As shelter-in-place orders and other directives from government officials take effect, people across the country are adapting to a new normal of social distancing, working from home and, in some cases, temporarily closing up shop during the COVID-19 outbreak. Health officials say such measures are essential to help “flatten the curse,” keeping the number of disease cases at a manageable level, spread out over time.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fire Rescue 1

While some families are grappling with how to keep their children educated and entertained in this new age of social distancing, many on the front lines are grappling with whether to risk coming home to their families some nights or pondering whether responding to an emergency could result in exposure.
- PUB DATE: 3/25/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bucks County Courier Times

Fire departments in Arizona went straight to the state Capitol Monday after a workers' compensation insurance company said their firefighters would not receive coverage if they contracted COVID-19 on the job. A voicemail was sent to Arizona's Family confirming that's what 7710 Insurance said, but the company is now admitting they made a mistake.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KTVK-TV 3 & KPHO-TV CBS 5 (azfamily.com)

After weeks of protests and motions from City Council trying to prevent it, Engine 11 in the South End has been decommissioned. New Bedford Firefighters Local 841 sent out a statement about the closure on Sunday, highlighting the fact that the closure happened during a pandemic. The statement said the closure adds to response times and reduces the level of preparedness that the city needs amid the current time of uncertainty.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Bedford Standard-Times

In the battle against coronavirus, first responders are stocking up on the tools they need to stay safe, including personal protective equipment and ultraviolet lights that zap the potentially deadly COVID-19. Upper Pine Fire Protection District began using two portable ultraviolet lighting devices, which cost about $6,000 total, to disinfect ambulances and fire stations.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pine River Times

The California Highway Patrol has closed its academy because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Cal Fire says its training academy in Ione is staying open for classes for its recruits. “These are essential classes that we need to continue with,” Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said. “We are very cognizant of the situation and we will constantly re-evaluate the situation as conditions change.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Sacramento Bee

The state is trying to avoid depleting the ranks of police and fire departments – and the prison – after the governor activated the R.I. National Guard last week. Gov. Gina Raimondo said on Monday she has heard from city and town leaders concerned that activating the guard could make it hard for public safety officials to properly staff their police and fire departments, where personnel often serve in the armed services.
- PUB DATE: 3/24/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPRI-TV CBS 12 Providence

When Hayward Fire Chief Garrett Contreras saw that San Jose had to quarantine many of its firefighters after they were exposed to coronavirus, he thought it could happen to his city, too. “We started to get concerned about taking care of our people,” he said. “Once I realized that there was a lack of testing for sick people in general, I realized there was a broader problem.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KQED-FM

Three Springfield Township firefighters are in quarantine after they learned through social media they had been exposed to a presumptive coronavirus patient. Chief Barry Cousino told The Blade neither the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department nor St. Luke’s Hospital informed his department of the potential exposure.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Blade

The unions representing cops, firefighters and EMS officers are urging Mayor Bill de Blasio to make them a higher priority for access to coronavirus testing given their front-line duties interacting with the public amid the pandemic. Ninety-eight NYPD officers and other employees and 17 Fire Department/Emergency Medical Service personnel have tested positive for COVID-19.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Post

North Branford Fire Chief William Seward was alarmed when he got the news: his department, which runs the town’s ambulance service, would only receive one box of 35 respirators from the strategic national stockpile. What’s more, all of those masks — which Seward picked up today in Essex — are expired.
- PUB DATE: 3/23/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New Haven Register

Knowing that firefighters have to protect themselves to help others, Worthington officials worried about having their 36 full-time staff working together in its single fire station. “We were hearing about these other stations being forced to shut down elsewhere. That would decimate our fire and EMS protection if we had to close our firehouse,” said Mark Zambito, assistant fire chief.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Columbus Dispatch

“If you see this message — this means your files are now encrypted and are in a non-working state!” That note was discovered on the Bluffton Township Fire District’s computer servers on Sunday, which were rendered inoperable by a hacker, according to a report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Island Packet

Fox's "The Resident" is doing its part to protect the residents -- and other health care workers -- at an Atlanta-area hospital amid the spread coronavirus. Dr. Karen L. Law, who is the program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Emory University, posted a photo to Instagram on Wednesday showing off a donation of masks, gowns and other supplies made by the team behind the medical drama.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

More than 30 members of the Spokane Fire Department are in self-quarantine in an attempt to stop the spread of sickness amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The firefighters – representing about 10% of the department –were exposed to patients who had symptoms similar to COVID-19. As of Thursday morning, none of them had received a positive test for the novel coronavirus – though one firefighter is in the hospital.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Spokesman-Review

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and other public safety and related industry organizations wrote to congressional leaders urging action on repealing the T-Band auction mandate on the nation’s largest municipalities as part of any coronavirus emergency stimulus spending package. Read letter (PDF) “We write to strongly urge you to include language that would repeal Section 6103 in Title VI of P.
- PUB DATE: 3/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

Legislation that would prevent the T-Band spectrum – a public safety radio network intended to ease communication among first responders in 11 metropolitan areas – from being auctioned to other users has garnered support from International Association of Fire Chiefs President and Board Chair Gary Ludwig and International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger.
- PUB DATE: 3/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Safety+Health Magazine

The ambulances at the West Metro Fire Department have been turned into isolation rooms on wheels. The countertops have been cleared, the EKG machines have been bagged, and the back of each ambulance has been sealed off from the cab. This is just part of the fire department’s plan to battle COVID-19. Fire departments across the state, including Denver, Aurora, Arvada and Fort Lupton, changed the way they do business as the coronavirus spreads.
- PUB DATE: 3/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Denver Post

Several boxes and hand sanitizers have been delivered to a fire department in Tennessee after two brothers who tried to capitalize on the coronavirus outbreak by stockpiling nearly 18,000 bottles with the intent to resell the goods had their stash cleaned out. The Chattanooga Fire Department said on Facebook it received a donation of sanitizing products after a "viral story" about individuals who "purchased thousands of those items.
- PUB DATE: 3/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: FOX News

Kentucky firefighters, police and other public safety workers say the Friday closure of most child care centers could hurt staffing, hamper public safety and impede the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. To stop the spread of the respiratory illness, Gov. Andy Beshear ordered Kentucky child care centers closed by Friday.
- PUB DATE: 3/19/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Lexington Herald Leader