St. Louis County has nearly $175 million in federal grant money to spend in response to the coronavirus, but the county has been charging local first responders for masks.
As some St. Louis County police departments and fire districts have found themselves shorthanded on masks and other personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 outbreak, the County Council approved $1. - PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Call Newspapers
The nationwide public safety wireless network that Congress created in 2012 because of failures seen during and after the 9/11 attacks is helping connect first-responders and public safety experts across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The law created an independent authority called FirstNet, provided $7 billion for it, and allocated 20 megahertz of bandwidth within the 700 MHz spectrum to create a nationwide interoperable broadband network. - PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Roll Call
Following House Democrats’ proposal of the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) on Tuesday, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) outlined possible impacts of the latest coronavirus aid package, and called upon fire and EMS professionals to contact their congressional representatives to support the legislation. - PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: EMS1
There might be no year where it is more vital to recognize the work of emergency medical services and paramedics, those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
National EMS Week is May 17-23. Whether they work at a hospital, with a fire department, for a private service or a med-flight operation, these brave men and women put their lives on the line with every call they respond to, never knowing if the person they help might be infected with a virus they might catch and take home to their own families. - PUB DATE: 5/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seacoast Online
When the first U.S. case of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, was confirmed on Jan. 21, it appeared to be contained — the patient was a man living near Seattle who had recently returned from Wuhan, China and immediately isolated himself, and the local health department had conducted contact tracing to make sure that anyone he had encountered was now quarantining at home. - PUB DATE: 5/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: People
Police Chief Eric Clifford fears the city could again become addled by gangs, drugs and double-digit homicides if the department is forced to lay off about 40 cops because of a deepening fiscal crisis brought on by the coronavirus.
“Quite frankly, we go to the bare bones minimum of what we do – protect life and property – and we have to start scaling back on what we do as a department,” he said. - PUB DATE: 5/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Albany Times-Union - Metered Site
Minneapolis’ police officers and firefighters deserve a “significant portion” of emergency federal COVID-19 aid, union officials said, arguing that an infusion of potentially millions of dollars is needed to avoid cutbacks or layoffs.
In a letter to lawmakers, the unions made their pitch for a bigger cut of funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act — with Minnesota receiving $2. - PUB DATE: 5/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Star Tribune
The opioid epidemic is getting worse, and the COVID-19 pandemic could be to blame.
For many folks who may be struggling, times of social isolation drive feelings of stress, anxiety and depression, and drug abusers use opioids to relieve this stress.
Sara Goldsby, the director of the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, says they have seen about a 30% increase in EMS response to overdose in the last few months. - PUB DATE: 5/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WRDW-TV CBS 12 Augusta
VIDEO: One artist is using his talent to create a reimagined version of iconic American images to honor essential workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Scott LoBaido is popular for his murals of the American flag across the country. For more than 25 years, he's painted renditions of the flag on police stations, homes, cars, veterans buildings and more in all 50 states. - PUB DATE: 5/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The University of Nebraska Medical Center has signed an agreement with a New York-based testing company to provide large-scale antibody testing, the kind intended to determine whether a person has been infected with the novel coronavirus.
The partnership between UNMC and COVAXX, a subsidiary of United Biomedical, launched with last week’s testing of Omaha firefighters. - PUB DATE: 5/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Nonpareil
What is red and white and shows up with flashing lights and sirens sounding in times of need? The answer is York Ambulance Association, celebrating its 48th year serving the communities of York, South Berwick and Rollinsford, New Hampshire.
May 17-23 is national EMS Awareness Week, which, according to the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians’ website, “brings together local communities and medical personnel to honor the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services of medicine’s ‘front line. - PUB DATE: 5/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Sea Coast Online - Metered Site
The call comes over their radio — the patient is having trouble breathing, they need an ambulance.
Then, “call the center for special patient information,” says a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher.
The paramedics know it’s likely they’re heading toward the invisible threat that everyone else is trying to stay away from — the coronavirus. - PUB DATE: 5/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Facing criticism from the Mansfield firefighters union, the city announced Tuesday that two fire stations will not be closed at the same time when not enough personnel are available to work.
"Speaking to the mayor, he would prefer to have one maximum closed," said Safety-Service Director Lori Cope, referring to Mayor Tim Theaker. - PUB DATE: 5/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mansfield News Journal
As one of the country's first cities impacted by COVID-19, Kirkland was initially given the undesirable distinction of being the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. Yet, the way in which the city has handled the crisis has garnered positive press, launching Kirkland into the spotlight as a role model. - PUB DATE: 5/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Refined
In the middle of a pandemic that has taken the lives of 26 firefighters, the nation is losing more firefighters. COVID-19 related budget cuts -- in communities large and small – have resulted in the layoff or furlough of at least 935 fire department employees, including front-line firefighters, EMTs & paramedics. - PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org
The Olathe Fire Station is the first EMS departments in the country to begin remotely monitoring coronavirus patients. The department has teamed up with a global tech company, Masimo SafetyNet. "There have been some hospital systems using it, but we are the first EMS agency," Olathe Fire Department Medical Director Dr. - PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDAF-TV FOX 4 Kansas City
A New Jersey Assembly panel advanced a bill that would help first responders and their families financially in the event that they are disabled or injured by COVID-19. Local law enforcement officers, state troopers, firefighters, and emergency medical responders enrolled in one of the three retirement systems associated with these professions are eligible for accidental disability benefits if they sustain a permanent and total disability resulting from a traumatic event that occurred on the job. - PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hudson County View
Some of the names are written in small, cropped print, others in swooping cursive. A few are flanked by hearts, and some accompanied by short notes scrawled in permanent marker.
Each name written on the Berea Fire Department's pink truck is different, and each one has its story.
"Stories of hope and courage," they're called by Assistant Fire Chief Alan Myers, whose own name appears a few feet above the truck's pump discharges. - PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Greenville Online
Fort Lauderdale and Broward fire-rescues’ newly released numbers confirm what many have suspected: More people are afraid to go to the hospital and, as a result, are dying at home.
Records released Monday from Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue and Broward County Fire and Rescue found twice as many people were already dead when responders arrived at their home in April than a year earlier, and the pattern appears to be continuing in May. - PUB DATE: 5/12/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: South Florida Sun Sentinel - Metered Site
Deborah Coughlin was neither short of breath nor coughing. In those first days after she became infected by the novel coronavirus, her fever never spiked above 100 degrees. It was vomiting and diarrhea that brought her to a Hartford, Conn., emergency room on May 1.
“You would have thought it was a stomach virus,” said her daughter, Catherina Coleman. - PUB DATE: 5/11/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Washington Post
