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Are Justin & Mark the 21st Century Gage & DeSoto?

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SPEND MOST OF THE WEEKEND WISHING I WAS IN SAN FRANCISCO. 

Friday night was the world premiere of Episode 1 of the Chronicles of EMS. It covered the visit of Mark Glencourse, a Paramedic team leader for the north east ambulance service based in Newcastle upon Tyne and author of the 999Medic blog, with Justin Schorr, a San Francisco firefighter/paramedic who is know to many as The Happy Medic.

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This adventure started almost a year ago, with Mark and Justin comparing their different ems systems through their blogs. Two other paramedics, with experience in filmaking, raised the discussion to a higher level. They documented Mark’s visit to San Francisco.

Thaddeus Setla completed a documentary about Alameda County EMS, LEVEL ZERO. For Chronicles of EMS Setla used four high definition cameras. For reasons unknown to me, Justin and Mark kept referring to Setla as the “Jedi Master.”

Chris Montera is Colorado based paramedic who functioned as the producer for the Chronicles project. Montera is CEO/Producer and Host for EMS Garage, EMS Leadership and is the Producer of EMS Educast podcasts.

HOTEL FRANK

The world premiere was in an eclectic Union Square hotel with wi-fi installed a week earler. Like many emergency service adventures, this event worked on a short lead time, with just-in-time (or a little late) deliveries. Watching the streaming video, the 60+ attendees seemed giddy before the showing and tipsy after the premiere.

justin4The episode was stunning, an example of REAL reality TV. Interesting people telling compelling stories rich in texture. It helps that Justin and Mark are photogenic and articulate.

I enjoyed the interaction between Justin and Mark. During the week they were filming, both posted blog updates, Thaddeus set up a facebook fan page, and a couple of dozen ems-oriented bloggers/tweeters commented on the adventure.

For some of us, the premiere finally allowed us to see the stories we read about months ago.

TWO THEMES

The first is the difference in transport options, UK does not HAVE to transport every patient encountered.

The second is that there is no charge for ambulance service in the UK. The concept that access to emergency care would be affected by the ability to pay really troubled Mark, providing a moving final scene in the movie. Glencourse

There also was a hilarious short where they acted out Mark’s perception of United States ems. Can see Zoll working on the credit card option for the 12-lead. The paramedic can swipe the credit card to process the ambulance payment before the leads are connected to the patient.

SOCIAL MEDIA

On Saturday afternoon, Setla and company set up two additional episodes.  Roundtable discussion about the Seat At The Table, sort of a “what’s next” discussion of the impact of the process in getting Episode 1 completed, changes in the paramedic profession (EMS 2.0) and a new generation of ems “true believers.:

The final episode was a round table on the impact of Social Media on EMS. Covered public education, training, HIPPA and quality improvement.

Justin and Mark will be at the EMS Today conference in Baltimore, March 4-6. Details will eventually be posted on the Chronicles web site.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

4-Alarms in Queens

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A FAST-MOVING FIRE BROKE OUT in a row of shops in Queens, NYC Saturday morning around 10 am.  The fire appears to have started in the Acme Furniture store that was occupied at the time by an employee who was getting ready open up for the day’s business.

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It escalated rapidly bringing a 4th alarm and 200 firefighters to the scene where it took 3-½ hours to bring it under control.  A neighboring 54-unit apartment building was evacuated as a precaution, but there was no fire damage there.  It spread to seven other business, wiping out half the city block, although later reports are saying that as many as 12 businesses were destroyed.

This unattributed home video was posted on YouTube:

The New York Daily News has the STORY HERE.
WABC-TV has more information and additional video HERE.

Posted by on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: fire, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

FD Utility Truck Cancels Electrical Service

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A SMALL NEIGHBORHOOD NEAR NOKESVILLE, VIRGINIA,  made it through both blizzards earlier this week without losing their electrical service.  But a Prince William County Fire & Rescue utility van ruined their record Thursday when it slid into power pole and knocked out the service for the entire enclave of about 15 homes.

nokesville b N&M

News & Messenger

The driver of the 2001 Chevrolet Suburban said that he was attempting to avoid a car that was turning into a driveway  when he slammed into the pole, suffering a minor injury.  A pumper was dispatched per protocol to the scene when it was reported as an accident with injury.  But when they learned that they weren’t needed the engine crew started to leave and while trying to turn around, they slid into a snow bank just a few feet away and got stuck.

A crew of electric company linesmen were on the scene and helped shovel out the engine so that they could begin repairing the downed lines.

The News & Messenger posted this brief raw video of the retrieval operation:

Read the complete story in the News & Messenger HERE.

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News & Messenger

Posted by on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: Fire-ology, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos

Mystery Minute 04.13

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.

 

Part Thirteen

As Finny was walking through the door into Paradise Pawnbrokers, his eyes did a quick sweep to see who was there before anybody could duck out the back.  He spotted “Mousey” Davios behind the counter where he spent most of his day and right behind him, trying to look menacing and doing it, was the mug who was in the Waffle Shop just before fire.

“Howzzit, Mousey?” he called as he started across the tiny showroom floor.  Over to his right he saw the back of a customer who seemed to be studying the array of saxophones lined up on a shelf along the wall.  He had a familiar look, even though it was the back of his head.

Coming up to the counter, Finny says to Mousey, “Who’s your colleague there, Mousey?  I don’t thing we’ve met.”

“Oh, dat’s Joey.  He’s been around forever, you ain’t met?  Joey, dis is Fire Marshal Lonnigan.  He comes ’round and checks the extinguishers and stuff.”

With practiced timing, Finny suddenly spun his head around to look at the “customer” and saw the man’s face looking at him before he quickly turned and breezed out the door.  It was quick, but not quick enough as Finny recognized Alderman Winters departing.

Read Part Fourteen HERE.

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Posted by on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: Mystery Minute • Tagged:

Around the Fire Web

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*  Dave Statter at STATter911 has reported on some remakable snowstorm-damaged firehouses – four of them – in the greater Baltimore-Washington metro area.  Damaged isn’t quite the word…destroyed fits better.  Read his summary of the four buildings and equipment lost HERE and then click HERE to see an update on the story of the Dundalk, Maryland, fire that destroyed a new pumper that hadn’t been put in sevice yet.

*  FirefighterNation has an interview with newly-appointed FDNY Chief of Department Edward Kilduff.   You can read that interesting story HERE.

*  In case you haven’t heard, two of our FireEMSBlogs colleagues, Justin Schorr (The Happy Medic) and Mark Glencourse (Medic999) have morphed their joint experiences into a web video series that explores real-life emergency medic programs around the world, The Chronicles of EMS.  It’s a very adventurous project and you can check it out HERE.  Make sure you click on all the tabs at the top of the homepage.

*  Rhett Fleitz of Fire Critic created and hosted the first Fire/EMS Blog of the Year Contest last month.  It was a lot of work and he admits that the overall time frame was too short.  He has a retrospective of the first trial and tosses out some thoughts in the hope that you will give him some feedback.  CLICK HERE to read what he has to say about it.

*  Being a historian by avocation myself, I especially enjoy reading Mike Legeros’ fine blog, Raleigh/Wake Firefighting Blog.  He recently posted a story that shows and tells about the original Mattydale hose lay HERE.

Posted by on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Blogs, Fire Rescue Topics

Pennsylvania EMS Providers Sue Insurers

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THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, HAS JOINED A GROWING NUMBER of statewide EMS providers who are suing several health insurers for refusing to pay ambulance fees to the service providers.  The group is petitioning the court to open the case as a class-action suit which would join approx. 200 ambulance squads/firms together in the suit.

They are claiming that the insurance firms are refusing to pay the emergency service fees unless the EMS firms sign a contract with them agreeing to accept a much smaller fee for services than the legitimate cost of providing them.  The ambulance squads are accusing them of “a pattern of extortion” in the attempt to force them into agreeing to the reduced payments.  Instead, the insurers are paying the lower fees directly to the patients, who may or may not reimburse the ambulance firm.

The plaintiffs claim that state law gives them the right to be paid directly.  Besides Pittsburgh, the plaintifffs include the Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania (200+ members), Monessen Ambulance Service, Mon Valley Emergency Medical Services, Robinson EMS, Goodwill Hose Company Ambulance Association, Lancaster EMS Association, United Hook & Ladder Co., New Oxford Community Fire Co., Penn Township Volunteer Emegency Services Inc., Tremont Area Ambulance Association, Valley Ambulance Authority, Yoe Fire Company Ambulance Service and Northwest EMS. 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has MORE.
Posted by on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, Law & Justice • Tagged:

Texas Arson Suspects Described

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A STRING OF AT LEAST NINE CHURCH FIRES in east Texas are believed to have been set by the same person/people.  The fires have been set in three counties, Henderson, Smith, and Van Zandt.  A tenth church was recently set in Temple, but it is not yet known if it is related to the others.

The churches are of various denominations, so there no connection there.  Investigators are puzzled over the motive for the fires which have been set since January 1, but in some of the fires there have been some non-religious items taken.

The Associated Press filed this video update:

Friday the ATF issued this press release:

TYLER, Texas — Robert Champion, Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), released three composite sketches of individuals that investigators would like to identify and interview in relation to the some of the church arsons that have occurred in the Henderson, Smith and Van Zandt Counties since January 1.

Law enforcement is soliciting the help of the public, said Champion. Anyone that can identify the individuals in the composite sketches is encouraged to call us and assist with the investigation.

Several tip lines have been established to receive calls around the clock: 1 (888) ATF-FIRE (888-283-3473); (903) 675-0061 and (903) 675-0062. ATF has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

This investigation is being conducted by ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety, Athens Fire Marshal’s Office, Henderson County Fire Marshal’s Office, Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office, Tyler Fire Marshal’s Office and the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal’s Office.

We have reproduced the sketches here:

suspect a

suspect b

suspect c

 

CNN has posted this video showing the impact on the expanded community:

Posted by on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: arson, Fire Rescue Topics, Fires, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Morning Lineup – February 13

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Winter weather continues to make some strange news this week.  A very unusual snowstorm traveled straight west-to-east across the southernmost U. S. Thursday, leaving a measurable snowfall in places where it has never been seen in decades.  What made it even more unusual was the wide territory that it covered, including a small piece of the Florida panhandle.

As a result, we had the unique situation where on Friday there was snow on the ground in parts of every state in the U. S., except for Hawai’i.  So far, the people who have taken the time to look haven’t found a recorded instance of that every happening before.  Ok, we’ve seen it arready!  Now let’s melt the dang stuff and get some Springtime in here!

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Reading the news the other day, something that caught my eye was a report datelined from Cass County, Texas.  It was the county name, Cass that I noticed.  It was the first time that I had seen that geographical name used in Texas.  I knew that there were a couple of Cass County’s in the mid-west because my mother was born in one of them.  I have always had a mild curiosity about who this guy Cass was, but never to the extent of checking him out.  While we all understand who was being honored when Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson counties were named, some of the lesser-known leaders of the time tend to be forgotten over the years.  So Cass had some sort of local fame in the mid-west when the states there were formally organizing and joining the Union, but Texas?  I just had to finally answer my question about who this guy is, so I looked him up.

First, geographically there are nine states that have a Cass County in them.  That kind of surprised me, so many.  Eight of them are mid-western states that were all formed from the Northwest Territory.  And the ninth is Texas.  Brigadier General Lewis Cass came to fame in the War of 1812 (which, as you should know, was fought in 1814) and as a reward for his service, President James Madison appointed him to be the governor of the Michigan Territory.  And that began his long political career.  And it explains his affiliation with all those other NW Territory states.

lewis cass

Gen. Lewis Cass

After serving as territorial governor for 18 years, Pres. Jackson appointed him to his cabinet as Secretary of War and then 5 years later he became ambassador to France.  His political achievements continued to accumulate,  including running for President for the Democratic party against Zachary Taylor.  He also was noted for leading the expedition to locate the source of the Mississippi River.  So he was very famous in his day, yet unknown in our era.  So, what’s the deal with Texas?  Well, during Cass’ tenure as Senator from Michigan after it became a state, Senator Cass strongly supported the annexation of Texas into the U. S.  They were grateful to him for his effort on their behalf.  And now you know….. the rest of the story.

And I know we had better get this equipment checked out now.  Apparently almost all of us can look out the window and see snow.  I’ll get the coffee started.  See you back in the day room in a little while.

buckle up texas

Posted by on February 13, 2010 • Filed under: history, morning lineup, weather • Tagged: ,

Mystery Minute 04.12

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.

 

Part Twelve

Leaving Danny to take Spinoza down to booking for the assault charge, Finny got in his car and headed crosstown to Tony’s pawn shop which served as the hub of his loan sharking racket.  Everybody knows he’s doing it, but the cops can never get the goods on him.  At least by watching the shop, surveillance gets them a lot of tips to follow up.

Finbar didn’t usually have any dealings there, but this apparent arson/murder at Tony’s house has put him right in the middle of it.

As he parked just down the street from Paradise Pawnbrokers, he was wondering if that goon he was following last night would be around.  It turned out to be not only him, but a real surprise guest as well when he walked in.

Read Part Thirteen HERE.

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Posted by on February 12, 2010 • Filed under: Mystery Minute • Tagged:

“Fire Not Found”

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404 firetruck

Well, *I* got a laugh out of it, many of those that commented on Very Demotivational Posters (HERE) did not.

I still remember feeling a loss of identity when we were early adopters of the Washington Metropolitan Council of Government fire unit radio identification system.

This link takes you to an April 2009 Loudoun County presentation describing how the system works. (HERE) They used Engine 404 as an example.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on February 12, 2010 • Filed under: current events, Technology & Communications, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances • Tagged: , , , , ,

Mr. Firefighter, Meet Mr. Buzzard

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PAUL APPLETON IS A CLEVELAND FIREFIGHTER as well as a helicopter pilot who takes his vacations in winter time and spends them in Florida each year.  This year he got a part-time job flying a chopper over the Super Bowl for  photo shoot.

While he was flying he noticed a turkey vulture nearby, but then lost sight of it.  “I lost sight of him for a second and then I heard a boom and all of a sudden I have a turkey vulture sitting on my lap up against my chest and on my forearm,” Appleton recalled. “I don’t know the exact size or weight of it, but it was a pretty big bird.”

Appleton managed to keep the controls steady while his passenger held onto the bird which was temporarily dazed.  Heading back to the airstrip in Ft. Lauderdale 20 miles away as quickly as you can go without a  windshield, he radioed for additional help from an animal control officer.  But as soon as he landed, the bird flew away as if nothing had happened.  Bye, Bye, Birdie.

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Appleton says his headset and glasses were partially knocked off when the bird flew into the chopper, but only suffered a small scrape on his forehead.  The helicopter is grounded awaiting for repairs estimated to total $2,000.  A video camera inside the cockpit recorded the arrival of the uninvited guest and another camera on the ground recorded their arrival.  Watch this video to see the sudden entrance and then keep watching when, near the end of the report, you will see the buzzard high-tailing it out of the plane:

Posted by on February 12, 2010 • Filed under: current events, News, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

FF Struck by Hit-Run Driver

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A MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, FIREFIGHTER WAS struck by a hit-and-run driver while working at a vehicle accident scene Thursday afternoon.  The driver was later arrested by police after they went to the address listed on the license registration.

The engine company was on the scene that had been blocked off by the PD with traffic cones when the driver of a black Mercedes sedan drove around the barricade and into the accident scene.  After being flagged down to stop and told to back up away from the zone, the 37-yr.-old driver accelerated away, hitting the firefighter and then continuing on.  “We tried to stop the individual. He stopped and put the car in gear and he ran into my driver, put him up on the hood of the car,” said Lt. Charles Stamschror of Engine 18.

His license number was noted and the Waukesha County sheriff deputies arrested him at his residence later Thursday night.  The firefighter was treated for a leg injury and released that night wearing a leg brace.

WTMJ-TV has the story on video:

Posted by on February 12, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, health & safety, Law & Justice, Videos • Tagged: , , ,

Weekend Caption Contest

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STILL ANOTHER NEWS PHOTO ARRIVED AT FIREGEEZER HQ without its caption.  Unfortunately, it looks like some overspray from the monitor nozzle has caused the paint to run on these firefighters’ sign and we can’t read it.

where is the caption?

What is it that they want us to know?  Are they promoting this year’s upcoming Firemen’s Carnival fundraiser?  I don’t know.  Help us out and provide the caption that belongs with this pic in the Comments.

(It’s not too late to help out on previous caption needs.  Click on “caption contest” in the Categories sidebar.)

Posted by on February 12, 2010 • Filed under: caption contest • Tagged: ,

In-Station Accident Kills Fire Chief

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A TRAGIC ACCIDENT INSIDE THE LINN VALLEY, Kansas, fire station Wednesday afternoon has taken the life of the department’s Fire Chief Stanley L. Giles.

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Chief Giles, age 69, was standing in the engine bay as a pumper was backing into bay when he somehow got caught between the engine and an FD utility vehicle, becoming crushed.  He died immediately.  Giles had been the VFD’s chief since 1996 when the department was created after a private FD relinquished responsibility for the district’s fire protection.

KCTV Ch. 5 Kansas City has this video report:

The Linn County News has MORE.

Posted by on February 12, 2010 • Filed under: Fire Rescue Topics, Fire-ology, health & safety, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus, Videos • Tagged: ,

Go ….. Don’t Go …..

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MOMENTS AFTER A NEW YORK CITY office building maintenance worker told people not to evacuate the building, a huge explosion in a sidewalk elecrtical vault sent a fireball up several stories and scorched the front of the building, showering debris along the entire block.

vault a NYT de Rouge

New York Times / de Rouge photo

Office workers started smelling a strong, burning plastic odor around 10 am Thursday morning, but nobody bothered calling 9-1-1 until more than 30 minutes later.  FDNY arrived on the scene at 10:45 and started looking for the source of the smell and the rapidly-building smoke.  They upgraded the alarm response and told the building officials to evacuate the premises.  The New York Times reports:

Upstairs, according to people who work in the building, fire alarms started going off around 11. But they described a public address system announcement that said there was no need to evacuate.

Some left anyway — among them Tami Woronoff, who works for Grit TV.  She said that a maintenance person on the sidewalk told her: “There’s no problem. Go back upstairs. You can take the elevator.”

She did, and minutes later, the explosion rocked the building.

Despite the recorded messages, everybody then fled the building. 

The Associated Press filed this video report:

Employees at a Radio Shack store on the ground floor told the New York Post that ConEd, the electric utility, was working in the vault on Monday.  City building inspectors searched through the building that afternoon and determined that there was no structural damage and it is safe for occupancy.  Investgators from the city and ConEd are seeking for the cause of the transformer to explode.  There have not been any reported injuries.

Read the full New York Times story HERE.

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Good thing the engine pulled forward a little farther.
New York Post / Austin Riggs

Posted by on February 12, 2010 • Filed under: explosion, fire, Fires, Videos

Morning Lineup – February 12

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Is Google trying to take over the world?  Are the alarmists right this time, and we’ll all be ruled by some pencil-neck geek in a hidden office who is never seen?  I can’t blame some people for being wary.  The internet giant who chews up their competitors hit the digital universe with both barrels this week.

buzz logo aFirst, they announced their new social network Buzz and within hours it appeared on every Gmail accounts’ pages.  Shamelessly choosing Facebook’s 6th-anniversary date to introduce it (or would you say thuggishly?), they brag that they have taken Facebook’s more popular features and folded them into the Gmail program along with a notification feature that not only acts like Twitter as well, but it even looks like Twitter.  “Oh, the arrogance,” you might say.

And then just two days later, they announce that they are now beginning a project to wire cooperating cities and towns with a proprietary fiber-optic cable network that will provide internet service at the unimaginable speed of 1 Gb per second, and that’s just for starters.  Claiming that current ISP’s high subscription rates and (relatively) slow connection speeds are hindering advances in internet communications (and profits…..Ed.), they are inviting small and medium-size cities to apply to become candidates for this new venture.  Google says that all their technological discoveries with their super-speed service will be shared with everybody and the entire project will be an open-source code, thus inviting innovative uses and fresh imagination from developers.

Just as important, Google says that its new network will be available for any ISP to operate over, thus hopefully encouraging competition in the internet delivery system.  This comes as bad news to ISP providers like AT&T and Comcast who are trying to expand their subscription rates by charging customer higher rates if they “consume” more bandwidth.  That type of policy has a dampening effect on people who like to share and view YouTube videos, for example.  They will either cut back on watching videos, or fork out more cash to keep on doing what they are doing now.  Oh, did you  remember that Google owns YouTube now?

If you’ll pardon the metaphor, this was Google’s shot across the bow of the telecom giants that they had better shape up and start lowering rates while improving service, or they’ll come back to work one Monday and find the Google giant munching on their customer base.  You may have noticed that over the past year Google has acquired some cellular airwaves and infiltrated almost every wireless phone provider with their Android phones.  Why, you could conceivably think that they are setting everything up so that very soon, all they will have to do is throw a switch and……. Google will take over the world.

Before they do, though… we have to get this equipment checked out.  I’ll get the coffee started, then we’ll meet back in the day room.  And turn your cell phones off.

Posted by on February 12, 2010 • Filed under: morning lineup, technology, Technology & Communications • Tagged: , , ,

Mystery Minute 04.11

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.

 

Part Eleven

“Well, Tony.  What a surprise to see you here in your own house,”  Finbar said.  Then turning to Danny he asked, “Why is he cuffed?”

“He was hiding in the basement.  Must’a come in during the night and after we’d been here about an hour, we caught him trying to sneak outta here.  Then when we grabbed him, he took a swing at me.  Mistake.”

Turning back to Spinoza, Finny says, “Ok, Tony….so you fouled up here.  You weren’t wanted for anything until you tried to break out.  What I want to know is, who was the guy burned up in the kitchen?”

“What guy?” Spinoza sneered.

Read Part Twelve HERE.

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Posted by on February 11, 2010 • Filed under: Mystery Minute • Tagged:

Looking Back

7 comments

 

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………. Fire Engineering, November 1972

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Posted by on February 11, 2010 • Filed under: apparatus, Looking Back

German Firefighters Train in Arizona

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SIERRA VISTA, ARIZONA’s SISTER CITY is Radebuel, Germany.  A small city of 32,000 residents near Dresden.  As part of their sister-city program, Radebuel has sent three of its firefighters to Sierra Vista to train and ride with their FD and exchange ideas and techniques.  The Associated Press reports:

Hans-Peter Schaefer, the deputy chief, Steffen Kurtz, an engineer, and Daniel Zeihe, a firefighter and paramedic-in-training, arrived in Sierra Vista at the end of January.

They have been learning that many of their tactics and procedures are the same.  “They do the same job, they do it the same way, though they might use different tools,” Gespardo said.

Sierra Vista firefighters spent the first few days letting Schaefer, Kurtz and Zeihe get their hands on tools and vehicles they don’t typically have a chance to work with.  On Feb. 2, each got a chance to ride in an Air Evac helicopter and practice stabilizing and cutting into an upturned vehicle, while comparing the methods and procedures each department would use.

The trio also got a chance to drive the department’s various vehicles, including fire engines and ladder trucks, on a closed course.  “Those were the biggest things they’ve ever been behind the wheel of,” Gaspardo said.

sierra vista station 2

Sierra Vista Station 2

Being located in the desert, they missed being around grass and trees.  Read the STORY to find out what else they missed.

Sierra Vista Fire Department WEBSITE.

Posted by on February 11, 2010 • Filed under: Training, Training & Development

Another Stolen Ambulance

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THIS TIME IT WAS WITH THE PATIENT STILL INSIDE.  A man jumped into the driver’s seat of an ambulance at a Wisconsin ski resort Monday and attempted to drive off.  The man who was obviously drunk didn’t realize that the two paramedics were in the back treating a patient when he began his journey.

The Dane County EMS unit was called to the Tyrol Basin ski resort for a knee injury to a high school competitor and they were tending to her when the episode began.

Nicholas Pontillo, 24, was arrested after a short foot chase and charged with several felonies.  The Dane County Sheriff issued this press release:

Madison, WI. February 9, 2010 – At approximately 5:20 pm on Monday, February 8th, Dane County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to the Tyrol Basin ski area, located at 3487 Bohn Road in the town of Vermont.

The initial report was of an intoxicated man attempting to steal a Fitchrona EMS ambulance. When deputies arrived, Police Officers from Mt. Horeb had made contact with the subject, Nicholas A. Pontillo, age 24 of Lake Villa, IL.

ski a mugshot

Fitchrona EMS had responded to Tyrol Basin, and was in the process of treating a patient in the back of the ambulance, when Pontillo got into the vehicle and drove around the parking lot.

Pontillo was subsequently arrested for Operating a Motor Vehicle Without Owners Consent, Disorderly Conduct, and Operating While Intoxicated. Pontillo also had two outstanding warrants from Kenosha County for Operating After Suspension and Failure to Notify Police of an Accident. He is currently being held in the Dane County Jail.

WKOW-TV Ch. 27 Madison filed this video report:

Posted by on February 11, 2010 • Filed under: ambulances, crime, EMS Topics, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos

Dollar Store Fires – cont’d.

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IN MUNCIE, INDIANA, A DOLLAR GENERAL STORE that had been closed after going into receivership experienced a major fire Monday morning.  The Muncie Star-Press reported:

Muncie Fire Battalion Chief Jim Clevenger said the wares and cardboard boxes inside the storefront at 3040 N. Granville Ave. provided a “heavy fire load.”  Clevenger said the storefront, part of a strip mall, no longer operates under the Dollar General brand, but a business there appears to be liquidating what remained of the Dollar General inventory.

Firefighters prevented the fire from spreading to the remaining four or five storefronts in the strip mall.  “The guys just made a tremendous stop on this fire,” Clevenger said.

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baba dollar

THE VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, FIRE & RESCUE Dept. is on the scene this morning where they have put out a fire at the Baba Dollar store.  WAVY-TV Ch. 10 Norfolk has the early video report:

Posted by on February 11, 2010 • Filed under: Dollar stores, fire, Fires • Tagged: ,

Morning Lineup – February 11

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The Washington Capitals long winning streak was halted after 14 wins last night.  The Montreal Canadiens beat them with 7 seconds left in sudden-death overtime with a final score of 6-5.  While I’m sure that the team is disappointed that they didn’t reach the record of 17, there will probably be some relief that now the pressure is off of them.  It was a good run.

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Why do scientists continue to study and research things that people already know about?  For example, a pair of researchers at the University of California, Davis have just “discovered” something that has been known for hundreds of years, beer is good for you.

In the past, studies have shown that silicon is good for bone health because it improves bone structure and growth.  A group at Cambridge University in UK also showed that beer is a good source of bioavailable silicon (whatever that is), and that it improves bone mineral density in a way not seen with wine or spirits.

Enter Charles Bamforth and Troy Casey at U.C. Davis who have taken a step further and determined which kinds of beer have the highest silicon content.  New Scientist.com is reporting:

They analysed 100 beers from around the world and found that the brews contained between 6.4 and 56 milligrams of silicon per litre, with an average of 29 milligrams per litre. Looking at the silicon levels in beer’s ingredients, they found that most of it comes from the husks of malted barley.

The pair found that lighter-coloured beers made from pale malted barley and hops, such as pale ales, are richest in silicon, while low-alcohol beers contain the least, along with stouts, porters and wheat beers.

 In 2004, the Cambridge Univ. folks reported that moderate beer drinkers had better bone density than non-drinkers.  Plus, the non-drinkers have the disadvantage of knowing that when they wake up in the morning, that will be the best that they feel all day.  (Sit down, folks….just joking!)

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One more item to check out before we leave.   Many of you enjoy doing some model-building and everybody likes to look at good scale-modeling.  (Not that kind!)  Here’s an interesting Flickr 2-page photo spread that a model hobbyist posted:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/sets/72157604247242338/with/2346008881/ 
He has made some 1/24-scale dioramas of what his home town looked like when he was growing up in the 1950′s with many of the stores, etc., faithfully recreated.

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I like to do that stuff, too.  It must have been a lot of fun building those.  If you like his work too, leave the guy a comment and let him know.

Let’s get the equipment checked  out now.  I’m going to start some coffee.  After you finish that, scroll down to the previous posting where FossilMedic ruminates about the double-blizzard that we’re still digging out from.

Posted by on February 11, 2010 • Filed under: beer, morning lineup • Tagged: , ,

A delayed meet

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I wanted to attend the San Francisco premiere of the Chronicles of EMS at the interesting Hotel Frank.

chroniclesblog-200x150Would get to meet a few famous bloggers: The Happy Medic, 999Medic, Life Under The Lights and (bonus) Motorcop!

But sadly concluded that I could not swing an overnight stay at the west coast.   :(

SNOWMAGEDDON

The campus closed early Friday afternoon at the start of a heavy snowstorm. Here is what my schedule became:

GWU_snow_schedule

This morning most of Washington DC remains closed, including government and schools. Snowmageddon has exceeded the snowfall of the Blizzard of 1899. Thankfully, Snowmageddon has not had the artic cold that hammered the East Coast 111 years ago, where DC set a February record of −15 °F (−26 °C).

Snow fell in Washington for 51 hours, from February 11 to February 14, 1899, accumulating 20 inches. The Washingtoniana Division, D.C. Public Library documents include reports of artic winds creating ten foot high snowdrifts.

EMERGENCY SERVICES

Foggy Bottom Amb 23, from dcfd.com

Foggy Bottom Amb 23, from dcfd.com

I was working on Rescue 18 (ambulance) when the 1979 President’s Birthday blizzard rolled in the afternoon of February 19.

About 2 am we ended up on the median of Arlington Boulevard. Backing out the ambulance, I could not see the emergency lights when standing ten feet behind the ambulance – whiteout.

The storm dumped 19 inches in 12 hours. Followed by an ice storm two days later.

Dave Statter has been covering Snowmageddon challenges: serious fires, near-misses, damaged and destroyed fire stations (HERE).

IF I HAD BOUGHT A PLANE TICKET

I still would have not made it to the Friday night Chronicles of EMS premiere. The DC area airports have been closed since Tuesday.

Hope to see Justin and Mark at the 2010 EMS Today Conference in Baltimore. I should be dug out by the first week in March.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on February 11, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics • Tagged: , , ,

Mystery Minute 04.10

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Truth Tellers begins at Part One HERE.

 

Part Ten

Finny pulled up at the house, turned off the ignition and got out of the sedan.  Without bothering to pull on his boots first, he strode around to the back of the house and stepped in the door.

Standing across the kitchen next to the scorched and heat-twisted refrigerator was Tony Spinoza himself with a gleam of hatred in his eyes.

It might have been because of the handcuffs he was wearing.

It might have been because of the split lip that was dribbling blood down his chin and dropping onto his $1,200 loafers.

Read Part Eleven HERE.

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Posted by on February 10, 2010 • Filed under: Mystery Minute • Tagged:

Don’t Know How … Don’t Know When

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HARRY SENT ME THIS PHOTO THE OTHER DAY of a Helsinki, Finland, ambulance that was apparently competing with a car for the same space.

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After some dedicated search, we never found out when this happened.  We don’t even know who to credit the photo to.  But everybody likes to  look at the wrecks, so we’re posting the photo anyway in the hope that someone will be able to enlighten us on the incident.

Posted by on February 10, 2010 • Filed under: ambulances, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances • Tagged: ,