Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Edgemont may exit Greenburgh
.For those that aren't aware, there is something to watch in Greenburgh.
Edgemont, the unincorporated section of town that Edgemont School District and Greenville Fire District covers, is trying to incorporate as Greenburgh's 7th village. There's actually a strong chance it may happen. A large part of the residential taxpayer base is wealthy, and are not so much worried about the taxes as they are with the control over what goes on in their section of the town, such as developments.
Edgemont makes up 25% or more of the Greenburgh tax base, and is definitely the wealthiest section of town, with numerous million dollar homes. The population is roughly 8,000 in a dense 2.5 square mile district with a large commercial district (the ."Scarsdale" portion of Central Ave), along with large single family residential dwellings, apartment buildings, schools, and the Sprain Brook Parkway.
From the public safety viewpoint.....If Edgemont becomes a village, they need to create a police department or contract with one. What could this mean for Greenburgh PD and their funding? As Greenburgh PD also provides EMS, Edgemont would also have to find an EMS provider.
From the firematic end, that portion of town is covered entirely by Greenville Fire District. If Edgemont becomes a village, fire protection falls under the Village Manager, so it would become a fire department under the village. What could happen to Greenville Fire District?
They may be able to contract with Greenburgh and Greenville, but those who are leading this movement are so bitter about the Town that contracting with Greenburgh based services may not be an option.
Edgemont, the unincorporated section of town that Edgemont School District and Greenville Fire District covers, is trying to incorporate as Greenburgh's 7th village. There's actually a strong chance it may happen. A large part of the residential taxpayer base is wealthy, and are not so much worried about the taxes as they are with the control over what goes on in their section of the town, such as developments.
Edgemont makes up 25% or more of the Greenburgh tax base, and is definitely the wealthiest section of town, with numerous million dollar homes. The population is roughly 8,000 in a dense 2.5 square mile district with a large commercial district (the ."Scarsdale" portion of Central Ave), along with large single family residential dwellings, apartment buildings, schools, and the Sprain Brook Parkway.
From the public safety viewpoint.....If Edgemont becomes a village, they need to create a police department or contract with one. What could this mean for Greenburgh PD and their funding? As Greenburgh PD also provides EMS, Edgemont would also have to find an EMS provider.
From the firematic end, that portion of town is covered entirely by Greenville Fire District. If Edgemont becomes a village, fire protection falls under the Village Manager, so it would become a fire department under the village. What could happen to Greenville Fire District?
They may be able to contract with Greenburgh and Greenville, but those who are leading this movement are so bitter about the Town that contracting with Greenburgh based services may not be an option.
Thursday, February 09, 2017
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Saturday, September 10, 2016
International Navistar and Viking-Cives (the plow and body manufacturer) has won a three year contract with NYS*DOT to provide them with International Workstar chassis Class 8 dump trucks, a mix of single and dual axles with winged plow setups and integrated dump body sander. These will replace the older Internationals in the fleet as well as some of the Mack Granites with Henderson bodies. They contain the stupid barely visible new logos on the doors.
Sunday, September 04, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
My Paramedic Certification
Tomorrow, after 19 years in EMS, 14 of which as a Paramedic, all in the paid sector, with some of the best agencies around, and some of the BEST people in the profession,I am letting my NYS Paramedic certification expire. I obtained my EMT through the EMT class given at Irvington VAC by Judy Mayer in 1997, EMT-I at Phelps with Barry Nechis in 1999, and my Paramedic cert was obtained at Northeastern University in Boston, MA in 2003 (which at the time was the best Paramedic program in the nation). I've been certified and credentialed in NY, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Texas, and National Registry over the years. I am currently happy in my current career, but I had hoped to work per-diem as a Paramedic, on the side, just because I enjoy helping people, the challenge, and keeping my skills up. Most recently, I worked a 12 hours shift Sundays at Garrison VAC, as a paid EMT, just for some extra money and to stay relevant in EMS, a job I left because of my cert expiring and my role and dedication at my full time job increasing.
With this, New York state is one of the most difficult states to retain your certification. First off, the NYS DOH website is extremely unclear, murky, and outdated. Even if you complete CME's and Call Audits, you can't do the pilot refresher if you're not affiliated with an agency that participates in that. Additionally, the class refreshers I have found don't work with my schedule, and require a lot of time to complete and study. Add on top of that, the need to get REMSCO credentialing for each region you work in, and can't obtain it if you're not affiliated, and all that a REMSCO cert requires on top of everything else, . And to have to pay for a lot of that out of pocket. I'd love to continue working Paramedic per-diem as mentioned above, but it doesn't look like that's going to be possible, right now. I even considered refreshing as an EMT, but even that is a lot. Maybe one day an opportunity will come my way to refresh, but it doesn't look like that will be possible.
For comparison purposes, other states allow Paramedics to be licensed professionals, and not have to prove themselves every 3 years. Some agencies don't do the whole REMAC thing, and the agencies protocols and Paramedic direction are usually set by the EMS Physician at a hospital. Some allow you to plain challenge using a computer testing facility. And with technology today, I could do all of my CME and Call Audits online.
So, tomorrow is going to be a sad day for me. As I said above, I would have loved to go back to WEMS or Empress per diem, especially to help them when manpower is stretched thin with everything now, but NYS doesn't want to keep pace with EMS recertification trends, and technology, they just want to lump on more and more requirements and changes in protocols without making any type of progressive change to retain experienced providers or recruit new providers, such as truly accepting NREMT-P reciprocity and utilizing modern technology for continuing ed. With this, I think the coming years will see a Paramedic shortage in the state.
Sorry for my rant. I'm probably repeating myself here. I've had such a great experience working in EMS. I was trained by the best programs with the best instructor. I've worked for great agencies, for and with the greatest people, and have learned so much. Bill Rothschild is my mentor and EMS hero and has done tons for my career, along with so many other people. Empress EMS provided a terrific foundation for my career, something I'll always be appreciative and loyal to that agency for. Stamford Hospital also molded my BLS career. UMass City Of Worcester EMS (MA), Norwalk Hospital Paramedics (CT), and UMDNJ Newark EMS (NJ) were great places to get experience as a Paramedic. WEMS was a great system and area to work in, with great people, and was very challenging. Scott and White (TX) and Williamson County EMS (TX) were great and interesting places and a different world. I'm actually pretty devastated over this, but accept it. Hopefully I can return one day.
I've been through a lot personally throughout my EMS career, especially during the past couple years, navigating through divorce, serious illness, and homelessness on the streets of Los Angeles for a couple of months. Thank you to Daryn Baia for giving me a shot to restart my Paramedic cert and for my second time around at Empress when I first returned to NY. RWC130 for helping me get back to NY from LA and start again. A shout out to the barrier door hating, Aerialscope loving great friend and big brother who has given me a chance after being homeless, and the stability and resources to rebuild my life, and have a great job at a great place that allows me a career in emergency services. And my mom for all her support and my Dad for helping me from heaven.
[/rant]
With this, New York state is one of the most difficult states to retain your certification. First off, the NYS DOH website is extremely unclear, murky, and outdated. Even if you complete CME's and Call Audits, you can't do the pilot refresher if you're not affiliated with an agency that participates in that. Additionally, the class refreshers I have found don't work with my schedule, and require a lot of time to complete and study. Add on top of that, the need to get REMSCO credentialing for each region you work in, and can't obtain it if you're not affiliated, and all that a REMSCO cert requires on top of everything else, . And to have to pay for a lot of that out of pocket. I'd love to continue working Paramedic per-diem as mentioned above, but it doesn't look like that's going to be possible, right now. I even considered refreshing as an EMT, but even that is a lot. Maybe one day an opportunity will come my way to refresh, but it doesn't look like that will be possible.
For comparison purposes, other states allow Paramedics to be licensed professionals, and not have to prove themselves every 3 years. Some agencies don't do the whole REMAC thing, and the agencies protocols and Paramedic direction are usually set by the EMS Physician at a hospital. Some allow you to plain challenge using a computer testing facility. And with technology today, I could do all of my CME and Call Audits online.
So, tomorrow is going to be a sad day for me. As I said above, I would have loved to go back to WEMS or Empress per diem, especially to help them when manpower is stretched thin with everything now, but NYS doesn't want to keep pace with EMS recertification trends, and technology, they just want to lump on more and more requirements and changes in protocols without making any type of progressive change to retain experienced providers or recruit new providers, such as truly accepting NREMT-P reciprocity and utilizing modern technology for continuing ed. With this, I think the coming years will see a Paramedic shortage in the state.
Sorry for my rant. I'm probably repeating myself here. I've had such a great experience working in EMS. I was trained by the best programs with the best instructor. I've worked for great agencies, for and with the greatest people, and have learned so much. Bill Rothschild is my mentor and EMS hero and has done tons for my career, along with so many other people. Empress EMS provided a terrific foundation for my career, something I'll always be appreciative and loyal to that agency for. Stamford Hospital also molded my BLS career. UMass City Of Worcester EMS (MA), Norwalk Hospital Paramedics (CT), and UMDNJ Newark EMS (NJ) were great places to get experience as a Paramedic. WEMS was a great system and area to work in, with great people, and was very challenging. Scott and White (TX) and Williamson County EMS (TX) were great and interesting places and a different world. I'm actually pretty devastated over this, but accept it. Hopefully I can return one day.
I've been through a lot personally throughout my EMS career, especially during the past couple years, navigating through divorce, serious illness, and homelessness on the streets of Los Angeles for a couple of months. Thank you to Daryn Baia for giving me a shot to restart my Paramedic cert and for my second time around at Empress when I first returned to NY. RWC130 for helping me get back to NY from LA and start again. A shout out to the barrier door hating, Aerialscope loving great friend and big brother who has given me a chance after being homeless, and the stability and resources to rebuild my life, and have a great job at a great place that allows me a career in emergency services. And my mom for all her support and my Dad for helping me from heaven.
[/rant]
Thursday, March 05, 2015
Slipknot - Wait and Bleed (Sock Puppet Parody)
Socks that are pissed off that they're being used as cleaning rags parodying a metal song. Sounds like something that would be stupid, but it's great! One of the most creative things I've seen in a while. Especially if you're a Slipknot fan.
Monday, March 02, 2015
Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night- WWE Live Road To Wrestlemania Tour At Madison Square Garden
I was proud to be a part of history this past Friday night (2-27-15) when a banner was raised to the rafters at MSG honoring The Immortal Hulk Hogan and 30 years of Hulkamania, with many of the greatest moments over the years taking place at MSG. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Jimmy Hart, and Triple H were some of the many WWE legends in the house to personally honor him, along with a sold out crowd.
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