Way back in 1984 I made a trip from Connecticut to L.A., Calif. That's a long time ago but I wanted to see how the other side of the country fire depts operated. I was a firefighter in a small city of Connecticut (Norwich FD - 60 member career dept). I had been a fire buff since a kid chasing fires in Bridgeport, Ct where my father was on the job. In 1968 I got my first introduction to the very busy FDNY when I rode with Rescue 2. It was the beginning of what they called the War Years, as fires would become a routine way of life there for the next 10 years and continue an additional somewhat slower pace but still very heavy into the 1980s.
A television show called "Emergency" introduced many in the northeast part of the US exactly what a paramedic was and what they did. It also introduced many into the world of County Fire Depts such as L.A. County. For the Northeast the word County Fire Dept still does not exist. we have many seperate fire depts. However, some career depts have adopted paramedics into their depts. Most private EMS in Connecticut offers both emergency transport and paramedic ambulances. Very few departments in Connecticut run the emergency ambulance service.
I will follow up this series of what the comparison was, and in some cases, still is. Comparing the fire service of the northeast area with the fire service of the LA area during my 1984 trip. It was a completely different operation in comparison. Yes, the smoke and the heat is the same but thats about where it ends.
