VIDEO: Mayor Jacob Frey said he made the call to evacuate police officers from the 3rd Precinct before rioters set the building on fire Thursday night as protests continued to boil over in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd. Police said officers were able to safely evacuate as rioters breached the perimeter and started a fire that spread through the building.
- PUB DATE: 5/29/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMSP-TV FOX 9 Minneapolis

The FDNY on Thursday hosted a ceremonial sendoff to medical response teams that traveled to New York City to assist with the coronavirus pandemic. For 60 days, American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance crews, Network Providers and support staff from across the country have worked in New York as part of the urgent response to the COVID-19 crisis.
- PUB DATE: 5/29/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

A temporary restraining order was filed against the city of Maumee to prevent Mayor Richard Carr from imposing a 5 percent pay decrease for all city employees to offset millions in financial loss because of the pandemic. A complaint was filed Friday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. The plaintiff, Dawn Sniadecki, is the former president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 4536 and a paramedic employed by the city, but Andrew Mayle, Ms.
- PUB DATE: 5/28/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Blade

Tennessee will soon stop providing the names and addresses of COVID-19 patients to first responders, after initially arguing that doing so would protect those on the front line. Gov. Bill Lee’s administration decided on the change this week, conceding that the data may have created a false sense of security to those responding to emergency calls.
- PUB DATE: 5/28/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

With a loud whir and a whoosh, a fixed-wing drone slingshots out of a medical warehouse, zips through hazy skies at 80 mph, pops open a belly hatch and drops a box of medical supplies. Slowed by a little parachute, the box drifts downward and lands with a plop, less than 8 minutes after launch. For North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Basil Yap, it is a eureka moment.
- PUB DATE: 5/28/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: North State Journal

Doctors, scientists and epidemiologists have made strides in their research to learn what they can about SARS-CoV-2 and the illness it causes, COVID-19. Multiple vaccines are in different stages of development as institutions scrutinize the effectiveness of existing drugs to treat coronavirus patients in clinical trials.
- PUB DATE: 5/28/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: USA Today

The New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, with an assets-to-liabilities ratio of 63 percent, has enough money on hand to pay beneficiaries for 10.1 years, according to a new ranking of public retirement funds from the Wirepoints website. The retirement system ranked 32nd on a list of 148 state and local retirement funds nationwide with at least $2 billion in assets, the website reported.
- PUB DATE: 5/28/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Center Square

Police and firefighters weren’t forgotten when Congress passed a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package in March. Within a week of the law’s enactment, aid began flowing to states and cities through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, run by the Justice Department. Much of that aid goes to police departments across the country, which have received more than $143 million so far, according to a CQ Roll Call analysis of grant recipients.
- PUB DATE: 5/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Roll Call

VIDEO: A tenacious fire fueled by an estimated 1,000 plastic crates containing tomato products burned for at least seven hours Tuesday in east Stockton, growing to five alarms as it sent a massive black plume of smoke into the clear morning air visible for miles in all directions. No structures were involved and no injuries were reported at the Mizkan America tomato-processing plant known for its Ragu and Bertolli pasta sauces near the southwest corner of Waterloo Road and D Street.
- PUB DATE: 5/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Record

New Hampshire was the first state to offer all first responders “hazard pay” bonuses for being on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. But unlike Gov. Chris Sununu’s other relief initiatives, few states or the federal government have followed this one. And the $300-per-week bonuses for New Hampshire’s firefighters, police, EMS and corrections officers have drawn controversy.
- PUB DATE: 5/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Hampshire Union Leader

Weeks after learning there is a federal Arizona-specific model, Arizona’s top public health official released the model in an online blog post on Tuesday. Dr. Cara Christ posting in a blog post, that FEMA has authorized them to share the models publicly. The report release May 7 has a number of graphs and data charts that are specific to Arizona.
- PUB DATE: 5/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNXV-TV ABC 15 Phoenix

A huge fire that tore through a warehouse on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf has destroyed fishing gear used to deliver about two-thirds of the city’s fresh seafood, threatening to disrupt the upcoming Dungeness crab season, local fishermen said Sunday. The fire erupted before dawn Saturday and wiped out the warehouse the size of a football field near the end of Pier 45.
- PUB DATE: 5/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KNTV NBC 11 San Jose

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold, Iowa's first responders say the state should no longer hold off on declaring Emergency Medical Services an essential service. That status is something EMS workers in Iowa have sought long before COVID-19. Being declared "essential" would require ambulance service across the state, instead of relying on a patchwork of volunteers, agencies and providers.
- PUB DATE: 5/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Public News Service

VIDEO: A fire truck, adorned with a large American flag, tipped over shortly before 11:30 a.m. Monday in Plumstead Township, Bucks County. The view from Chopper 6 showed the truck on its side in a parking lot. The extended ladder was on the ground, stretched across the roadway in the area 4040 Ferry Road.
- PUB DATE: 5/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV ABC 6 Philadelphia

The spread of the novel coronavirus has not slowed in 24 states, according to a new model by Imperial College London that forecasts infection spikes as more people travel and leave their homes in the coming weeks. Why it matters: Nearly every state across the U.S. has taken steps to reopen their economies partially or completely, including some regions and industries that are deemed "low-risk" for spreading the virus, per a New York Times analysis.
- PUB DATE: 5/26/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: AXIOS

National EMS Week is an annual event throughout the United States which celebrates and recognizes the hard work that all EMS providers do on a daily basis – from emergency medical technicians (EMTs) up to paramedics. These EMS providers can be paid, volunteer or a both (but at different agencies). No matter what the level, just remember that this person made a conscious decision to help someone in need, even while putting themselves (and/or their loved ones) at increased risk.
- PUB DATE: 5/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Journal of Emergency Medical Services

Jeremy Emerich, a critical care EMT on the ground for Lehigh Valley Health Network’s MedEvac, died Thursday following a battle with COVID-19, friends and coworkers said on social media. Emerich was also a U.S. Armed Forces veteran and an active firefighter in Fleetwood, the Berks County community where he lived with his companion, Shana Konek.
- PUB DATE: 5/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: LehighValleyLive.com

For decades, the backbone of the nation’s disaster response system — and a hallmark of American generosity — has been its army of volunteers who race toward danger to help shelter, feed and counsel victims of hurricanes, wildfires and other calamities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a critical weakness in this system: Most volunteers are older people at higher risk from the virus, so this year they can’t participate in person.
- PUB DATE: 5/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The New York Times

The McKinney Fire Department will be at Belterra Health and Rehab on Friday morning, testing 200 residents and staff members for the novel coronavirus in an effort to curb its spread. This is the first testing related to Governor Greg Abbot’s Strike Force Plan to Open Texas, according to the department.
- PUB DATE: 5/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Dallas Morning News

In new guidance for mathematical modelers and public health officials, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is estimating that about a third of coronavirus infections are asymptomatic. The CDC also says its "best estimate" is that 0.4% of people who show symptoms and have COVID-19 will die, and the agency estimates that 40% of coronavirus transmission is occurring before people feel sick.
- PUB DATE: 5/22/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN