Paramedic) trained, and works on the RTW as crew or crew chief, or as driver of the NEF, the doctors car.

For further reading, go here.

[Xplorer4x4]

How is it possible for some to refuse extradition? Guy murdered a 70+ year old lady, stole her vehicle, and got picked up in Illinois about an hour or so from here, and is refusing extradition to face murder charges here. He already was wanted on several warrants where he was picked up in Illinois, one for GTA, so how the hell does he get to refuse?

[Grim_Wizard]

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/1268/lapd3019936730.jpg
Now this is an old pic of LAPD Bomb Squad(obviously) but I have noticed that until the past few years, this utility body has been very popular with bomb squads. Any particular reason?

You can hang stuff on the sides and mount a desk in it for control.

[firefighter111]

How is it possible for some to refuse extradition? Guy murdered a 70+ year old lady, stole her vehicle, and got picked up in Illinois about an hour or so from here, and is refusing extradition to face murder charges here. He already was wanted on several warrants where he was picked up in Illinois, one for GTA, so how the hell does he get to refuse?

Probably just his lawyer claiming that they don't have enough proof top extradite him for the murder.

[Newfoundking]

*whistles*

*points to topic title*

[njboy13]

Is there any technical difference between the meanings of "First Aid Squad" and "Emergency Medical Service?" Just recently, a volunteer town near started re-lettering their ambulances from First Aid Squad to EMS. Just wondering if maybe there is a small difference between the meanings of the two phrases that could have made them change it.

[Newfoundking]

First Aid squad is essentially a vehicle with only firt aid equipment. A giant first aid box so to speak. Some even have the falshy flashies to look super official

EMS means Emergency Medical Services as you all know. First aid is still a medical service, therefore at an event, if someone falls and splits their head open, the first aid service, or medical service could be considered an emergency one.

Now with First aid squads, they are mostly just stationed at events to provide first aide, whereas with EMS vehicles, they will usually transport as well. Obviously I don't know for sure, but this company may have started doing transport as well, so this could be why. EMS is the term used to describe everything from Basic levels all the way up, and maybe they have EMTs volunteering now, so a first aid squad wasn't correct. Maybe they just weren't being taken seriously as a first aid squad, so they decided to use EMS, which looks more official, after all, if there were two ambulances, people dressed identically, and both looked identical to you, except one was first aid, and one was EMS, which would you rather go to?

Now the only way to know for sure is to give them a call, and ask, it could be any number of reasons.

Hope this helps

[Xplorer4x4]

My guess is that the Fire Dept initially used the First Aid Squad as a fast response vehicle. My guess is Fire was originally dispatched to provide First Responder level care which is maybe a step up above basic first aid. They were pretty much there to get vitals,bandage patients, immobilize the patient if need be, and basic things like this. Not to mention lift assistance. They may have chosen an "ambulance" for the fact they are specifically designed with medical response in mind. By using an "ambulance" for First Aid, it frees up space on the engines for more fire fighting based equipment and it minimizes the wear and tear on the trucks. From the sounds of it, the city may have decided to stop using a private ambulance service, see AMR, and have EMS done in house. They may have found it would be cheaper and more efficient to do this then pay, for example, AMR to provide EMS for the city.

I imagine alot of this you already knew anyways but just stating it just in case, and for others who might not.

[MCERT1]

For the state of New Jersey it's a little confusing.

Volunteer agencies that provide EMS to a community are less regulated. First Aid squad and rescue squad are terms used by volunteer EMS agencies.
As I understand it, there's no real difference