Precautions to protect vulnerable volunteer firefighters from COVID-19 could lessen some retirement benefits for those going on fewer calls during the pandemic, according to fire officials. Some fire departments are asking older volunteers or those with underlying health conditions — those most likely to suffer serious medical problems or death from the coronavirus — to stay home.
- PUB DATE: 4/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Newsday

With a nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), Roanoke Fire-EMS has come up with creative ways to provide the same protection to their personnel with reusable materials. They say this including the use of new Frogg Togg coats in place of disposable medical gowns. This new personal protective equipment uses a specific material that is impervious to bloodborne pathogens and other bodily fluids, giving their crew the same protection of a disposable medical gown, according to the department, They say the coat is easy to decontaminate, gives their providers a better range of motion and is reusable, alleviating our need for disposable medical gowns.
- PUB DATE: 4/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSET-TV ABC 13 Lynchburg

The COVID-19, a global pandemic that caused more than 164,000 deaths and infected more than 2 million people worldwide, make us rethink how governments, organizations, and societies around the world can work with minimum or without physical contact. Today, the frontline warriors and heroes of the nation are doctors, medical staff, local police, and private security guards and refuse collectors.
- PUB DATE: 4/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Geospatial World

Two companies worked together to dedicate a special memorial for a fallen Appleton Fire Driver Engineer. Appleton Fire Department Driver Engineer Mitch Lundgaard was killed last year when a man opened fire after a rescue call in downtown Appleton. Police shot and killed the gunman. Karl's Transport and South Side Design and Graphics partnered to make a memorial trailer for Lundgaard.
- PUB DATE: 4/20/2020 5:36:10 PM - SOURCE: WGBA-TV NBC 26 Green Bay

Human remains were discovered at the site of a house fire in Marinette County Monday morning. The Sheriff's Office says the remains are believed to be an elderly woman who lived at the home. Investigators are still working to make positive identification and notify family before the name is released.
- PUB DATE: 4/20/2020 7:50:36 AM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

Fire chiefs through the western United States are being asked to propose budget cuts between 10% and 25% for their departments—often including EMS service—as local governments try to fund operations in the face of dramatic tax-revenue declines caused by stay-at-home measures designed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
- PUB DATE: 4/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IWCE’s Urgent Communications

For three years the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Center has equipped 30,000 people with smart rings and smartphone apps to determine, before any signs of illness, whether they had influenza. So it required only some computer algorithm adjustments to launch a pilot project in March to monitor 200 front-line healthcare professionals for COVID-19 and determine the presence of infection and potential for contagion 24 hours before flu symptoms emerge.
- PUB DATE: 4/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Paramedic Amy Dyer Drinkwater watched COVID-19 on the approach well before it gained a foothold in Maine. As the director of three ambulance services – St. George, Thomaston and South Thomaston – she had the safety of the community and staff to consider, and this particular risk was novel, not only in its pathology and virology, but in the way it skulked around, undetected.
- PUB DATE: 4/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Penobscot Bay Pilot

One by one, 85 ambulances and firetrucks trickled down the narrow street in a somber procession, snaking their way through the Port Monmouth section of Middletown. As the first responders rolled past the forest green house, they each blared their sirens to honor one of their own. Robert Weber, a Middletown First Aid and Rescue Squad volunteer and firefighter, was only 44 when he died April 15 from complications of the coronavirus.
- PUB DATE: 4/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NJ.com

Many new apps claim to be aimed at helping combat the coronavirus. Some provide vital notifications and advice, but others are full of misinformation and scams. That’s why we recommend the following, trustworthy sources. Always investigate the authenticity and authority of any app or website that claims to provide COVID-19 information.
- PUB DATE: 4/20/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: How-To Geek

A fire at a trailer home caused up to $100,000 worth of damage Saturday night. Firefighters responded to a report around 9 p.m. of a fire in a trailer home in the 400 block of Miron Court. They arrived to find the trailer engulfed in flames and two garages on fire, according to the Bellevue Fire Department.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2020 8:48:24 AM - SOURCE: Green Bay Press-Gazette

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ fire crews remain on scene Sunday after 234-acres burned at the Necedah Wildlife Refuge. The DNR ruled debris burning as the cause of the fire that began Saturday. Upland grass and timber burned until it reached wetter ground in the marsh. They said the weather conditions caused a fire danger to be very high on Saturday and evacuations occurred along 17th Street and Highway 80.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2020 8:36:04 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

Authorities say more than 70 people are without a home after an apartment building caught fire on Madison's southwest side Saturday afternoon. The Madison Fire Department says several engines arrived just after 1 p.m. to the three-story apartment in the 3100 block of Muir Field Road. The fire took at least an hour to put out with high winds making it difficult for crews.
- PUB DATE: 4/19/2020 3:53:04 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

As the Madison Fire Department worked quickly to put out an apartment fire Saturday afternoon, precautions against fighting the coronavirus became tougher to follow. “When we get in a big fire fight like this, the social distancing rules kind of go out the window,” Chief Steven Davis said. “The [personal protective equipment], the paper, filter masks that we see them wear on calls and things kind of goes out the window because they have a big job to do.
- PUB DATE: 4/18/2020 9:40:11 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

During the safer at home order there's been an uptick in drive by parades, which are seen as a safe way to celebrate birthdays and other occasions. Saturday in Wrightstown one of those parades was held as a way to honor someone who's a community hero. "One of our members, he's been a firefighter in the village of Wrightstown for over 40 years, has been battling cancer,” said Wrightstown Fire Captain John Christensen.
- PUB DATE: 4/18/2020 7:43:21 PM - SOURCE: WBAY-TV ABC 2 Green Bay

A 43-year-old North Fond du Lac man was arrested Thursday, April 16 on charges related to numerous suspicious fires that recently occurred in the Fond du Lac area. Officials say this arrest is the result of a collaborative investigation between four law enforcement agencies and two fire departments.
- PUB DATE: 4/17/2020 7:54:09 AM - SOURCE: WITI Fox Channel 6

One person was injured following a mobile home fire on Thursday. According to Janesville Fire, firefighters were dispatched to the 500 block of Kentucky Drive in Janesville at 5:18 p.m. for a report of a mobile home fire. The fire was quickly brought under control, but the mobile home was called a total loss with an estimated $50,000 in damage.
- PUB DATE: 4/17/2020 4:36:19 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

VIDEO: The Pasquotank-Camden EMS is taking action to try and better protect its patients and first responders. Previously, it was wrapping one of its ambulances with plastic. Chief Jerry Newell said that unit was designated to pick up possible COVID-19 patients. But then Newell said the department got an idea from Onslow County EMS in North Carolina.
- PUB DATE: 4/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WTKR-TV CBS 3 Norfolk

Researchers have confirmed that there are several effective methods for decontaminating the N95 masks worn by health professionals so that they can be used more than once, the National Institutes of Health announced Wednesday. A substantial body of research already showed that the masks, designed for one-time use, can be reused in a crisis.
- PUB DATE: 4/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The New York Times - Metered Site

iHeartMedia and FirstNet®, Built with AT&T announced today “iHeartRadio’s First Responder Fridays with FirstNet, Built with AT&T,” a special four-week tribute series hosted by Ryan Seacrest streamed LIVE on iHeartRadio’s YouTube and broadcasted across more than 90 iHeartRadio stations nationwide, honoring first responders and medical professionals on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- PUB DATE: 4/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Business Wire