Phoenix Fire Chief Kara Kalkbrenner says emergency protective gear such as gowns and N95 masks ordered by the Phoenix Fire Department are getting “hijacked” before they ever arrive in Arizona. Kalkbrenner’s comments came Tuesday after 12 News asked her about a photo posted on Facebook showing two Phoenix firefighters responding to a recent emergency wearing rain ponchos instead of protective gowns.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPNX-TV ABC 12 Phoenix

Using automation developed by a staff member, the Garland, Texas, Fire Department can better inventory its thousands of assets and comply with regulations. “We track everything from large equipment like our apparatus -- our fire trucks, our engines, our ambulances, our staff vehicles -- all the way down to the Band-Aids,” said Debbie Watson, senior business process analyst and citizen developer at the department.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: GCN

For the first time, a Princeton company is offering military-grade technology to first responders that they hope will save lives during this pandemic. They are called the X2 MR Glasses. "What these glasses are essentially are basically a phone on your face," said Nick Cherukuri, the CEO of ThirdEye Gen.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV ABC 6 Philadelphia

The Town of Hanover has launched a mobile integrated health program, which is described as an innovative approach toward meeting the health needs of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is in partnership with South Shore Health, which obtained a temporary license from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the Town of Hanover to take part.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFXT-TV FOX 25 Boston

California has evacuation plans for earthquakes, floods, mudslides and, of course, wildfires, but what if one of those disasters occurs as the state is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak when everyone is being urged to stay home? State and local officials are trying to figure that out. “That’s something that is being looked at, but it’s challenging," said California Office of Emergency Services’ spokesman Brian Ferguson.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Press Democrat

To protect themselves from coronavirus, firefighters in Jefferson have a new way of wiping down their equipment after making runs. They’re applying a mixture of bleach and water to the insides their ambulances and fire engines as well as on the surfaces of their gear. “Any of the equipment that is actually in the ambulance -- the cot, the monitor -- is available to be decontaminated with the same product,” said Jefferson Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Wendt.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMTV NBC 15 Madison

The global novel coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 120,000 lives around the world. The United States now has more than 600,000 diagnosed cases and suffered at least 25,000 deaths. The death toll in New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., has surpassed 10,000. Since the novel coronavirus hit the U.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

Battling COVID-19 requires an elaborate armor. First responders don masks, shields, respirators, and other personal protective equipment to protect themselves from the fast-spreading airborne virus. A staple protective gear is the isolation gown. Made from waterproof material and typically designed with long sleeves and snap closures, they protect health care workers while treating patients from splashes and sprays.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Quartz

With a growing number of coronavirus cases, the Bossier City Fire Department is making new use of machines its had for the past six years to decontaminate the back of its ambulances in mere minutes. “We have one at every fire station, a few reserves and one on every ambulance," Fire Chief Brad Zagone said of the gear.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSLA-TV CBS 12 Shreveport

With a deadline drawing near, the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled the city's firefighter union short of its goal in a petition drive aimed at forcing a new employment contract. The firefighters need signatures from 5% of the city's registered voters by May 28 to add a proposal to November's general election ballot.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Texarkana Gazette - Metered Site

The lights and sirens Monday night in Tryon weren't for an emergency call. They were a tribute to a local fire chief and hero. A fitting farewell for Tryon Fire Chief Janes "Tank" Waters was complicated by restrictions in place because of COVID-19. But Tryon made it work. But it was strict coronavirus orders from Gov.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WLOS-TV ABC 13 Asheville

Municipalities across Washington are facing some difficult budget challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mayor in the City of Tukwila said administration estimates $6.1 million in lost revenue by the end of May. David Cline, City of Tukwila Administrator, said officials will continue discussing safe and feasible options with labor partners towards the best solution for the community.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KCPQ-TV FOX 13 Seattle

Israel Tolentino Jr., known as "Izzy" to family and friends, was considered an everyday hero to his Passaic, New Jersey community. On his days off, the firefighter and dad of two served as an EMT and as a member of the volunteer community emergency response team, said Hector Lora, the mayor of Passaic.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

City advocates are urging the federal government to create a victims compensation fund for first responders on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis, to protect their families should they die from the disease. “There has to be a 9/11-type fund set up now for them so that if they die from the virus, their families can be compensated,” said Manhattan attorney Bob Sullivan, who wrote a letter to New York’s federal lawmakers on Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News - Metered Site

More than half the nearly 8,000 ventilators the federal stockpile sent to states to fight the coronavirus pandemic went to New York, while the rest were split among 14 other states and territories, a report from the federal government shows. The report was released Wednesday by the U.S. House Oversight Committee amid criticism from its chairwoman that states with the biggest COVID-19 problems didn’t get enough supplies.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

The fire was so hot that it melted a fire hose right off the hydrant. Paint and lights on fire trucks blistered, melting in the intense heat that night 35 years ago. The inferno on April 13, 1985, still stands as the city’s biggest, engulfing the 300 block of South Davie Street. A 35-year old homeless man, Rozelle Bryant, died in the fire.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Greensboro News & Record

FirstNet PTT service - provided by AT&T and built on 3GPP mission-critical-push-to-talk (MCPTT) standard - delivers the performance that public safety needs and can be an LMR alternative for some agencies, according to the captain of a New Jersey police department that conducted a beta trial of the new offering.
- PUB DATE: 4/13/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Urgent Communications

Starting Thursday, the Hendersonville Fire Department will be handing out important cleaning protocols for residents who may have come into contact with COVID-19. The three-page fact sheet covers deep cleaning and disinfecting and other CDC-approved protocols. The information will be disseminated every time Hendersonville Fire and EMS crews go out on a COVID-19 call, whether the patients are positive or not.
- PUB DATE: 4/10/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKRN-TV ABC 3 Nashville

The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron “Thunderbirds” will show their support for frontline COVID-19 responders with a flyover the Las Vegas Valley on Saturday. "The flyover is to show appreciation and support for the healthcare workers, first responders and other essential personnel in Las Vegas and around the nation who are working on the front lines to combat the coronavirus," the Thunderbirds said in a news release.
- PUB DATE: 4/10/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KVVU-TV FOX 5 Vegas

Gov. Charlie Baker is taking steps to shield doctors, nurses and some health care facilities on the front lines from liability as a possible surge in coronavirus cases is expected. Existing federal and state laws already provide some protections to health care workers and volunteers against civil lawsuits, but a bill Baker filed Wednesday “would provide broader liability protections appropriate to the scope of the challenge our health care providers are confronting,” Baker wrote in a letter urging legislators to act quickly.
- PUB DATE: 4/10/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston Herald