Butt Dials on the Rise!

Aren’t smart phones great?  They really do it all.  But every now and then your rear end decides to make calls of its own.  But dialing, as it’s known, has become much more of a nuisance for newer phones than compared to older style flip and bulky phones.  You might be saying, how is this related to firefighting?   Before I answer that question, have you seen how easy it is to make an emergency call, even when you phone is locked?  Don’t type in the right password, or just by hitting the “emergency call” button, will bring you to a screen where an emergency call can be placed.

Having the ease of making an emergency call is great when you’re in a real emergency.  But then you butt decides to make that emergency call without you knowing, causes serious issues to our 911 call system.  And it’s not just you butt but let’s say you leave you phone in a book bag of pocket book and another object pushed the touchpad to dial that emergency number.  Without the phone owner knowing, a police officer or firefighter will be responding to your location.  But why?

When a 911 call is placed, either it being a real emergency or not, a dispatcher will pick up the line and ask if everything is ok.  When no one answers, the dispatchers have to assume that there is an emergency and will do the perform the necessary steps to make sure everything is ok.  The dispatcher will first attempt a call back in which he will dial the phone number and try to verify if there is a real emergency.   If no one answers the call, the line is busy, or it doesn’t go through, a police officer will be dispatched to the location where the call was placed.  Even with cell phones, an approx location is shown when you call 911.  A fire truck might be dispatched if the dispatcher feels the call needs a fire department response.  Before you know it, a police officer will be at your location asking if everything is alright.    

 It’s great that we have this program on our phone, but just be careful to not call 9-1-1 when it’s not an emergency.  Every time someone butt dials 9-1-1, the dispatcher need to take time to call back and then dispatch a police officer.  In that time, he could be answering real emergency calls.  If you do accidentally butt dial 9-1-1, pick up your phone and tell the dispatcher that everything is alight and it was just an accident.   No harm, no foul! 

So, if you don't what the SWAT team showing up at you house, make sure you

lock you phone and protect it from "butt dialing" *

*All photos on this blog were taken by me and are copyrighted. You may not under any circumstances use any of my photos without permission.

  

    

Fire Trucks Aren’t Always Red

When you think of a fire truck, you think of red truck for firefighting.  Well, what if it’s not red?  Is it still a fire truck?  Of, course!  Fire trucks come in all different shapes, varieties and colors.  They still do what they need to do, carry our tools for firefighting… but they just look different.  Have a look:

 Rye Fire Department (Rye, NY) Yellow Engine



Villge of Mamaroneck Fire Department (Mamaroneck, NY) Green Engine 

     Harrison Fire Department (Harrison, NY) Maroon Engine

Volunteer Today!

It doesn’t take an economist to tell you we are in a recession.  But a firefighter can tell you!  It’s been proven that there’s direct relation between a recession and the amount of money and time people give to others.   Considering that volunteers make up approximately 70% of our nation’s firefighters, fire protection has taken a hit.   So like the title suggests, we need volunteers.  We need you!     

If you think firefighting is all about fighting fires and rescuing cats from trees, you are sadly mistaken, we do a lot more.   Have a problem with you refrigerator?  Smell gas?  Alarm ringing and you don’t why?  These are some of calls we are sent to.  In addition, we also respond to car accidents, rubbish fires and any call where the public needs us.   It’s not uncommon for us to get called to someone house and help someone get into bed, it’s called a lift assist. 

Both career and volunteer firefighters receive numerous hours of training, both in the classroom and on the fire scene.  The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), a non-governmental oversight agency, suggests that all firefighter receive and minimum of 86 hours of training before they are allowed to fight fires.  This is usually completed with 1 year of joining a fire department.   Most firefighters don’t stop there; they receive multiple other certifications in Hazardous Materials, driving apparatus, forcible entry and auto extrication.  Some even reach the Emergency Medical Technician level and are able to provide medical treatment along with their firefighting duties.   

Hopefully by know you have the urge to volunteer and are probably wondering how you can get involved.   The best place to start would be to contact your local volunteer fire department.   Most departments have a website with volunteer information.  If your municipality doesn’t have a volunteer department, look around.  Most departments need manpower and won’t turn anyone down even if you don’t live in their district.  Most states also have volunteer firefighter associations that are good sources of information.  In New York State, The Firemen's' Association of The State of New York (FASNY), was very helpful in providing me information when I joined.  They hold annual events that encourage volunteering.  I’ll write another post when one comes around.   Please consider volunteering, neighbors helping neighbors.       

Blue Courtesy Lights

Imagine you’re driving on the road, and out of the corner of your eye, you see a blue flashing light in your rear view mirror.  What would you do?  Pullover?  Speed ahead of it? Continue driving?  Well in New York State, a blue flashing light signifies a volunteer firefighter responding to an emergency.  New York State suggests drivers move to the right and let the volunteer pass.   While it’s not the law, volunteer firefighters request the right away.  When the lights are activated, they are responding to an actual emergency.  You never know, it may be your house we are responding too. 

When we are dispatched to a fire, we have to respond to the fire station and pick up a fire truck before we can actually go to the scene of the fire.  The flashing blue lights are our way of requesting the right of way.  We can lose our job if we use them inappropriately, so we do take it seriously.   Every year, we try to educate the public on what to do, and what not to do.  The New York State laws  involving blue flashing lights can be read in Article 9; Section 375 (41) of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Laws (VTL).    

 This above news segment was produced by WTWO to share the thoughts of volunteer firefighters on the blue courtesy light.  This video was posted on YouTube.   

So, I hope by now you have gained a greater understanding of what flashing blue lights mean. We risk our lives to save yours so please give us the courtesy and let us pass.  I do want to warn my non-new York readers, laws differentiate by state.  To see what your local laws dictate, contact your state’s department of motor vehicles or local law enforcement agency. 

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  My name is Kyle and I’m here to entertain you, my audience.  This blog will be mostly about firefighting and firefighters, of which I am.  Hopefully, you'll learn something after reading my posts.  I’ll try my best to post weekly.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy. 

Photo: 4 alarm fire in Port Chester, NY last March.  (C) Kyle Wagman