VIDEO: Two EMTs are out of their jobs after a controversial life-saving device indicated the pair didn't adequately deliver CPR during an emergency run in January that ended with a death. Michael Morgan and partner Julian Holts were terminated by Detroit's fire administration last month after using a Zoll monitor-defibrillator, a device designed to detect and evaluate cardiac rhythm problems and heart attacks — and it reports out CPR feedback, which the union contends was used against the men in their dismissals.
- PUB DATE: 4/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Detroit News

The design plans for a new fire station and a new state law that could fund its construction were the focus of the Pueblo West Metro District board meeting Tuesday. Because the fire department was unsuccessful in obtaining a $100,000 Colorado Department of Local Affairs grant that would have helped fund design and engineering costs for the fire district’s station two, Pueblo West Fire Chief Brian Caserta requested the board allow the use of up to $90,000 of the excise tax funds from marijuana sales tax to help fund an $180,000 design plan.
- PUB DATE: 4/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Pueblo Chieftain

Adair County’s rural firefighters are hoping a ballot measure to create a fire protection district will give them more reliable and fairly distributed funding, but a group of citizens advocating against the proposal believe the additional taxation is too much to ask. Sarah Crawford is the founder of “Axe the Tax Adair County” and organized the group to advocate against the proposal, which would create a fire protection district funded by property taxes rather than the current membership dues.
- PUB DATE: 4/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Kirksville Daily Express

The attorney for a Lincoln Fire & Rescue captain who won a $1.2 million verdict against the city last month for retaliation after he reported discrimination wants a judge to order mandatory training on harassment, discrimination and retaliation for all department supervisors. In a motion filed this week, Troy Hurd's attorney, Kelly Brandon, also is asking Senior U.
- PUB DATE: 4/1/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lincoln Journal Star

Authorities say a U.S Forest Service firefighter has been killed following a helicopter crash in Montgomery County. The Texas Department of Public Safety says the helicopter crashed Wednesday afternoon east of the Grimes County community of Richards near Bethel Road and FM 149 in northwest Montgomery County.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KBTX-TV 3

VIDEO: Detroit firefighters said people overdosing on drugs are being dropped off almost every night in front of fire stations. Officials said someone was overdosing on drugs Sunday morning, and his friends dumped his body in the parking lot of the fire station at Seven Mile and John R roads. Authorities said they dumped the man's body and drove away, leaving firefighters to deal with the situation.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WDIV-TV NBC 4 Detroit

The sight of firefighters trying to rescue a flood-stranded resident in a paddle boat was just too much for members of the Bellevue Fire Department. “We were contacted,” said Bonnie Knutson, president of the nonprofit Bellevue Public Safety Foundation. “We sent it out to the board and the board said, ‘Yep, let’s do it.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Omaha.com Sarpy News

The union representing police and public safety officers in Cedar Falls recently issued a proclamation supporting career firefighters. But city officials note individual officers represented by the union fully support the public safety officer program. On March 4, Teamsters Local 238’s executive board made the proclamation.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

More than 500 fire departments across New York have already signed up for the 9th Annual RecruitNY Weekend. RecruitNY is a cornerstone campaign of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY), with the goal of increasing membership in the State’s volunteer fire service. The 2019 RecruitNY weekend is scheduled for April 27-28.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Hudson Valley 360

A toxic blaze that was fed by highly-combustible movie-set materials and raged unseen behind false plywood walls directly contributed to the tragic death of firefighter Michael Davidson in a Harlem basement last year, the FDNY has concluded. Davidson, 37, a veteran firefighter and father of four children, got separated from his fellow Bravest while fighting a fire on March 23, 2018, inside a former jazz club that had been converted into a set for “Motherless Brooklyn,” a star-studded film based on a Jonathan Lethem novel featuring Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe and Edward Norton, who also directed.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

VIDEO: Millions of dollars in proposed federal budget cuts could cripple New Mexico’s ability to prepare for and respond to large-scale emergencies, including terrorism, according to a state official. “This could be a catastrophic event for New Mexico if that funding is taken away,” said Jackie White, the Cabinet Secretary for New Mexico’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KOB 4

Battery-operated smoke detectors weren't sufficient to save about 30 dogs who perished in a January kennel fire near West Chicago. State Rep. Diane Pappas says the outcome could have been less devastating had the two-story building been equipped with more advanced fire safety measures. Illinois lawmakers now are considering legislation to require pet boarding businesses to install a fire alarm system that automatically notifies first responders when it's activated.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Illinois Daily Herald

VIDEO: The people who keep Cobb County safe say they are understaffed and underpaid. Cobb police officers, firefighters and deputies crowded a Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday night, and some said there's such a shortage, people worry about who is going to protect the public. Speaker after speaker stood up for Cobb County's law enforcement officers, and many of the officers were there themselves to demand a fix.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSB-TV ABC 2 Atlanta

The firefighters union in San Antonio revealed more details about its proposal for an independent health care trust on Tuesday, requesting a $19,000-per-employee payment from the city every year for the next five years to fund the trust. The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association is asking for an independent health care trust that it can manage itself, removing it from the city’s purview.
- PUB DATE: 3/28/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News

Bargersville fire officials are looking at a program would allow them to better serve local residents to help prevent medical emergencies. The Bargersville Fire Department is considering a paramedicine program, which would allow fire departments to take a greater role in primary care and preventative services.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Journal

After having sole access to a state-of-the-art driving simulator for the better part of a week, the Moscow Volunteer Fire Department is already making plans to bring the equipment back in 2020. Situated in a long, enclosed tractor-trailer, the simulator is from the College of Eastern Idaho’s Fire Service Technology program and is intended to give new recruits experience driving large emergency vehicles without any risk.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Moscow-Pullman Daily News - Metered Site

PHOTOS: Harris County has sued Intercontinental Terminals Co. for failing to prevent a massive chemical fire that burned for more than 60 hours last week and spewed an unknown volume of hazardous chemicals into the air and nearby waterways. The county is seeking a temporary injunction and restraining order against the company, alleging that it violated the Texas Clean Air Act and the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act, among other rules.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

VIDEO: KHON2's recent stories highlighting EMS spending and staffing now has the State Department of Health looking for more answers. This, after we raised questions on ambulance units closing and the purchase of a gas truck that has never been used. The health department controls the money for EMS but does give it leeway on what to purchase.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KHON-TV FOX 2

VIDEO: A new law in Arkansas has lowered the minimum age requirement for certain fire departments in the state. In order to expand their pool of potential recruits, a Texarkana, Arkansas Battalion Chief requested the change last year. Nearly two decades ago, Texarkana, Arkansas fire officials say they had about 100 people taking the test to become a firefighter, now they hover around 25 applicants.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The De Queen Bee

Staffing shortages at West Carrollton fire stations are causing brownouts, or temporary closures. The lack of staff is largely due to the city’s inability to retain part-time firefighters and paramedics, West Carrollton City Manager Brad Townsend said.“With a lot of people retiring and the demand for firefighters and paramedics and all of the overtime that other departments are having to work their people, we’re struggling to keep a full complement going,” Townsend said.
- PUB DATE: 3/26/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Dayton Daily News