MikesPhotos

In the Southern California area you have 3 levels of medical training. The highest is the EMT-Paramedic level that can utilize a full range of drugs, cardiac tools, and establish a patent airway amongst other things. The next level down is the EMT-Basic which can utilize just a handful of drugs, such as oxygen.. yes.. .oxygen IS a drug! They are primarily trained to stabilize a non-critical patient, take vitals, and to assist the paramedics. All Firefighters are trained to this level. Below that is the First Responder, which is what all Police officers are trained as. They are taught basic first aid like put pressure on a bleeding wound, and how to use a sling and swathe. It's really band-aid level care at best. They are not taught how to stabilize a patient, how to deal with C-Spine issues, or anything beyond just stop the bleeding and try not to move the patient much. Most ALS calls can be downgraded to BLS once a paramedic checks them out. For example a patient with an altered level of conciousness might be due to head trauma, medical complications, or any number of issues. Once assessed by a paramedic, they can determine if further ALS care is needed, or if two EMT's can transport the patient to the hospital instead, thereby freeing up the medics from having to stand and hold a wall up in the ER till a bed is free. Unfortunately, the EMS system in this area is greatly overtaxed with many units having to go "NAV (not available) Beds" and wait for up to 4 hrs at times with a patient in the hallway of an ER. Mike

Just one of the many thousands of privately owned and operated police or fire related race teams. They are used to promote safety awareness and anti-drug messages and almost all of them use no tax or department money at all. LASD's is the one I'm most familiar with and you can read all about their activities here An before anyone gets any strange ideas and runs toddling off to the suggestion thread, that is NOT and I stress, NOT an active on duty patrol unit in any way shape or form. Sorry.

Spaloo, as usual is absolutely correct. Paramedics in this county and in much of this state work as a Paramedic Team consisting of two Paramedics to provide ALS level care to patients who need assistance beyond the scope of the standard Firefighter/EMT. The reason for the team is due to the protocols and directions regarding Base Hospital Contact in addition to Standing Protocols. In regards to Medic Assessment Engines and Light Forces, these units are staffed with either 1 or 2 paramedics and at least 1 EMT, have minimal drugs and equipment, and operate under Pre-Hospital Base Contact protocols and procedures. This allows for patients to be assessed for their needs of care ALS or BLS, allow for AMA (Against Medical Advice) form signatures (LAFD operating policy mandates that a paramedic must assess a patient before AMA can be filled out), and immediate life saving measures to be taken. For more information regarding assessment units in Los Angeles County, you can read the reference document (Ref. 416) here For more information regarding ALS level care in Los Angeles County, I recommend reading up on the role of base hospital contact in Ref 300 as well as the minimal equipment lists at Ref 700 and specific field protocols at Ref 800 For LAFD specific EMS guidelines, you can read the LAFD Field manual here Both the LAFD and LACoFD are committed to serving the citizens and ensuring a high level of ALS and BLS quality of service. Recently, along with other departments in California, we have include the usage of Lifepack 12 Lead EKGs in our ALS companies which has been found to be critical in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac patients beyond. The goal right now for the Los Angeles City Fire department, as stated previously in this thread, is to have at least 1 paramedic resource in every station, Assessment and full ALS. Here is the current EMS plan for the City of Los Angeles: Mike

Because some of you enjoy learning a bit more about the LAFD, this is from the latest weekly bulletin: Effective July 8, 2008, the LAFD will have 106 fire stations and these resources: • 130 Ambulances – 89 Paramedic and 41 BLS • 101 Engine Companies – 40 Paramedic and 61 BLS • 49 Light Forces – 21 Paramedic and 28 BLS • 5 Fireboats • 5 Helicopters Paramedic can be either a full Paramedic resource, or a Paramedic Assessment resource, and BLS is staffed with all EMT-B level personnel. Just going by the number of ambulances (staffed with 2), engines (staffed with 4), and light forces (staffed with 6), you're looking at 958 Men and Women manning those front line apparatus each day. Add in the USAR, Heavy Rescue, and other specialty units, and you can see just how large the Los Angeles City Fire Department truly is. Mike

UPDATED 06/28/2008: LAPD B&W Airships @ Van Nuys Open House This update is by request. I received an email regarding LAPD's new black and white paint scheme so I moved those pics up to the top of the to-do list and added 32 shots from the Van Nuys open house event of the new A-Star and Jet Ranger . I get a lot of emails from modelers and gamers needing detailed shots, so I hope I was able to capture some of the specifics that that community was looking for as well. Enjoy!

UPDATED 06/27/2008: LACoFD FSD Smith Park A new day, some new pics! Todays up is from the Fire Service Days @ Smith Park in Pico Rivera and includes 44 shots of LACoFD's LARCOPP SUV, Mobile Light and Air Units from FS25 and 115, and LACoFD's County Health HAZMAT vehicle. Enjoy! ---- And since I've gotten a few PM's about this, here is a list of the folders I'm going to try and get to next in no real order: From VNY Erickson Skycrane LAPD Old Slicktop wakaround LAFD USAR88 LAFD FS114 LAWA PD crown vic walk around LAFD T60 & 90 LAPD Astar old and new colors LAFD Fire 1 2 3 4 & 6 & old bell 47 LADWP Helicopter LAPD Bomb Squad - R.O.B LAWA PD Bike LAFD Bike Medics LAFD Rehab Air Tender 81 & 59 LAFD SU2 LAWA PD SWAT and Gear and SUV LAWA PD K9 LAFD Commad 3 LAFD HAZMAT 87 LAFD Foam 114 and Crash 114 and Demo and ARFF gear LAFD Helicopter Tender 1 & 2 LAFD RA881 LAFD Gator Medic unit CHLA Skyfox From Smith Park LASD Pico Rivera units LACoFD SW103 LACoFD USAR103 LACoFD Camp 2-2 LACoFD E25 LACoFD E28 LACoFD E191 LACoFD Q28 LACoFD WT44 From Van Nuys federal building & Court House LA City Bureau of Street Services Illegal Dumping Enforcement Dodge Charger LA GSD SUV and Officers LAFD Fire station 39 LAFD B10 LA City Park Rangers truck

Compost/Refuse fires are the absolute worst. I had the unfortunate experience of spending Thanksgiving 2002 on 20 acre Woodchip/compost fire next to a water reclamation plant surrounded by dairy cow farms. It took us days using bulldozers to knock over the piles and nail it with Aerial master streams and handheld hose lines before it was out. When I got home a few days later I had to park my truck down the block and change in the garage I smelled so bad. I ended up throwing that uniform away, boots and all just because of the foul smell. Thank god for SCBA's though RivCo FD/CDF T17's ladder up and shooting Glowing Compost at night So much smoldering poop... so much smoke Part of MVU (San Diego) CDF Strike team that came up to assist Row of RivCo/CDF Engines in Staging

*Giant Sigh* OK everyone, gather around for USFS Uniforms 101. Let me first start out by addressing the individual points you bring up. 1) No, USFS firefighters do not ever wear jumpsuit style. 2) Red and Orange uniforms are used by *STATE* INMATE handcrews. These men and women are incarcerated inmates who are convicted of non-violent felonies and allowed to work off part of their sentence on a firefighting hand crew. California is the leader in the use of Felon handcrews but very few other states allow. There are NO federal inmate handcrews. Now for the Primer on USFS Uniforms! The United States Forest Service is a Federal Agency under the Department of Agriculture tasked with overseeing this nations Federal Forests and Wildlands. Los Angeles City shares a common border with the Angeles National Forest along its north east border and will also respond to the Los Padres and Cleveland National Forest with dozer crews and other special units. Communities such as Sunland, Tujunga, and Sylmar, amongst others are considered Wildland Urban Interface Zones because the residences and private property encroach/borders upon forest lands and the dangers within. Because of this, the ANF and LAFD respond mutual resources to all incidents in the threat zone, with LACoFD providing Handcrews and Air Assets as well. ◊ Because the USFS ANF responds to incidents beyond just forest fires, many of their engines and firefighters are equipped with Structural Firefighting who have completed state FF1 training, not just the wildland classes. This is typically found at stations that have a heavily traveled road through it or lots of homes, like near the Angeles Crest Highway in the ANF. The gear is very similar to LAFD spec but with USFS and the Forest identifier on it, like ANF, on the back and helmet style/choice is a mix of different kinds of traditional structure helmet. Also instead of the box Reflective pattern found on LAFD and LACoFD, it just has horizontal reflective stripes. USFS ANF E17 Structure gear USFS ANF E17 Helmet USFS ANF E17 Structure Jackets inside of Engine showing close up of the writing. USFS ANF E31 helmet showing a different style ◊ USFS Wildland/Brush gear is a green or black (for some hotshot crews) single color BDU pants with a light, yellow, nomex long sleeve shirt and full brim or cap style construction like helmet with nomex shroud. Web gear with a small or large pack is used to hold things like tools, first aid kits, water, and other necessities. USFS ANF Bear Divide Hotshots - 1B, USFS ANF Bear Divide Hotshots - 1B USFS ANF E111 crew with wildland gear and Cap & Full Brim helmet ◊ USFS Helmet colors are typically Red for crew boss, yellow for firefighters, but some hotshot crews use other colors such as white or red for everyone on the crew. With the ANF, they follow the basic standard of yellow for Firefighter and Engineer, and Red for captain or Crew boss. I don't know if you are native to the US, judging by the phrasing of some of your sentences, I would guess not. But what is obvious is that you seem to have difficulty in telling a Federal Firefighter and Crew member from a State or County/Local Govt Crew. No, styles are not different every time with Forest Fire fighting. Styles are different with every AGENCY involved in Forestry and Wildland Fire fighting. As to what he's basing this off of, feel free to go click happy above, he is basing them on USFS Firefighters of the Angeles National Forest. I also suggest you check out one of my favorite websites wildlandfire . com and check out their pictures. You'll see a mix of State, Inmate, Federal, Local Govt, and even foreign crews from Canada, Russia and Australia. Now if you want to discuss foreign crews, that's a whole different ball of wax, but because this is an LA mod, besides the SuperScoopers, you aren't going to find Canadian resources or hand crews down here. Mike

Just remember, size doesn't factor into the equation! Most older BLM engines are actually Type IV's because of their pump/tank and equipment they carry. Especially the older 1991 Internationals that you still find on many BLM lands. The newer ones which are similar to USFS and CDF's engines are type IIIs and I beleive made by masterbodyworks. Here is one from the BBD at the Topanga fire a little while back I'm not sure what the BLM S&S ATC Wildland Ultra's are. I believe Sand Diego City lists them as Type IIIs.

I know MikeyPI made a great new harley but what we really need are LAPD's new pursuit vehicles. These things are super fast and wicked for freeway pursuits, and some of them have been modified with special spiked hubcaps for a new and improved way of ending pursuits. I've been told that the lights have a neat little knight rider back and forth effect and the siren is actually the Dukes of Hazard horn. (Not my Pic)

California State Hospitals are State run Mental Health Institutions. I believe those guys are from the Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk. The training they're doing shows an Antelope Valley College Police car but what they do and why they go through that kind of training, I have no idea. I can only fathom that it is in case the happy residents take over the facility or something. Like others have said, different states, different names, different duties. At one time in California we had both a California State Police and Highway Patrol. The CSP were mainly an investigative and security force in the state. They patrolled the state capitol buildings, the Aqueducts, protection duties for state officials, and also had an investigative arm that helped small cities that couldn't afford one. The highway patrol on the other hand was a more active law enforcement branch that patroled unincorporated parts of the state, the freeways, the highways, and had active elements such as K9 units, Bomb Squads and SWAT like teams. In 1995, the two departments merged with the Highway patrol absorbing the functions and duties of the State Police.

Apparatus Type requirements are detailed in the Incident Command System 420-1 Field Operations Guide which lists the minimum ICS standards for resources. It is based on the Pump, Water Tank, Hose 2 1/2", Hose 1 1/2", Hose 1", Ladder, Master Stream and Personnel. Type 1's are typical Pavement princess municipal structure engines that we are all familiar with. Type 3's are typical Brush/Wildland engines like CDF, USFS, and other departments use. Type 4 and smaller are more like pickup truck patrols like LAFD and LACoFD use. Mike

Summer has been real busy for me, so I apologize for not checking the boards for... quite sometime. If anyone needs me, feel free to pm me, and here are the last two updates to my webpage: UPDATED 06/06/2008: LACoFD FSD FS89 Pics As promised, here is one of my largest updates in quite some time! These 147 shots from the Fire Service Day at LACoFD FS89 include pics of LACo's Animal Care and Control's Volunteer Equine Response Team and their Bassett Hound, LACoFD Camp 8-2's Crew Buggy and Gear, LACoFD Copter 18, LACoFD Dozer 2 and Transport, LACoFD S89, LACoFD Water Tender 70, Misc Apparatus on the street, and 2 vehicle Extrication demos by LACoFD Q125's B-Shift Crew. As always, Enjoy! UPDATED 06/16/2008: LACoFD HR103 Todays update is the first from the Fire Service Days at Smith Park, in Pico Rivera and is a walk around tour of LA County FD's new Heavy Rescue 103. Similar to LAFD's HR56, this Heavy Rescue Crane/Tow vehicle incorporates many of the lessons learned by the LAFD as well as some new innovations. Enjoy!

UPDATED 06/03/2008: LASD Crown Vic and CHP Camaro Summer is finally here! With summer here, I finally have some more time to work on the pics and hopefully get caught up. I've been shooting nearly 1k pics a week and I've fallen far behind in updating the page. After the next few events, I'll be working on getting my Sepulveda Dam/Japanese garden pics up, so keep watching the updates if you are interested in things other then the Fire/Law stuff! Today's update includes 31 shots of the California Highway Patrols Camaro and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Crown Vic with some interior shots that had been requested. These are from the 5/10 Fire Service Day at LACoFD FS89 and expect much more from that day. Enjoy!

UPDATED 06/01/2008: LASD and Antique Crowns The SCV is officially DONE! Today's update of 56 shots includes 48 pics of the LASD's Crown Victoria, Ford Expedition Tow vehicle, Patrol Boat, and PT Cruiser. In addition to all of that, there are 8 shots of an Antique LAFD Crown and an Antique Crown Engine from the Nevada Dept of Forestry. Enjoy! -- I can't remember who it was who asked for the Interior shots of the Crown vic, but there are some in this one showing the dash and such, and in the next update there will be a walk around of the CHP Camaro and more interior shots of an LASD Crown Vic.

UPDATED 05/29/2008: LASD Motor Units - OHV and Patrol Almost done with the SCV expo pics! Today's update includes 25 shots of the LA Sheriff's Departments OHV and Kawasaki Motor Units, including a full walk around of the Kawasaki for all of you modelers and gamers out there who have sent me emails. Feel free to keep asking for whatever you need and I'll do my best to get the shots. Enjoy!

That just leaves Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. Besides Paki, American's have bases in all of the other central asian countries.

Actually no, I wouldn't agree with that. While it is nice to have, and I would prefer that on any vehicle I responded with, well, let's just take the LAPD for example. They currently have in fleet 1,374 black and whites and 2269 plain, undercover, and hybrids in their emergency vehicle fleet according to the 2007-2008 LA Blue Book Detail of Department Programs supplement. Of those 1374, I honestly do not know how many of them are slick tops which belong to special detail, swat/metropolitan division, or the traffic divisions, but it'd probably be safe to say a fair chunk. Just going by that departments numbers, I think the numbers speak to themselves, fully marked and fully lit vehicles are not in the majority in this state. Most patrol cars are, all traffic enforcement vehicles are, but if you are going to state Emergency Vehicles, which is a clearly defined term in this state, then no, the numbers and legal statutes do not back up that claim.

I gotta admit, I'm loving the norway pics! Keep em coming! UPDATED 05/24/2008: LACo Animal Control, EMSA Field Hospital, USCG Aux Today's update includes 49 shots of the Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control, LA County, Emergency Medical Services Agencies Mobile Field Hospital and Support Vehicles, and the US Coast Guard Auxillary's Nautica craft. Coming up next will be a huge LASD update featuring their patrol boat, SUV, Patrol car, walk around/detail of their Kawasaki Motor unit, OHV Dirt Bikes, and STAR PT Cruiser. Enjoy! --- The Mobile Field Hospital is one of 2 in the nation, with a smaller version found on the east coast. It is a 10 bed ER with a 2 bed Operating room that is designed to be utilized along with a 1000 bed emergency tent complex and either replace a damaged hospital or virtually create a new one in times of disaster. The EMS SUV is used by the agency to transport doctors and medical staff.

Not to get into a pissing match, but, can you cite or quote the California state law that you are referring to? The pertinent sections of law regarding California emergency vehicles can be found in the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 13 Division 2 and in the California Vehicle Code section 25252 which states: Any other light used in this state falls under the following sections and include the words MAY instead of shall. In other words, they're allowable but not necessary, only the steady burn red light is mandatory. As for the paint scheme and traffic stops, that too is covered under the California Vehicle Code section 40800 In the case of Dyer v. Department of Motor Vehicles, C054971, Dyer tried to contest that his arrest for DUI was unlawful due to the fact that he was pulled over by an unmarked police vehicle. That argument was rejected due to the fact that the law is very specific in stating that only vehicles whose primary purpose is traffic enforcement need to follow that section and that unmarked cars are fully capable of making traffic stops and arrests so long as that is not their primary purpose. Of course, other states may differ, but this is the LA mod, and these are the relevant California regulations, statues and court precedents.

Yep, we call it fish and game here, but same agency. Good job. This photo was taken at the Sepulveda Dam Recreational area in Los Angeles, which is an absolutely gorgeous little retreat smack dab in the middle of the San Fernando valley. It's a major wildlife preserve that bird watchers "flock" to every year.

Nope, i'll even give ya the state since no lic plate. It was taken in California in the Los Angeles Area

heh, not really. I fought fires in Australia and even went to NZ a few times and their paint scheme is very definitive. Was simple googling after that. So i tried 2 Fire, lets try some law enforcement

Auckland, NZ 1981 CF Mack 75' Scope

Somewhere in Nevada is going to have to be good enough I guess Indeed, it is from the small Storey County Fire Department in Nevada! There was a screw up in the ordering system and someone put in the wrong fire department code and requested them. The problem was that when they got to the incident, the CHP went apoleptic!!! The officers demanded that the firefighters cover their lightbar because only Law enforcement can use blue in this state and it became a huge scene. The only exception to that rule, I learned, is during a declared major disaster. Since this was just a normal 70k acre fire, it wasn't declared as such. Eventually the boys from Storey county were given a nice meal, a hot shower, a full tank of gas and told thank you, but please go home. I'll never forget the shock on everyones faces when the red and blue lights were going off and damned if it wasn't a freaking old fire truck coming into base camp! I'm 0 for 2 now, so you can take it agentsmith