In article ,
says...
othanks (James S. Prine) wrote in
:

I read the post on Highway workers, if you read this (the poster of the
topic), your point is well taken.

We are ambushed, just by non-human things. A co-worker, working in the
same place that I had all day, with the exception that the mechanics had
removed an inspection plate to examine a valve stem, took a breath and
fell to the grating (floor), unconscious. The supervisor wasn't sure
what to do in the next few seconds, not sure if the man was even
breathing. Fortunately, the man began snoring (a good sign of life), and
in about 40 seconds, he awoke, looking around, saying "I'm ok". He had
fallen with his legs bent behind him. Had he not fallen to the grating
and over the side he would have plummeted to his death.

Another co-worker had gone out early in the morning to do his rounds,
and he noticed a leak (fluids) into a containment area. When he
attempted to start a steam siphon to clear the contaminated water from
the area, he instantly fell unconscious, falling off a small wall onto
the street. Had he of fallen into the containment area, he would be
dead. He laid there unconscious until the gas service (they check the
level of toxic gasses throughout the plant) men found him. He was
transported to a PGH area hospital, and remained there for several days.
His face was quite a mess, as he fell off the wall while standing up. Is
an ambush any worse than this, especially if the victim had died?

I was at work one day when a storage tank blew up, casting its top (30
feet in diameter), over the side onto the roadway. A man routinely needs
to go to the top of the tanks as part of his rounds. If he had been
killed, would he have been any less dead than an officer killed my some
maniac? Would it have been any less expected? Is it not an ambush of
sorts? The only difference is that with an industrial accident, there
will be no backup support, no SWAT team. You run, hope to escape the
destruction, and wait for it to stabilize before returning. When your
buddy gets connected to 13800 volts (yes, it happened at my plant,
though it wasn't my buddy), how does one extricate him? One doesn't. You
watch, hope he doesn't completely fry, then get help. The man I speak of
lived and returned to work. Another was carrying a pipe that connected
to a 69000 Volt line, blowing through his buckle and down his legs,
blowing his shoes off. He lived but was unable to return to work, his
internal organs having been too seriously injured. My co-workers, being
with him, ran when it first occurred. After obtaining safe distance,
they realized that their buddy was involved, and returned to him when
the sparks were over. No bulletproof vest would help.

Ambush by human means or by mechanical means is the same if the
recipient is dead or crippled.

Videotaping, an excellent topic. With the police fetish of taping the

How did this thread go from a bald guy with grey hair to all this?
--
Dwayne
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BC895/

Besides, OSHA regulations don't apply to government agencies...including the police.

Really? Where are you? They do apply within the state of California.
Even the State of California itself is no longer exempt...

Not sure how MY name got affixed to the story below, that certainly wasn't
MY story! Tags are getting confused here! G.W.

"James S. Prine" wrote in message
...
Ghost writer wrote:

You know, many years back, my team was called...our of our
jurisdiction...to
handle an overturned 18-wheeler blocking a roadway.

When we got there, we discovered that the driver was pinned inside the
cab, and
screaming for help. The tank...filled with gasoline...had split, and the
gasoline was literally pouring out and rapidly filling in the little ditch
we
were working in, trying to extricate the driver.

It was an extremely interesting experience, trying to get the driver out
of the
truck and continue breathing in the unbelievable fumes from the
gasoline...I
was up midway to my shins at one point!

Somehow we got the guy out without anyone (including us) being
incinerated; we
got him to the hospital for treatment (he did fine), and of course the
entire
team had to go off duty and discard our ruined clothing.

I think my first shower was an hour long, and I smelled like a fuel farm
for a
week.

We all got sick from inhaling the gasoline fumes of course, and, as a
reward,
the driver slapped us with a huge civil suit!

Yes, the intense 'glory' of public service work....the heady feel of being
a
'hero'....

LOL










James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

Just suffice it to say, there is no room in the Police, EMS, Fire OR
Military for people who "try" to be HEROES. It only ends up getting them or
others killed or seriously hurt. As I said, they in their quest, lose all
track of training, danger signals and so on.
IT DOESN'T PAY. You want to be or see a hero, look to sports. You want
glory, look to sports or Politics - as another also pointed out as well. IT
DOESN'T BELONG in the Emergency or Military areas. People may come in with
that in mind, but as one man pointed out, TRAINERS do their damndest to
chase that out of the services. WE can't stop people from seeking glory or
wanting to be a hero, but we sure don't need them either. As stated, it puts
us all at risk. When the tones go off, I do my job. Will I end up a hero? I
don't know nor do I care. I go to do the job required. Will I come back
alive or unhurt? I don't know, but I can rely on my skills to try to assure
that. I'd rather be alive to help another day than to be a hero and risk
getting myself or others killed or seriously hurt in the process.

As to budget cuts, most everyone is experiencing them. Crime is up and it
will take longer for a response from Police with fewer working. Here, even
the State Police are swamped with calls due to providing coverage in areas
where local police aren't available - plus their own State assigned areas.
They've even had response times of about 45 minutes. Calls are prioritized.
They can only do so much and if it is a nasty call, it will tie up more for
longer periods of time...

As one man pointed out, where is the "heroism or glory" of scraping up one's
remains? THERE ISN'T. I've done it a few times and it is very sad and
disgusting. If you get a "thrill" out of that, you got a serious problem.
G.W.

Not sure how MY name got affixed to the story below, that certainly wasn't
MY story! Tags are getting confused here! G.W.

Sorry about that, Ghost Writer.


James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

Besides, OSHA regulations don't apply to government agencies...including
the police.

Really? Where are you? They do apply within the state of California.
Even the State of California itself is no longer exempt...

I'm currently based in Louisiana, and government agencies here, including
police departments, are still exempt from OSHA regulations.

Of course Louisiana is the oddball State in any event; it is the only State in
the country where the laws are based on the old Napoleonic Code while all the
other States use English common law.

I understand that the OSHA exemptions might be coming to an end sooner or
later, but for the time being...well, there it is.

LOL...between the polluted river water, the polluted marshlands and the
polluted air, New Orleans itself should be shut down and sealed off g.





James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

Dwayne wrote:

Im not the one that made that remark. Someone got things all screwed up
when they was replying and now makes it look like I was the one that
said the stupid stuff.

No problem amigo...we all know the truth now.

Thanks, and cheers!


James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

"James S. Prine" wrote in message
...
Not sure how MY name got affixed to the story below, that certainly
wasn't
MY story! Tags are getting confused here! G.W.

Sorry about that, Ghost Writer.


James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/



No problem! G.W.

I guess you have your perception of the situation and I have mine.

If my explanation did not make any since to you as to the differences
between the dangers at your job and someone in law enforcement then nothing
I could ever say would.

William Lee


"Soliloquy" wrote in message
4...
"WilleeCue" wrote in
:

First, the job is reasonably safe. OSHA cannot insure that a 1500 HP
motor, driving 2 stages of compressors, will not throw it's coupler with
disastrous results when a compressor fails. It has thrown them through
walls, the motor subsequently catching on fire. Heavy industry utilizes
complex and potentially dangerous equipment as a requisite to their
function. The circuit breakers for the 13800 volt equipment are the size
of a refrigerator. Why don't police just insist of their supervisors
that their jobs be made safe?

Dont ya hate it when that happens?
A lot of stupid disagrements have started just because some one could not
follow the thread.
Those of us that can follow them know who said what.

William Lee


"Dwayne" wrote in message
.net...
In article ,
othanks says...
But describing police officers as 'idiots with guns', etc, isn't
particularly
funny, nor do I think the miserable 'cops & donut shop' quips as being
funny,
either,

Im not the one that made that remark. Someone got things all screwed up
when they was replying and now makes it look like I was the one that
said the stupid stuff.
--
Dwayne
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BC895/