In his Letter to the Editor (October 2005), John H. Busching, of the Fire Department of New York’s (NYPD) Emergency Service Unit’s (ESU) Specialized Training School, expressed his displeasure with comments made in the Editor’s Opinion (Fire Engineering, June 2005) and my article “Helicopter Operations for High-Rise Emergencies” (June 2003).
Detective Busching, who is also a volunteer firefighter whose father was a member of The Fire Department of New York (his brother is a current FDNY firefighter), explained why the NYPD ESU is not a duplication of the services provided by FDNY’s rescue companies, squads, and special operations command support truck companies. He listed the training standards for ESU. He also implied that he agrees that all agencies, including the NYPD, should use the incident command system. He closed by mentioning the deaths of 23 ESU officers in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11.
I can’t speak to the June 2005 Editor’s Opinion because I wasn’t the author. However, with regard to my June 2003 article on helicopter high-rise team operations, I feel Detective Busching deserves a reply.
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