FDNY LT. DIES FIGHTING STATEN ISLAND BLAZE

Comments: 0 Read Comments Leave a Comment By MATT NESTEL, JAMIE SCHRAM and ALEX GINSBERG
Lt. Robert Ryan

Last updated: 2:35 pm
November 23, 2008
Posted: 1:38 pm
November 23, 2008

A veteran Fire Department lieutenant was killed battling a Staten Island blaze early this morning after the ceiling of a burning home collapsed on his head, the FDNY said.

Lt. Robert Ryan, 46, was rushed from the scene of the fire at 39 Van Buren Street in the New Brighton section, to Richmond University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

"He was a brave man who lost his life protecting the city," Mayor Bloomberg told reporters, who asked all New Yorkers to pray for the fallen firefighter.

Ryan and four other members of Engine Co. 155 were on the second floor of the burning house when the ceiling gave way, knocking off the lieutenant's oxygen mask and helmet and sending him into immediate cardiac arrest, officials said.

The 17-year member of the city's Bravest was injured once before in the line of duty, resulting in an assignment to desk duty for about a year.

In total, 25 units and about 100 firefighters responded to the two-alarm blaze, which broke out just after midnight.

Officials said the initial investigation indicated that faulty wiring was the cause of the fire.

Neighbors on his block -- already named for an FDNY captain who died in the 9/11 attacks - were in shock this morning.

"He always said the job was wonderful and he wouldn't give it up," said neighbor Rita Formica, 62, a schoolteacher. "He always said that."

Ryan leaves behind a wife, Kathleen, two children, Kayla, 12, and Chris, 7, and two stepchildren, Alex, 10, and Emma, 8.

"She's just lost her husband last night," another neighbor said of Kathleen Ryan. "She just got home from the hospital and she's beside herself."

CITY'S AMBULANCE CHA$E

By SALLY GOLDENBERG

Last updated: 3:28 am
November 26, 2008
Posted: 2:47 am
November 26, 2008

First gas, then milk, now ambulances.

The city is raising the cost of an ambulance ride - with transports for the most critical patients going up to $850 per ride - as part of Mayor Bloomberg's orders to slash costs to raise revenue and plug future budget holes.

Basic Life Support rides will increase to $515 from $475; Advanced Life Support will jump to $750 from $600 and Advanced Life Support for the most critical patients will go up to $850 from $700, FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta told a City Council Public Safety Committee hearing Monday.

PAID CME IS BACK !

-----Original Message-----
From: John Langley [mailto:langlej@fdny.nyc.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9:05 AM
Subject: CME

PAID CME IS BACK !

I figured, in case you weren't already aware, that there is a command order
just published that will require us to attend one 8 hour CME session over a
6 month period beginning December 2008.

Scheduling will be up to each individual, and it will be on overtime....

JL

John Langley, EMT-P
Division 2 ALS Coordinator

Confidentiality Notice:
This message may contain information that is
confidential or privileged.

If you are not the intended recipient,
Please advise the sender immediately and delete this message.

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Ambulances get sirens you can feel

MSNBC.com


Ambulances get sirens you can feel
Booming like a 1980s video game, the Howler can even make liquids ripple
The Associated Press
updated 7:59 a.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 12, 2008
TULSA, Okla. - You're in the car and you've got the radio cranked up insanely loud. Chances are, you're not going to hear that ambulance siren wailing behind you.

Soon, even if you can't hear it, you'll be able to feel when an emergency vehicle is coming.

Oklahoma's largest ambulance company will become the first ambulance service in the nation to outfit its entire fleet with new Howler sirens, designed to emit low-frequency tones that penetrate objects within 200 feet — such as cars — to alert drivers.

The Emergency Medical Services Authority has equipped one ambulance with the new siren and plans to have them installed on all 77 units in Oklahoma within six months.

Officials say the sirens are ideal for cutting through a sea of traffic, and give emergency responders another tool to let drivers know an ambulance is heading their way.

So far this year, EMSA vehicles have been involved in 16 intersection accidents, typically caused by an unyielding driver. Fifteen of those times, the ambulances were on a call, said EMSA spokeswoman Tina Wells.

"The most frequent thing motorists say to us is they didn't see the ambulance coming," Wells said at a Tuesday news conference, where the new technology was demonstrated.

During the demonstration, two ambulances were parked near each other. A plastic stepladder with three glasses of liquid on top was placed in between the vehicles.

'Much safer'
The ambulance without the Howler sounded its siren and produced its familiar wail. Then, the Howler, which produced booms that sounded like a 1980s video game played at an earsplitting level. The liquids in the three glasses rippled. Wells jokingly said the new sirens sounded like "a vacuum cleaner on steroids."

"It's going to make going through intersections much safer," said Tulsa Police Officer Mike Avey, who has worked traffic accidents. "People are on their cell phones, people have $1,000 sound systems. You're going to feel it."

The new sirens cost less than $400 each, meaning the entire EMSA fleet can be outfitted for less than $40,000, Wells said.

"A moderate accident is going to cost $15,000 in body damage alone," Wells said. "We see the potential for recouping this almost immediately."


Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27676244/

FDNY PROBIE DIES DAY AFTER DRILL

FDNY PROBIE DIES DAY AFTER DRILL
By ED ROBINSON and PHILIP MESSING


November 12, 2008 --
A probationary firefighter who collapsed during a training exercise on Monday died yesterday, authorities said.

Jamel Spears, 33, who joined the FDNY in July, fell unconscious after finishing an 18-minute drill at the Fire Academy on Randalls Island.

He wore full gear during the timed exercise, which required him to perform a series of strenuous tasks, such as climbing a ladder and handling a hose, authorities said.

The drill is part of the 23-week training program.

Firefighters tried in vain to revive Spears at the scene. He died at Mount Sinai Hospital after lapsing into a coma. Spears was a Navy veteran who served aboard the USS Alaska from 1995 to 1999.

The lifelong Bronx resident is survived by his wife, Sherita, a city cop assigned to the 41st Precinct, his son, Mahlek, 12, and daughter, Jya, 8.