Emergency Questions

[MCERT1]

It may have been asked before but i'll give it a shot anyway.

How does the volounter fire dept. work in US?

Is it always personel available to callout from they're homes/work or does the trucks sometimes not respond due to lack of personel?

Is the nearest full time / paid fire dept. alarmed even though there is a fire in an area where a volounter dept is located?

Does the volounter fire dept have restrictions on SCBA, hazmat and diving?

I know that some of the questions answers may differ from place to place, but based on your own experiance how does it work?

Thanks in advance

Volunteer fire departments vary a lot from place to place.

Some are entirely unmanned, and members will respond from home or work to the fire station to pick up vehicles. Others will have a small number of paid personnel such as chiefs, paramedics, and even just people to drive the fire trucks. Other ones also have members that work for the local community that are essentially paid firefighters because they are always allowed to go to calls and are available during the day. Depending on the size of the stations, normally they are setup to encourage members to spend extra time there with big social areas and often times have dormitory rooms for members to sleep there. Some departments will do rotations where members are expected to sleep at the station once every few nights.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time volunteer departments are not able to respond a fire truck or ambulance. Usually it depends on the time of day and type of call. Many employers do not like releasing volunteer firefighters to go to an emergency, unless it's something very large. Additionally, members don't like to go to non-emergency calls (mainly ambulance). Unfortunately a lot of agencies in my current area have had to stop providing ambulance service because they cannot get members to respond to ambulance calls.

When volunteer fire departments do not respond, it is handled uniquely by where it occurred. Usually, it is a method similar to the one I will describe. In my dispatch center, when a call comes in we alert for the necessary fire departments. After 5 minutes have passed, and there are firetrucks needed that have not responded, we will re-alert the fire departments. After 8 minutes, if they still have not responded in the trucks, we will ask an incident commander (if one is on scene) or just automatically alert for the closest additional fire department. The method is similar most places, but there are variations in the time frame for when additional alerts are placed.

In areas where there are paid and volunteer fire departments, they often still have very specific jurisdictional boundaries. This is not always the case though, some places, the volunteer fire departments are essentially support agencies for the paid fire department. Responses will vary significantly by area, but in general, both agencies will respond together. That also depends on the nature of the emergency, sometimes they may only send the paid or volunteer department. In my immediate area, the nearest paid fire department is 35 miles away, so we do not call for them unless it's a very, very big fire. We do however have paid EMS units for the county. Both the paid crews and the volunteer ambulances will be alerted for calls. The reason is that our paid ambulances are ALS units with a paramedic on board, and our volunteer units are usually not.

There are specific restrictions on what volunteer firefighters can do, but it is all based on training. If a volunteer has not taken their basic firefighter instruction courses, they cannot use SCBA. Hazmat, diving, and water rescue also have the same restrictions, but once you are trained in how to do them, you can. It also depends greatly on what equipment the volunteer department has. Many do not have diving equipment, or hazmat equipment due to cost, and a lack of trained members. In many places several volunteer fire departments will join together to form these specialized units.

Hope this helps.

[matte31]

Wow.

I didn't expect an answer like that, this is why i love this forum.

Yes your information was very helpfull and easy to understand.

Thank you MCERT1.

[MCERT1]

No problem

If you have any more questions, or want more info feel free to ask

[Handsup!]

Hi, quick question, hoping someone from Devon or Devon and Cornwall constabulary can answer this, why do your panda cars and general patrol vehicles have rear reds on static when patrolling?

Thanks-Hanndsup

[Sheildings]

Hello, I'm new here, You may not know me, Anyways, I'm Sheildings, I used the LA Mod by Hoppah for Emergency 4, It's pretty damn good, I wanted to ask a question since I got Emergency 2013, Is it moddable? I've looked through some topics, But they're pretty old and I've heard of no mods for it. Any idea?

[Handsup!]

This is the wrong place, haha

Anyhow, the answer is no, Emergency 2012 and 13 have no mods at all. You can't mod it unfortunately, sorry!

[Ace]

Scenario question. (Police)

You and a fellow officer are on patrol when you see a car matching the description of a suspects car. You chase the car into a sidestreet. The suspect gets out with a pistol and shoots your partner several times. Do you go chasing after the suspect or attend to your partners wounds?

I'm thiking it depends how wanted the suspect is or how bad your partners injured, or if your partner tells you to go after him. Is there a concrete answer to this?

[999madtom]

Scenario question. (Police)

You and a fellow officer are on patrol when you see a car matching the description of a suspects car. You chase the car into a sidestreet. The suspect gets out with a pistol and shoots your partner several times. Do you go chasing after the suspect or attend to your partners wounds?

I'm thiking it depends how wanted the suspect is or how bad your partners injured, or if your partner tells you to go after him. Is there a concrete answer to this?

If it was me I would return a few shots then press my emergency button and treat my partner

[Handsup!]

If it was me I would return a few shots then press my emergency button and treat my partner

 

Me too. I think treating the partner is lots more important than letting the suspect who could be potentially captured by other officers.

 

I'm going on the same basis of calling off pursuits as no matter how reckless he is driving/how wanted he is (Up to a certain point probably) if it's gonna end in tears than the safe option is to hold back and potentially save lives.

[theparanoid]

It may have been asked before but i'll give it a shot anyway.

How does the volounter fire dept. work in US?

Is it always personel available to callout from they're homes/work or does the trucks sometimes not respond due to lack of personel?

Is the nearest full time / paid fire dept. alarmed even though there is a fire in an area where a volounter dept is located?

Does the volounter fire dept have restrictions on SCBA, hazmat and diving?

I know that some of the questions answers may differ from place to place, but based on your own experiance how does it work?

Thanks in advance

In the county I live we have exactly two paid departments.  One for steel mill the other for county seat.  All the rest are volunteer.  Most are full volunteer with no tax dollars.  So in addition to fight fire there doing fund raisers to get enough money to buy gear, trucks etc.

 

One if mixed.  The township owns the equipment, vehicles and station and volunteers staff it. But regard to respond.  

 

 

they way they handle it with dipatch is they normal alarm say three company for structure fire still alarm.   This gives the man power and equipment.  

[Fred03]

In my county we have no paid departments, they are all volunteer. We are dispatched  to the calls in our area and once on scene the highest ranking officer who responds (not everyone always responds, last fire we had 7 total firefighters) can call and request mutual aid from the next town over and the county dispatch tones them to respond to our location.

When the tones sound over our radios some firefighters respond to the station where their gear is and respond in the trucks, some who live outside of town and far from the station just keep their gear in their vehicles and respond to the scene of the fire.

[Ace]

(Police)

if you get dispatched to a noise complaint and the person who's causing the disturbance insists on knowing who the complainee is, are you allowed to tell them? What if the person causing the disturbance won't cooperate until you tell them who reported the person. Are you allowed to arrest the person causing the noise disturbance?

I think you never should/not allowed to tell people who called or reported something because it might put them in danger.

[Ace]

(Police)

What's the cops role in a minor car accident? Do they have to get both drivers information and witness statements and that's all? When can the police leave a minor accident scene (clear)?

[EmergencyFan97]

The role of the police in a minor traffic accident is to redirect traffic or move the vehicles out of traffic if possible, collect the information of both drivers and their witness statements, and determine who is at-fault.  They can clear the scene once these duties have been performed.

[Handsup!]

As for your first question i'm pretty sure you have to follow something a bit like Patient Confidentiality in hospitals etc. This would make sense as if a murderer asked who called the police you know the caller will have a hit on him.

 

Quick tip: Edit posts rather than make two

[Ace]

Aight thanks for the replies 

I'll remember next time handsup

[999madtom]

I know lets make a topic on all of Graal Bot's scenario

http://forum.emergency-planet.com/index.php?/topic/18072-emergency-scenario-what-would-you-do/

[Ace]

These aren't really scenarios but I've always been curious

(PD)

Can a police car go at any speeds when running code 3? I know firetrucks and ambulances can't go over 30+ or something the speed limit

(EMS)

If you arrive at a car accident scene and you see one person bleeding badly but he doesn't consent to being treated, if he has life threatning injuries are you allowed to apply first aid even if the victim doesn't consent?

(FD) 

When you come up to an accident scene are you allowed to park your truck anywhere? does it have to be 45 degrees parallel to the vehicles involved to prevent further collisions

[EmergencyFan97]

PD) No limits nationally here in the U.S.  Limits are determined only by your department and what the vehicle can physically do.  This counts for PD, fire, and EMS.

 

EMS) Nope, if he says he doesn't want medical attention, nothing can be forced on him unless he is determined to not be of his proper mind.  If he is determined to be disoriented or not entirely sane, he can be taken into productive custody by the police.  Treatment may then be applied.

 

FD) Vehicle can be parked anywhere with reason.  No particular angle or anything.  Traffic being blocked is not advisable unless the accident itself blocks traffic.

[Ace]

Thanks EmFan97

1.Are police dashcam videos reviewed after every shift? There might be a speeding car on camera but the officer not doing anything.

 

2.When your police car falls in a little ditch and your embarassed, do you have to call the department for a tow or can you call a local towing company? There is no damage on the car.

 

3.Are you allowed to turn right from a bike lane onto another bike lane when it's a red light and there's cars passing by? (When your cycling, of course)

[EmergencyFan97]

1) Don't believe so.

2) The department has to be advised.  They will give you further instructions.

3) I have no idea.

[Ace]

Why do paramedics check people's pupils with a flashlight? What does it do? How are the pupils supposed to react if the person is fine? If their pupil doesn't react normally, why is that? How can you treat them? What causes the pupil not to react normally?

[Handsup!]

Why do paramedics check people's pupils with a flashlight? What does it do? How are the pupils supposed to react if the person is fine? If their pupil doesn't react normally, why is that? How can you treat them? What causes the pupil not to react normally?

I'm pretty sure that the light causes your pupils to dilate and become smaller to let less light in. I'm guessing its to check your still responding normally.

[999madtom]

I'm pretty sure that the light causes your pupils to dilate and become smaller to let less light in. I'm guessing its to check your still responding normally.

The light makes your pupils smaller. You use it to test for a head injury.

[Handsup!]

The light makes your pupils smaller. You use it to test for a head injury.

Yea. I knew about the first bit but i was unclear on the actual purpose