Information about the coronavirus is changing day by day, and that is why the state of Alabama has a team of state agencies working side by side to gather information and compile data about COVID-19 as the worldwide pandemic continues to unfold.
Located in the RSA Tower in downtown Montgomery, Alabama’s Unified Command for COVID-19 Response is a team comprised of four state agencies - the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA), Alabama National Guard, and Alabama Forestry Commission. - PUB DATE: 5/5/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSFA-TV CBS 12 News Montgomery
When Chase Sherrard completed field training ride-alongs for the Frederick County fire academy in February, the novel coronavirus was far from the major global threat it has become when his class graduated last week.
“Things are a lot different now than when we were doing ride-alongs, especially on [medical/sick person] calls,” the probationary firefighter said. - PUB DATE: 5/5/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Frederick News Post - Metered Site
Recently published results of a survey of EMS providers from across the U.S. revealed inconsistent protocols, policies and training related to COVID-19 response could be contributing to the spread of the virus.
Cody Vaugh Gibson and Dr. George Donald Collier of the Calhoun Community College Biological Sciences Research Group; and Christian Ventura, a researcher at the Center for Mind and Brain Studies at Bard College, published preliminary results of their study this week, with the goal to “investigate available resources, PPE availability, sanitation practices, institutional policies and opinions” of EMS providers through a self-reported survey. - PUB DATE: 5/5/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: EMS1
Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical services workers will be given an additional $300 weekly stipend to acknowledge their key role during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Chris Sununu said in a news conference on Monday.
Part-time employees in these categories will receive $150 stipends.
Eligibility for this extra pay began Monday and will continue through June 30. - PUB DATE: 5/5/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Lacoina Daily Sun
New York has formed a partnership with six other northeast states, including New Jersey and Connecticut, to purchase personal protective equipment, tests, ventilators and other medical equipment, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday.
The Governor said the agreement between New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, will increase the state's market power. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York
On May 4, 2020, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) will be joining in the celebration of International Firefighters’ Day which began on May 4, 1999, after the deaths of five Australian firefighters in a wildland fire.
New this year, the NFFF is asking members of the public to light their homes in “red” on May 4-5 to celebrate International Firefighters’ Day. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WGNO-TV ABC 26 New Orleans
A mixture of salt and water with a splash of vinegar and a jolt of electrochemical activation is supplying Waco firefighters with a safe but powerful disinfectant as they work to keep their equipment and quarters free of COVID-19.
Crews at Waco Fire Station No. 11, where the department’s hazardous materials unit is housed, have also developed a new spray system for the disinfectant using their air tanks and other common firehouse equipment. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Waco Tribune-Herald
The first wave of emergency medical technicians who contracted COVID-19 and survived are now returning to the job, armed with a first-hand understanding of the disease and a new empathy for the patients.
"I was able to be more in touch with my patients who called, because I knew exactly how they were feeling," said firefighter/EMT Shantice Samuels, who has just returned to work in Washington, DC, after recovering from a case herself. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN
A fire captain who died in the line of duty in 1953 is no longer forgotten, thanks to some fellow firefighters who became a team of detectives, solving the nearly 70-year-old mystery of his death.
Being a firefighter is about a lot more than just hooking up hoses and spraying water. They’re also the ones who show up in ambulances, help out at car crashes, and wear a number of other hats many of us never even think of. - PUB DATE: 5/4/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KSL-TV NBC 5 Salt Lake City
First responders have now been added to a list of those eligible for high priority COVID-19 testing.
This means first responders who are showing symptoms of the virus are now eligible for high-priority testing, joining hospitalized patients, healthcare workers, and residents and employees in congregated or long-term care facilities. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KUSA-TV NBC 9 Denver
Over the last few months, Massachusetts has received and purchased tens of thousands of masks for first responders and health care professionals amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a test performed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, some of those masks, like the KN95s from China, have proven to be defective. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WHDH-TV 7 Boston
Medical providers were recently abuzz about a new treatment for respiratory distress that includes a high flow of oxygen entering through a patient’s nose, said Braden Frame, a seven-year firefighter and paramedic with Lake Travis Fire Rescue. The action stems from COVID-19 complications encountered in the field by first responders. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Austin American-Statesman
It's a mission to get 5,000 Valley first responders coronavirus antibody tests.
The United Phoenix Firefighters Association and the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association are helping their members get those tests.
This week, the focus was on testing firefighters. Next week, they'll transition to testing police officers. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNXV-TV ABC 15 Phoenix
For those of us who are stuck at home, the least we can do is show our appreciation for the people keeping us safe right now. And that's why so many of us have taken up clapping or singing to give thanks to healthcare workers, first responders and others. Some American cities, too, have found really creative ways to let their appreciation be known. - PUB DATE: 5/1/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Time Out
The Clark County Fire Department is parking a dozen trucks because of a drastic reduction in emergency calls on the Strip, which was closed last month in response to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.
The crews of those units are being reassigned to other areas, and nobody is being laid off, officials said. - PUB DATE: 4/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Las Vegas Sun
Nearly 20 percent of FDNY/EMS members and over 10 percent of NYPD cops screened for coronavirus antibodies tested positive, Gov. Andrew Cuomo revealed Wednesday, as the state death toll crept towards 18,000.
The results came in days after Cuomo announced that 1,000 members from each department would be tested for antibodies, which would indicate that their immune systems battled the bug at some point. - PUB DATE: 4/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post
Gov. Jay Inslee has called for a “rapid-response” contact tracing effort as part of his plan for the gradual reopening of Washington state, likening it to “something like a fire brigade.”
Contact tracing is a method by which public health officials identify individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 and track down anyone they may have been in contact with. - PUB DATE: 4/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Daily
VIDEO: Working as an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, David Van Buren usually spends his time designing and building instruments for space telescopes or robots that will explore other worlds in our Solar System. But for the last month, Van Buren and a group of his colleagues at JPL have been working on a project that is truly unexplored terrain for them: making a ventilator to help patients sick with COVID-19. - PUB DATE: 4/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Verge
Stunning footage shows a fleet of around 150 drones near Franklin Field in University City creating incredible displays in support of healthcare workers and first responders on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company behind it is called Verge Aero, which is based out of the University of Pennsylvania. - PUB DATE: 4/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTXF-TV FOX 29 Philadelphia
Some fire departments around the country are growing desperate for more personal protective equipment and funding to fully operate during this pandemic. While most departments in the D.C. area say they have what they need, some recognize the possibility of running out.
Some fire departments around the U. - PUB DATE: 4/29/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDVM-TV CBS 25 Hagerstown
