It appears that, once again, The Emptyprize is more interested in accepting spoon-fed information for a public relations puff piece than they are on providing any "real news". Their latest stories on the Fire Yacht, SS Overkill, raised many unanswered questions in the minds of folks -- including some who were on-shore watching that day.
When was the Coast Guard notified?
Did the Sandwich 911 Operator immediately notify USCG when the call came in? Witnesses say a USCG boat was on the scene seconds after the SFD -- maybe somebody didn't get their invtation to the party on time? If USCG (as the agency with rescue assets closest to the scene) wasn't dispatched first for a water rescue, somebody needs to be fired.
What about the ambulance?
Because the first fire crew arrived from Station 1 in an SUV, a second crew had to be dispatched from Station 3 in Forestdale with an Ambulance. This left the remainder of the Town without any Fire or EMS coverage. Will this be standard procedure for all boat calls? I'm not pushing for carpooling, but is there any reason the first crew couldn't have ridden over in an ambulance?
What about our neighbors?
Because the entire department was tied up on this call, two Sandwich medical emergencies needed to be handled by the Bourne and West Barnstable Fire Departments. While mutual aid is an integral part of emergency service, according to the last Town Report, we received aid from surrounding Towns 158 times but only provided aid to them 68 times. (The prior year we received aid 150 times and only provided it 50 times.) We are obviously under-staffed, so why are we exacerbating the situation by duplicating a service that is already handled very well by the Coast Guard? What if we can no longer rely on the generosity of our neighboring towns to pay to provide emergency service to Sandwich on a fairly regular basis?
But, how can the Coast Guard be everywhere?
They can't. But neither can the Sandwich Fire Department. A quick look at the town's Annual Report shows that there is a far greater likelihood of SFD being tied up on a call than the USCG -- particularly since the USCG has very fast, well-staffed, and well equipped boats already in the water. Can anybody really say (with a straight face) that SFD can beat them to a water rescue?
What about protecting the fishing fleet?
From what? When the boats are in port, they can be sprayed by the Tower Truck, or damn near any engine in the fleet -- or a hose off a Marina hydrant. If they're at sea, 99% of their journey is far beyond the reach of the SFD. It's a nice thought, but when was the last time there was a fishing boat fire in town? On the other hand, when was the last time there was a car accident in East Sandwich, or a medical emergency in Forestdale -- or simultaneous emergencies? I have an answer to that one --- according to the 2012 Annual report, "of the 3,473 emergencies we responded to 1,247 or 35% occurred while another emergency was being handled.". If we are already having problems handling simultaneous calls, why try to solve another problem that doesn't even exist?
But it's FREE!
No, it's not.
We will be expected to begin absorbing all operating costs (maintenance, training, staffing, fuel, etc.) at some point in the very near future, Presumably, because the Boat was provided through Homeland Security, we will also be obligated to provide emergency services over a wider area than the coastal waters of Sandwich. Other towns will absorb the cost of calls they will need to cover because SFD is busy chasing Coast Guard rescue calls. And, do we seriously want the Sandwich Fire department checking passing container ships for radiation?
Why are you harping on this?
Because nobody seemed to be paying any attention. The Fire Department needs a lot of things. Most importantly, it needs manpower to properly staff existing equipment and stations. We are running up huge overtime costs trying to meet the demand for services. This takes a financial toll on the Town, and a physical toll on firefighters. It also impacts residents of surrounding towns who may have to wait longer for emergency services because their crews are tied up on a Sandwich call. (OK, maybe we DO owe them a subsidized pool membership!)
10 comments:
Sandwich fire has a boat already. You would think they would just leave that boat in the marina during boating season from memorial day through labor day.....?? I'm sure there aren't more than 2 or 3 boat fires in the last 25 years. Maybe they should ask for public suggestion to help them out.
If the article printed in the paper was intended to promote the use of this fire boat, it completly failed.
The reason is that it shows we are ill prepaired to perform the duties of emergancy calls, with out calling in Mutual aid from other towns.
That can not be the way the fire department uses this boat, at the expense of less service to the citizens of Sandwich.
The Sandwich based Coast Guard Unit is the primary search and rescue team here in and around Sandwich and all calls that require water rescues should go directly to them and it should be the Coast Guard That calls Sandwich if assistance is needed in what ever is happening on the water.
It is bad enough that a stupid boater did not obey the laws of safe boating by not having on a life jacket, but he also jepordised his passenger life as well.
It is a requirement to have jackets on under the condition he was using his craft and he should be assed the cost of the rescue for his flaunting of the law in that regard..
Our fire rescue boat did not do any thing different then what the trained Coast Guard team spent a life time doing. Saving boaters under all types of weather condition and circumstances. There team has trained swimmers to retrieve stupid boaters that find a way to cause some one else to perhaps lose there life, simply because they refuse to obey the laws when in such a craft, that call for them to wear a life jacket.
Sandwich needs to completly evaluate the use of this boat and keep in mind that we are not the Coast Guard, that have countless trained profesionals, with many years of sea rescues that have undergone the challenges of time and every conceievable type of rescue and that is why they are and should remain the prime on site emergancy reponder to any on the water rescue.
This article was a lot of fluff and no substance of value other then to spin a good appreance that failed.
CORRECTION -- The boat which accompanied the Mayflower though the canal with the water cannons spraying was the Wareham Harbormaster -- not USACE. I have corrected this in all relevant posts.
There is a complete branch of the United States Military called the Coast Guard that the Town of Sandwich thinks that they can do a better job than the orange and white. Is there anything, other than collecting buildings, that Sandwich does better than anyone else? We took the Mutual Aid topic a few steps further.
Received Provided
2008 91 56
2009 104 60
2010 98 68
2011 150 50
2012 158 68
This means that in the last 5 years residents of the Town of Sandwich had to wait for help 601 times from other towns. 601 times. Does that mean we need more fire trucks? No. Does that mean more ambulances? No. Does that mean we need more boats? Certainly no.Will a $30 million dollar building cure this obvious problem? Definately no. More people? The numbers point only in this direction. Maybe the members of the reconstituted public safety committee will read this.....maybe
You guys really need to grow up. Is that all you do is bitch about stupid stuff.
And I guess that would make you one of those "grown-up" morons that caused the mess the Town has put itself into --- no commercial tax base, failing buildings, declining school enrollment, and "beaches" with no sand?
I was at the Marina this morning watching 3 firemen wash the boat while a Fire Dept SUV sat on the lawn. I have no idea if anyone was in the station -- but if a call came in, I assume they would have raced back to get a fire truck or an ambulance?
Wow. Where are the Selectmen on this issue? Did they actually approve the grant application?
It's interesting that none of them have ever responded to any of these postings.
Has the Fire dept ever stated when (or if) the Coast Guard was called for this "rescue" ?
live tonight on "As The Sandbar Spins" king of the sandbox reports that our fair fire chief will be retiring from service at some point before jan 1 stay tuned
So Bud announced that the Chief is retiring soon . . . Hmmm, that's timely. Instead of the usual glass bowl as a parting gift, I suggest we give him the head cheerleader behind the fire boat debacle, his deputy! If the BOS isn't too preoccupied with hurrying a meeting along so they can watch a Pats game, they may consider hiring a qualified person from "far away", who can clean up this mess and restore the respect due our local firefighters!
Post a Comment