Useful Internet Sites
    
 Note:  This is a short list of suggested sites; there are many others that can help you!  Inclusion on this list does not imply endorsement of the NYS Office of Fire Prev. & Control for the information or services presented on these sites.

(A PDF of the full version is available HERE )     
 

TIP: Clicking on these links won't open a new window -- you'll have to use your browser's "back" button if you want to return to this page.  You can also open up a new browser and copy/paste links into the new address bar!  

EMS         

• NYS Department of Health EMS Bureau
  http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/ems/main.htm       
• EMS Close Calls
  http://emsclosecalls.com   
• National Highway Traffic Safety Admin./US DOT
  http://www.ems.gov
• SUNY Upstate Health Info. Center (Articles, animations, videos, anatomical models)
  http://upstate.edu/library/healthinfo/ 
• JEMS Magazine (also Fire-Rescue Magazine and Homeland First Response Magazines)
  http://www.jems.com/
• EMS Village (Lots of EMS-related news, links, discussion lists, PowerPoint presentation sharing)
  http://www.emsvillage.com
• National Library of Medicine (free access to MEDLINE, PubMed and other resources)
  http://health.nih.gov/ 
• NLM’s Specialized Information Services (free databases and research related to toxicity & hazmat, reviews & downloads of PDA software, esp. WISER (for 1st responders at hazmat incidents) http://sis.nlm.nih.gov  and http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov

General Fire Service

• US Fire Admin. & National Fire Academy (Publications, facts, downloadable documents, training drills, software, statistics, course information, grants & resources database, kid’s firesafety game.  A must!)
  http://www.usfa.dhs.gov
• New York State DHSES Office of Fire Prevention & Control  (info about OFPC services, courses, the Fire Academy, safety alerts, legislation, how to become a firefighter,  general info on the fire service in NYS, coordinators lists, documents,  Academy video catalog, Academy library online catalog, more!)
  http://www.dhses.ny.gov/ofpc/ 
• NIOSH Fire Fighter Page (safety advisories, reports, summaries of LODD investigations, etc.)
  http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/firefighters/
• FirstResponder.gov (Disciplines include EMS, fire, explosives, hazmat, search & rescue and law enforcement. Includes many links, resources, technology updates, communities of practice and news for all first responders.)

• Firehouse Magazine (news, automatic e-mail updates, links, metasearch engine, events calendar, MFRI lesson plans/training drills, etc.   Paid “MembersZone” subscription required for access to premium services.)
  http://www.firehouse.com
• LRC Online Card Catalog (Great for research! This is the NETC library in Emmitsburg)
  http://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/library
• NFPA (Documents, standards info, news, library bibliographies & extensive links to other websites)
  http://www.nfpa.org and http://www.nfpa.org/aboutthecodes/list_of_codes_and_standards.asp  (Sign in for free access to read-only versions of codes)
• British Columbia Fire Training Officers Assn. (Lots of good lesson plans & PowerPoint programs)
  http://bcftoa.com/training.asp  (Requires registration, but the old version archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20070607174900/http://www.bcftoa.com/training.asp does not)
• Building & Fire Research Lab (Fire prot. engineering literature database,  FPE software to download, etc.)
  http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/bfrlris/
• Central NY Firetrucks (despite the name, photos from all areas of the State)
  http://www.cnyfiretrucks.com/
• Emergency Responder Safety Institute (Roadway response SOPs, video, documents, pics, news)
  http://www.respondersafety.com
• Dave Walsh’s page at SUNY/Dutchess (PowerPoint presentations, audio & video clips)
  http://faculty.sunydutchess.edu/walsh/fire_training_resources.htm
• Delmar Firefighter’s Handbook companion site (with quizzes, games, instructor resources and more)
  http://www.delmarlearning.com/companions/index.asp?isbn=1401835759
• Drive to Survive (Emergency vehicle safety, maintenance, training resources, video clips, documents)
  http://drivetosurvive.org/
• Every One Goes Home (great source for FF safety and survival information& downloads)
  http://www.everyonegoeshome.com/ 
• FDNY
  http://www.nyc.gov/fdny  (Official) and http://www.nyfd.com  (Unofficial)
• Firefighter Close Calls (Narratives, “lessons learned,” weekly drill archive, SOPs, links, safety warnings)
  http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com
• Firefighterspot.com (Good source of online video)
  http://bestfirefightervideo.com/
• Firedawg. (Lists fire-related college degree programs by state; also DOD, local, certificate & distance learning) 
  http://www.firedawg.com  See also http://www.DODfire.com
• Flashover TV (hundreds of video clips online, many of which can be used in training)
  http://flashovertv.firerescue1.com
• GI Bill Benefits for attending school (including NYS Academy of Fire Science courses)
  http://www.gibill.va.gov/School_Info/once/index.htm 
• IAFC International Assn. of Fire Chiefs.  (General info, full-text resources, links and “members-only” area)
  http://www.iafc.org
• IAFF International Assn. of Fire Fighters.  (Training resources, wellness, downloads, legislation, news.  Some areas members-only. See  http://www.iaff.org/evsp/ for emergency vehicle driving safety resources.)
  http://www.iaff.org/  
• Fire Service Joint Labor Management Wellness/Fitness Initiative: Candidate Physical Ability Test. Full 450-page manual online at http://www.publicsafetymed.com/Redmond%20docs/CPAT%20Manual.PDF ; video clips at http://www.fire.lacounty.gov/helpwanted/recruit/i_cpat_start.html 
• inFire Organizations (list with links of fire organizations that do research or have resource collections)
  http://www.infire.org
• “Lessons Learned” community of practice for emergency response providers & homeland security officials http://www.llis.gov  (Site being changed Jan. 2015; future uncertain. Registration required)
• National Association of State Fire Marshals  (fire prevention resources and legislative action, and link to FLAMES Fire Links & Arson Mail Exchange System, from NASFM, ATF, IAAI & USFA)
  http://www.firemarshals.org
• Natl. Vol. Fire Council (calendar, legislative news, links, resources)
  http://www.nvfc.org
• New York State Assn. of Fire Chiefs (News, resources, legislative action, links, more)
  http://www.nysfirechiefs.com
• NIMS Resource Center
  http://www.fema.gov/emergency/nims/index.shtm
• Public Safety Education Network  (video clips, podcasts, webcasts, uploads and more)
  http://www.publicsafetyedu.com
• SUNY Fire Prevention & Safety (campus and general fire safety info)
  http://www.albany.edu/ehs/firelife.html
• Volunteer & Combination Officer’s Section, IAFC
  http://web.archive.org/web/20070806054035/http://vcos.org/resourcesonline.html  (much of the material that used to be at vcos.org is no longer available from the current www.vcosiafc.org site , but the old material archived on Web.  Most of it was transferred also to http://www.fsrn.us/online-resources.htm)
• VolunteerFD.org (VFD management issues, esp. fundraising, SOGs, bylaws, recruitment, grants, training)
  http://www.volunteerFD.org
• Volunteer Firemens Insurance Services (page listing downloads of SOPs, guides, bylaws, etc.)
  http://www.vfis.com/resources.htm 
• Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (case studies, NWCG courses,  PowerPoints, etc.)
  http://www.wildfirelessons.net
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute
  http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Library  (online catalog of their library & links to other online catalogs)
  http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/Fire  (lots on fire protection engineering and links)

Hazardous Materials/WMD

• National Agricultural Safety Database  (esp. for pesticides, herbicides, etc. but also has general safety info)
  http://www.nasdonline.org
• NLM’s Specialized Information Services (free databases and research related to toxicity & hazmat, reviews & downloads of PDA software, esp. WISER (for 1st responders at hazmat incidents) http://sis.nlm.nih.gov and http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/
• EPA emergency response page  (CAMEO and other tools, software, databases, documents, FAQs,
  http://www.epa.gov/oem/index.htm
• E-Plan Emergency Response Information System (largest US database of chemical and facility hazards data)
  https://erplan.net
• HazMat Zone (free registration for MSDS, regulations, exposure limits, first aid, tutorials, checklists)
  http://www.hz.genium.com/
• US Dept. of Homeland Security homepage
  http://www.dhs.gov/
• US Dept. of Transportation hazmat homepage
  http://hazmat.dot.gov/ 
• Best picks for GHS or MSDS info:

http://www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/global.html 

Laws, Law Enforcement, Forensic Science, Fire Investigation

• Certified Arson & Fire Investigator Training (Run by IAAI, delivers free training, resources and Webinars to investigators.  Registration is required, but free.)
  http://CFItrainer.net
• Cornell University Law   (Full-text of many NY State court decisions and case law )
  http://www.law.cornell.edu
• FireFindings (info on articles published in the magazine, investigator’s message board & archives of posts)
  http://www.firefindings.com  
• Google Sketchup (free computerized drawing tool with large library of drawings for import)
  http://sketchup.google.com
• http://www.findlaw.com   and  http://www.legalengine.com
  (Both have great links, cases, codes, legislation, regulations, legal issues, news, firms, consultants, experts)
• Interfire VR (Fire & arson resources and information exchange)
  http://www.interfire.org
• Intl. Assn. of Arson Investigators (Information, alerts, links, documents)
  http://www.firearson.com
• Fire Science & Technology, Inc. (Good info on technical/engineering aspects of fire scene reconstruction, expert testimony, fire behavior, heat release, fire gas toxicology, and electrical fire cause determination)
  http://www.doctorfire.com/contents.html 
• National Center for Forensic Science’s Ignitable Liquids Reference Collection
  http://ncfs.ucf.edu/databases.html
• NY State Court decisions and slip opinions
  http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/Decisions.htm

Other  Emergency Response or Safety Info

• Consumer safety info, recalls, etc. from a variety of sources incl government agencies, current events, etc

            https://www.consumersafety.org/ 

• Emergency communications &  public safety wireless research & standards
  http://wireless.fcc.gov/publicsafety/  and  http://www.safecomprogram.gov/SAFECOM/
• Federal Emergency Management Administration (publications, courses, USAR, NIMS tools, sit reps)
  http://www.fema.gov
• National Safety Council (lots of good safety-related information, incl. child safety, industrial hygiene, etc.)
  http://www.nsc.org
• NYS Dept. of State, Codes Division. (NYS codes information, checklists, documents)
  http://www.dos.state.ny.us/code/ls-codes.html
• OSHA (Health & safety resources, regulations, documents, standards, technical info, links)
  http://www.osha.gov 
• US Consumer Product Safety Commission (Information, recalls, safety alerts)  
  http://www.cpsc.gov

Utilities, General Reference and Online Catalogs

• Bloglines (online service for searching, subscribing, creating, sharing news feeds, blogs & rich web content.
  http://www.bloglines.com
• CSEA Test Prep Book Series (Full text of 26 booklets, the only aids written specifically for NYS Civil Service exams.  No longer free on the Web for nonmembers, but archived version below still works.
  http://web.archive.org/web/20060524032029/http://www.csea659.org/books.htm
• Changed website notifiers (Sends you an email alert when webpages you designate are updated or changed)
  http://www.ChangeDetect.com or http://my.fliptop.com/
• Internet Archive (Favorite site or important document no longer on the Web?  Try this!)
  http://www.archive.org      
• New York Public Library - Anyone in NY State can get a NYPL card that will allow access to many databases, full-text resources & encylopedias, Learning Express Library (civil service, EMT, CDL, academic, licensing  & military test review). You also get audiobooks, music files, e-books, video downloads and more!
  http://www.nypl.org
• New York State Government Information Locator (Links to NYS state agency information.  Try:  Senate & Assembly sites for laws & legislation; OGS for state contracts; Civil Service for exam info & municipal personnel office contacts; SEMO for disaster management)
  http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/ils
• New York State Library (online catalog, free databases via NOVEL, records retention rules, much more!)
  http://www.nysl.nysed.gov and  http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/gate/esubject.htm#NOVEL (Contact Academy for passwords & logon info if you are a current or retired NYS employee.)
• PC Magazine / Ziff-Davis  (Computing info, downloads, hardware and software reviews, sources)
  PC Magazine http://pcmag.com  with sister site http://www.zdnet.com
• Safety info, graphics & PowerPoint  library (for free use and download on variety of safety topics)
  http://siri.uvm.edu/index.html  

...and our very own online catalog at http://afs.mlasolutions.com/oasis/catalog/?installation=AFS
(Our own database of over 45,000 journal articles, 3,300 videos (on VHS, CD & DVD), and 6,000 other book, software, and media items lets you find up-to-date information. There are over 8,000 links to full online content to help you get what you need, right now!  Use “Visual Search” option to find quick links to order AV materials for OSHA annual training, watch video mini-tutorials on using different Internet services, and check out “What’s New” lists.