The Utah House of Representatives and Senate both passed a bill during a special legislative session on Thursday that would amend the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act to include coverage for volunteer first responders and health care providers who contract COVID-19. Under House Bill 3007, sponsored by House Majority Leader Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, it would be presumed that “a first responder who claims to have contracted COVID-19 during the performance of the first responder’s duties as a first responder” is eligible for a workers’ compensation claim.
- PUB DATE: 4/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Daily Herald

“People used to say, take it one day at a time. Right now, one day is a little long for most of us. One hour is probably a little long. Which is why I say it’s one breath at a time.” Rebecca Riley Moyer launched the BRAVE text line to send encouraging notes, written by her, straight to your phone every morning.
- PUB DATE: 4/17/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WXIX-TV FOX 19 Cincinnati

No more pizza or coffee, please. That’s the message the West Allis Fire Department is sharing with the community after many well-meaning folks have offered free coffee, pizza or other food to fire station personnel. “To be honest we don't need free pizza or free cups of coffee,” the West Allis Fire Department posted on Facebook April 14.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:36:27 PM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Harper Kamin, celebrated her fifth birthday on Tuesday, April 14 and got quite a surprise. City of Peshtigo Police Officers and several City of Peshtigo Firefighters stopped by her home to wish her a happy birthday with police cars and a fire truck with emergency lights on. Harper's mother Jessie Dembroski said it really made her day special.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 1:43:48 AM - SOURCE: Peshtigo Times

Gov. Tony Evers signed a sweeping coronavirus relief package Wednesday after lawmakers approved it with just two days to spare before the state would have lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars in federal help. The Democratic governor signed the bill, which also suspends a one-week waiting period to receive unemployment benefits, two hours after state senators unanimously approved it.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Oshkosh Northwestern

Richard Congdon is a Herkimer County Sheriff's Deputy and a volunteer firefighter for the Salisbury Fire Department. He came up with the idea to re-purpose self-contained breathing apparatuses, or SCBAs, to make masks that can protect against the coronavirus. Congdon says firefighters change their SCBAs every year, so he thought it was a good idea to re-use them to help front line workers.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WKTV NBC/CBS/CW+ 2 Utica

The $2.2 trillion CARES Act is doing far too little to help the men and women of the fire and EMS service fighting on the front lines during this global pandemic. IAFC President Chief Gary Ludwig continues to receive myriad reports of little or no PPE in fire departments because of depleted inventories and decimated budgets because of overtime to cover those out sick and quarantined.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

Social distancing numbers compiled at the University of Maryland indicate D.C. residents are doing better at it than almost any state in the country, and Maryland is not far behind. The numbers were compiled by the Maryland Transportation Institute, which is based at the university. Using privacy-protected data from cell phones along with information from the government and healthcare industry, researchers are giving a “social distancing index” score to every state and county in the U.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WJLA-TV ABC 7 Washington, D.C.

Phoenix Fire Chief Kara Kalkbrenner says emergency protective gear such as gowns and N95 masks ordered by the Phoenix Fire Department are getting “hijacked” before they ever arrive in Arizona. Kalkbrenner’s comments came Tuesday after 12 News asked her about a photo posted on Facebook showing two Phoenix firefighters responding to a recent emergency wearing rain ponchos instead of protective gowns.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPNX-TV ABC 12 Phoenix

Using automation developed by a staff member, the Garland, Texas, Fire Department can better inventory its thousands of assets and comply with regulations. “We track everything from large equipment like our apparatus -- our fire trucks, our engines, our ambulances, our staff vehicles -- all the way down to the Band-Aids,” said Debbie Watson, senior business process analyst and citizen developer at the department.
- PUB DATE: 4/16/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: GCN

Wisconsin lawmakers in the state Senate on Wednesday will take up a coronavirus relief package under a cloud of criticism over the bill's treatment of first responders. Republican lawmakers in the state Assembly in last-minute amendment scaled back workers compensation protections for first responders during the virus outbreak.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 7:57:22 AM - SOURCE: Oshkosh Northwestern

The reality of the COVID-19 pandemic struck Rob Puls on March 19, when Bayfield County confirmed its first positive case of the virus. Puls coordinates paramedics for Great Divide Ambulance, which staffs four ambulances around the clock in the 15,000-person county that hugs Lake Superior. The four vehicles cover around 730 square miles, an area three times the size of Chicago.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 1:46:52 AM - SOURCE: Osceola Sun

For the first time, a Princeton company is offering military-grade technology to first responders that they hope will save lives during this pandemic. They are called the X2 MR Glasses. "What these glasses are essentially are basically a phone on your face," said Nick Cherukuri, the CEO of ThirdEye Gen.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WPVI-TV ABC 6 Philadelphia

The Town of Hanover has launched a mobile integrated health program, which is described as an innovative approach toward meeting the health needs of residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is in partnership with South Shore Health, which obtained a temporary license from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the Town of Hanover to take part.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WFXT-TV FOX 25 Boston

California has evacuation plans for earthquakes, floods, mudslides and, of course, wildfires, but what if one of those disasters occurs as the state is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak when everyone is being urged to stay home? State and local officials are trying to figure that out. “That’s something that is being looked at, but it’s challenging," said California Office of Emergency Services’ spokesman Brian Ferguson.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Press Democrat

To protect themselves from coronavirus, firefighters in Jefferson have a new way of wiping down their equipment after making runs. They’re applying a mixture of bleach and water to the insides their ambulances and fire engines as well as on the surfaces of their gear. “Any of the equipment that is actually in the ambulance -- the cot, the monitor -- is available to be decontaminated with the same product,” said Jefferson Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Wendt.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMTV NBC 15 Madison

The global novel coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 120,000 lives around the world. The United States now has more than 600,000 diagnosed cases and suffered at least 25,000 deaths. The death toll in New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S., has surpassed 10,000. Since the novel coronavirus hit the U.
- PUB DATE: 4/15/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

A Beloit firefighter, who also is a reservist with the U.S. Navy, is being called to active duty in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Beloit Fire Department. Relief Motor Pump Operator and Firefighter/Paramedic Phil Ferrera will be deployed to the East Coast region to help in the federal response to the health crisis there.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2020 8:16:05 PM - SOURCE: Beloit Daily News

To protect themselves from coronavrius, firefighters in Jefferson have a new way of wiping down their equipment after making runs. They’re applying a mixture of bleach and water to the insides their ambulances and fire engines as well as on the surfaces of their gear. “Any of the equipment that is actually in the ambulance -- the cot, the monitor -- is available to be decontaminated with the same product,” said Jefferson Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Wendt.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2020 9:44:15 AM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

Firefighters spent more than five hours putting out a fire started by an abandoned campfire, according to a release by the Madison Fire Department. Crews were to the 4100 block of Westerfield Lane around 9 a.m. Monday. Someone in the area called 911 after noticing smoke coming from a wooded area, the release said.
- PUB DATE: 4/14/2020 7:46:36 AM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison