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

Uncertainties over how long the coronavirus restrictions on public gatherings and interaction will be in place has prompted the Kentucky Fire Commission to allow fire departments and firefighters to conduct “virtual” training. Virtual training is conducted in real time and differs from online training classes, which are pre-posted training sessions available at any time, executive director Larry Potter noted.
- PUB DATE: 4/10/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTVQ-DT ABC 36 Lexington

Because of the COVID 19 pandemic, Personal protective equipment is in high demand. That creates a challenge to the U.S. healthcare system for people like Brian Hambek who is the Executive Director of the Spearfish Ambulance Service. "We're worried about what we call burn rate on PPE, Personal Protective Equipment, and that is a one time use thing that you throw away,” said Hambek.
- PUB DATE: 4/10/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOTA-TV ABC 3 Rapid City

VIDEO: As first responders take precautions against COVID-19 contamination, those efforts include extensive measures to sterilize fire stations and equipment. Crew members from Express 911 Board Up spent several hours Wednesday using different methods to sterilize the White River Township Department headquarters in Greenwood.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIN-TV Fox 59 Indianapolis

As the coronavirus crisis intensifies, first responders continue making changes to protect both patients and themselves. Emergency medical service crews in the cities of Roanoke and Salem, as well as Botetourt County, are now using protective tents on patients who need oxygen. The mini-isolettes help contain respiratory droplets that could carry the coronavirus within the plastic.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSLS-TV NBC 10 Roanoke

A new app from Stanford Medicine built with Apple’s help will help connect firefighters, police officers and paramedics in California to drive-through COVID-19 testing if they are showing symptoms of the coronavirus. Here’s how it works: Users take a survey with questions about their symptoms. If they have symptoms suggesting COVID-19 infection, the app recommends testing.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNBC

VIDEO: As confirmed coronavirus cases within DC Fire and EMS continue to climb, the department is taking new steps to protect its firefighters and paramedics on the front lines. That means ambulances and crews must undergo a three hour decontamination every time they respond to a call involving a patient with symptoms of the virus.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJLA-TV ABC 7 Washington DC

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, residents of hard-hit New York City have been talking about ambulance sirens and how the wailing never seems to stop. They're not imagining things — but the reality is even grimmer than some may have guessed. A huge number of those ambulances are responding to fatal or near-fatal heart attacks suffered by New Yorkers whose true health issue may be COVID-19, the disease associated with the coronavirus.
- PUB DATE: 4/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NBC News

VIDEO: For first responders, one of the greatest fears during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is bringing the virus home to their families. A Metro Detroit company is building decontamination units to place in the middle of fire stations to ease those concerns. Patrick and Zoe Kintz, from Great Lakes Remediation first offered to build decontamination tents for a friend -- Southfield firefighter Jamie Rakestraw and his wife, Andrea.
- PUB DATE: 4/8/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Click on Detroit