After the recent signing of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act by President Donald J. Trump, International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) President, Fire Chief Gary Ludwig, expressed mixed emotions about the stimulus package. “While I am pleased that Congress and the President took action to help those who are suffering economically by allocating federal money for hospitals, law enforcement, educational institutions, airlines, and drug companies, I am extremely disappointed that federal funding desperately needed by the American fire and emergency medical services was largely overlooked,” Chief Ludwig said.
- PUB DATE: 3/31/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

Fire officials with the Madison Fire Department announced Monday that they are suspending all burn permits in the city of Madison, town of Blooming Grove and village of Shorewood Hills effective immediately. According to a news release, the suspension is meant to keep Madison firefighters safe during Gov.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 7:57:24 PM - SOURCE: WMSN-TV Fox 47 Madison

Two people were displaced after a fire damaged a house in Madison on Monday morning. Neighbors dialed 911 reporting tall flames showing from the back of the house on the 600 block of Crandall Street at 11:37 a.m., according to the Madison Fire Department. Firefighters on scene confirmed with a resident of the house that everyone made it out the building safely.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 3:50:42 PM - SOURCE: WMTV-TV NBC 15 Madison

While Wisconsinites are working from home, following Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer at Home order, firefighters, police officers and emergency medical technicians all must interact with the public as emergency responders. Waunakee first responders have implemented several changes to their operations since the COVID-19 pandemic began to show up in Wisconsin to keep workers and volunteers safe.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 1:03:27 PM - SOURCE: Waunakee Tribune

A program conducting home visits with vulnerable patients after they have been checked out of the hospital is doing its best to go online, both for the sake of the paramedics and patients. Racine’s Mobile Integrated Health program went into a trial phase in the fall of 2018 and was fully implemented in 2019.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Times

The Rowlett Fire Department has a long history of providing innovative solutions to complex issues. Continuing that legacy of care and commitment to our community, the Rowlett Fire Department has implemented a TeleMedic program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. TeleMedic embraces current technology and allows the online one-on-one video assessment of non-critical patients to reduce the risk of provider- or patient-borne exposure to contagions.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Rowlett Lakeshore Times

At exactly 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evening, thousands of New Yorkers in quarantine stood on their porches and near their windows to applaud first responders and health care workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak. This powerful act of solidarity, which lasted several minutes, came about after a call on social media to #clapbecausewecare.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WABC-TV ABC 7 New York

The Laurel County Fire Department has launched a new phone app this week that includes two sections pertaining to COVID-19. "To our knowledge it's one of the first ones in the area," said Laurel County Fire Chief Terry Wattenbarger. "We're the first emergency service to actually have a mobile app like that.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Times-Tribune

Chief Diana Matty has heard the cries of doctors across the country: They need ventilators. As Palm Beach County braces for a potential spike in coronavirus cases, the West Palm Beach fire chief has coordinated efforts with the county’s 10 other fire departments to let hospitals know they are poised to loan ventilators, should the need arise.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Palm Beach Post

A program conducting home visits with vulnerable patients after they have been checked out of the hospital is doing its best to go online, both for the sake of the paramedics and patients. Racine’s Mobile Integrated Health program went into a trial phase in the fall of 2018 and was fully implemented in 2019.
- PUB DATE: 3/30/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Journal Times

As paramedics throughout Milwaukee County prepare for more coronavirus related calls, officials are asking the public to only call 911 for life threatening emergencies to prevent the system from being overloaded. "Before noon, we had nine calls on the med unit. On the Alternate Response Vehicle, they were up to seven.
- PUB DATE: 3/29/2020 8:51:34 PM - SOURCE: Today's TMJ4

Madison firefighters responded Friday to a house fire on the city’s north side just after 5 p.m. According to an incident report, the Madison Fire Department received a call at 5:02 p.m. regarding a house fire at 1022 Reinke Drive. Fire officials said neighbors reported seeing flames at the back of the home and saw the residents escaping.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 8:55:08 PM - SOURCE: WISC-TV Channel 3000.com Madison

The La Crosse Fire Department is dealing with the impact of the coronavirus. Staff are isolating from one another to avoid a potential spread of the virus. And some rescue crews are operating 24 hours a day at the La Crosse Center as well as Central and Logan High Schools to help limit contact between firefighters.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 3:35:37 PM - SOURCE: WKBT-TV CBS 8 La Crosse

Lawrence Riley was a bear of a man who was brought down by coronavirus. The 66-year-old retired firefighter died last week after a three-day stay at Froedtert Hospital, where he'd been admitted for respiratory failure and tested positive for COVID-19. He died of complications from the virus on March 19, making him the first Milwaukee victim of the disease.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 5:07:47 AM - SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

To ensure uninterrupted service during the coronavirus pandemic, 18 fire departments in San Bernardino County have joined under a regional management team, an action usually reserved for fighting large wildfires. “COVID-19 has the possibility of affecting a significant portion of the fire and EMS workforce,” the San Bernardino County Fire Chiefs Association said Thursday, March 26, in announcing formation of the agencies that will cooperate with the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District Incident Management Team.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Bernardino County Sun

VIDEO: The staff at the Tybee Island Fire Department have been hard at work since Wednesday making masks for those that need them most. The dedicated team is one of several groups working to fill the nationwide mask shortage triggered by frightened Americans concerned about their respiratory health amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WSAV-TV NBC/CW+ 3 Savannah

With 16% of its workers in self-isolation due to exposure to the coronavirus, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services will run ambulances to situations that are not life-threatening staffed solely with emergency medical technicians and not the more highly trained paramedics who are now required to be on board.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: NOLA.com

The Senate approved more than $163 billion designated to assist local fire and EMS departments as part of an economic stimulus package to safeguard the U.S. economy and help the nation respond effectively to the 2019 novel coronavirus and its resulting illness, COVID-19. The House is expected to pass the $2 trillion stimulus bill on Friday.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: IAFC.org

Calls to New York City’s 911 medical services hit their highest levels since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to emergency workers’ unions, stretching staffs that have already seen their own ranks thinned by coronavirus infections. Medical emergency calls are up 40% to about 6,500 a day, according to Oren Barzilay, president of Local 2507, a union that represents emergency medical technicians, paramedics, fire inspectors and dispatchers.
- PUB DATE: 3/27/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Bloomberg

A chemical fire at Carboline, a chemical manufacturing facility in Green Bay, was extinguished in less than 20 minutes by fire crews. The Green Bay Metro Fire Department told Local 5 that crews responded to a structure fire just before 7:30 p.m. Thursday evening. Once the responding crews learned the fire was within a facility with combustible liquids inside additional alarms were called due to the nature of the hazards involved.
- PUB DATE: 3/26/2020 9:47:51 PM - SOURCE: WFRV-TV and WJMN-TV Green Bay