In a joint letter, members of Staten Island’s political delegation today called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio to work with relevant pension boards to ensure that first responders and other essential employees who die as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) be guaranteed contractual line-of-duty death benefit and payments.
- PUB DATE: 3/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SILive.com

After the recent signing of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act by President Donald J. Trump, International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) President, Fire Chief Gary Ludwig, expressed mixed emotions about the stimulus package. “While I am pleased that Congress and the President took action to help those who are suffering economically by allocating federal money for hospitals, law enforcement, educational institutions, airlines, and drug companies, I am extremely disappointed that federal funding desperately needed by the American fire and emergency medical services was largely overlooked,” Chief Ludwig said.
- PUB DATE: 3/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

The Rowlett Fire Department has a long history of providing innovative solutions to complex issues. Continuing that legacy of care and commitment to our community, the Rowlett Fire Department has implemented a TeleMedic program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. TeleMedic embraces current technology and allows the online one-on-one video assessment of non-critical patients to reduce the risk of provider- or patient-borne exposure to contagions.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Rowlett Lakeshore Times

At exactly 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evening, thousands of New Yorkers in quarantine stood on their porches and near their windows to applaud first responders and health care workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak. This powerful act of solidarity, which lasted several minutes, came about after a call on social media to #clapbecausewecare.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

The Laurel County Fire Department has launched a new phone app this week that includes two sections pertaining to COVID-19. "To our knowledge it's one of the first ones in the area," said Laurel County Fire Chief Terry Wattenbarger. "We're the first emergency service to actually have a mobile app like that.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Times-Tribune

Chief Diana Matty has heard the cries of doctors across the country: They need ventilators. As Palm Beach County braces for a potential spike in coronavirus cases, the West Palm Beach fire chief has coordinated efforts with the county’s 10 other fire departments to let hospitals know they are poised to loan ventilators, should the need arise.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Palm Beach Post

A program conducting home visits with vulnerable patients after they have been checked out of the hospital is doing its best to go online, both for the sake of the paramedics and patients. Racine’s Mobile Integrated Health program went into a trial phase in the fall of 2018 and was fully implemented in 2019.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Times

To ensure uninterrupted service during the coronavirus pandemic, 18 fire departments in San Bernardino County have joined under a regional management team, an action usually reserved for fighting large wildfires. “COVID-19 has the possibility of affecting a significant portion of the fire and EMS workforce,” the San Bernardino County Fire Chiefs Association said Thursday, March 26, in announcing formation of the agencies that will cooperate with the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District Incident Management Team.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Bernardino County Sun

VIDEO: The staff at the Tybee Island Fire Department have been hard at work since Wednesday making masks for those that need them most. The dedicated team is one of several groups working to fill the nationwide mask shortage triggered by frightened Americans concerned about their respiratory health amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSAV-TV NBC/CW+ 3 Savannah

With 16% of its workers in self-isolation due to exposure to the coronavirus, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services will run ambulances to situations that are not life-threatening staffed solely with emergency medical technicians and not the more highly trained paramedics who are now required to be on board.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NOLA.com

The Senate approved more than $163 billion designated to assist local fire and EMS departments as part of an economic stimulus package to safeguard the U.S. economy and help the nation respond effectively to the 2019 novel coronavirus and its resulting illness, COVID-19. The House is expected to pass the $2 trillion stimulus bill on Friday.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

Calls to New York City’s 911 medical services hit their highest levels since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to emergency workers’ unions, stretching staffs that have already seen their own ranks thinned by coronavirus infections. Medical emergency calls are up 40% to about 6,500 a day, according to Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507, a union that represents emergency medical technicians, paramedics, fire inspectors and dispatchers.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bloomberg

Mayor Jack Young will give employees in the city a stipend to ease financial burdens as they continue to work during the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 Pandemic Mission Critical Stipend will be meant for “frontline public-facing employees” including firefighters, EMTs and police officers. They will receive an extra $200 bi-weekly.
- PUB DATE: 3/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJZ-TV CBS 13 Baltimore

With the number of people in the city testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) growing by the day -- 84 members of the FDNY have tested positive for the virus, according to an FDNY spokesman. The number of FDNY employees who have tested positive has almost doubled since yesterday, when FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro stated during an interview on Fox News that 46 members had tested positive for coronavirus.
- PUB DATE: 3/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SILive.com

VIDEO: The New Haven Fire Department has a new weapon in the war against Covid-19. The department purchased an AeroClave device, which is a fogging system that disinfects on contact. “We are using it for firefighters or medics that go into a building of potential exposure. When they come out, we can actually decontaminate the firefighters gear and spray the firefighter right down on scene,” said Mark Vendetto, Assistant Chief Operations with the New Haven Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 3/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTNH-TV ABC 8 New Haven

Kentucky firefighters say they struggle still to get COVID-19 tests and don’t get workers’ compensation for missed days while self-quarantining or waiting for test results. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced Tuesday a Louisville firefighter was the first to test positive for the coronavirus. The man is self-isolating at home, Fischer said.
- PUB DATE: 3/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lexington Herald Leader

Mansfield Fire Chief Steve Strickling has issued a directive to his employees to limit their exposure working at other jobs, including township fire departments and hospitals, for the time being due to COVID-19 concerns. Strickling said he does not know the exact number of his employees who work elsewhere too but said "there are quite a few.
- PUB DATE: 3/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mansfield News Journal

VIDEO: Montgomery County first responders who are on the frontlines in the fight against the coronavirus are using spray guns to clean ambulances and keep themselves safe. “One of our employees came up with the idea just to go to Home Depot or Lowes and get paint sprayers,” Justin McNabb, a Narberth Ambulance Infection Control Officer, told NBC10.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCAU-TV NBC 10 Philadelphia

VIDEO: Thuy Dinh was stuck at home while the coronavirus pandemic was quickly moving across the world. So, the mechanical engineer put her talents to use—from home. “A lot of people right now who aren't in the medical field feel like there's a sense of helplessness,” Dinh said. She had seen a design of a protective face shield on Facebook and decided to use her own home 3-D printer to make one.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KENS-TV CBS 5 San Antonio

In reaction to Ohio's first confirmed death from coronavirus, a state lawmaker is urging his colleagues to back a bill that would require hospitals and local boards of health to notify first responders when a patient they've treated is suspected of having a contagious disease. “We need to make sure our first responders stay healthy and are able to respond to the community's call for service,” said state Rep.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Toledo Blade - Metered Site