EMS News

1. Officials Report a Record Number of Tick Diseases

   

   The 2017 tally of more than 59,000 cases is a 22 percent increase from the previous year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Wednesday

2. EMS Today Launches New Buyer Program

   

   MATCH! program participants will receive an elevated attending package with exclusive perks, and qualified attendees includes authorized buyers made up of high-ranking Fire & EMS department officers, top private ambulance providers, committee members and chairs with purchasing authority and power.

3. Flight Paramedic Crash Survivor Tells Harrowing Story of Survival

   

   Boehm was the only one to make it out alive after his helicopter crashed into the Superstition Mountains at more than 100 miles per hour, and he credits his smartphone with saving his life.

4. Alabama City Getting Its Own Ambulance Service to Combat Lagging Response Times

   

   The Gulf Coast city will expand their services by purchasing two ambulances and hiring 9 additional EMTs to handle transportation themselves.

5. Rescue Chief Temporarily Suspended After Investigation into Ambulance Crash

   

   The Rescue Chief for Westmoreland County, Viriginia, Emergency Services has been temporarily suspended following a TV news investigation into a fatal crash involving one of the department’s ambulances.

6. Cinematographer Charged in First Responders' Assault in Poland

   

   WARSAW, Poland (AP) — An Oscar-nominated American cinematographer was charged Wednesday with assaulting public officials in Poland after he allegedly attacked paramedics and police who were called to a hotel where he had been seen staggering.

7. Hospital RN Returns the Favor after Wildfire Near-Death Experience

   

   Registered Nurse Allyn Pierce was trapped by a fire surrounding his Toyota pickup after leaving the hospital where he manages the ICU. After a miraculous save, he goes back to the hospital to treat fire victims.

8. Car Crashes into Social Security Office; At Least 16 Hurt

   

   EGG HARBOR, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say a car has crashed through the front of a Social Security office in New Jersey, injuring at least 16 people.

9. National Registry Seeking Assistance and Input

   

   The Nation’s EMS Certification body is seeking assistance on two important issues: scenario developement/scoring and writing cognitive exams.

10. Amid Drug Crisis, Spiritual First Responders Hit the Streets

    

    Working with addicted people means trips to hospital rooms and fresh graves. But there are flashes of light in the darkness, too.

11. Dogs and Portable Morgues: Search Intensifies in Fire Zone

    

    PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities moved to set up a rapid DNA-analysis system and bring in cadaver dogs, mobile morgues and more search teams in an intensified effort to find and identify victims of the deadliest wildfire in California history, an inferno that killed at least 42 people.

12. Tampa Father Dies After Ambulance Breaks Down

    

    A Tampa man suffering a heart attack died after his ambulance broke down and it took nearly an hour to get him to the hospital.

13. 5 Injured after Detroit Ambulance and Police Car Collide

    

    Four first responders and one civilian are recovering after a crash involving a Detroit ambulance and a police car on the city’s west side on Saturday night.

14. Man Reaching for Free Shirt Critical after Fall Over Railing

    

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A fan reaching for a free T-shirt is in critical but stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after losing his balance and falling through the awning that covers the tunnel to the Tennessee Titans' locker room.

15. Rescues, Not Firefight, Prove Emotional for Firefighters

    

    Officials say firefighters may face emotional fatigue from the state's seemingly endless wildfires that have devastated communities and killed residents and firefighters.

16. Death Toll Rises in California Wildfire, Matching Deadliest

    

    Wildfires continue to rage on both ends of the state, with gusty winds expected overnight which will challenge firefighters. The statewide death toll stood at 31.

17. 19-Year-Old Minnesota Man Revives Squirrel with CPR

    

    Police body camera footage catches a 19-year-old man saving a squirrel after giving it CPR.

18. Seattle Prepares Contingency Plans for EMT Strike

    

    A strike would potentially mean Seattle Medic One would have to spend much more time transporting patients to the emergency room, even when they are not critically ill.
    

19. 5 Found Dead in Cars as Fire Incinerates N. California Town

    

    PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Five people were found dead in their burned-out vehicles after a Northern California wildfire incinerated most of a town of about 30,000 people with flames that moved so fast there was nothing firefighters could do, authorities said Friday

20. Tennessee Paramedic Crews Battle Opioid Epidemic

    

    This year, through the month of September, Knoxville Fire Department crews have already administered naloxone 320 times.

21. Australia Stabbing Attack Linked to Terrorism

    

    Victoria state police Commissioner Graham Ashton said the suspect, who was originally from Somalia, was known to police and the incident was being treated as terrorism.

22. Heroes Rushed into California Shooting

    

    College students out for a good time and a veteran lawman on patrol became heroes during a shooting at a country music bar by pulling people to safety and rushing into the gunfire.

23. Evacuations Ordered as Northern California Wildfire Grows

    

    A wildfire has grown to 1,000 acres (405 hectares), resulting in mandatory evacuations of a hospital, school, retirement home as well as residents in a town of about 27,000 people 180 miles (290 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco.

24. Head on Collision Between 2 Buses Kills 47 in Zimbabwe

    

    A head-on collision between two buses has killed 47 people, where road accidents are common due to poor roads and bad driving.

25. 14 Treated for Carbon Monoxide Exposure at Downtown Nashville Hotel

    

    At first, six people reported symptoms of CO exposure. The number of people feeling sick rose through the day.

26. Gunman Opens Fire Inside California Bar, 13 Dead

    

    A gunman opened fire Wednesday inside a country dance bar crowded with hundreds of people on "college night," wounding 11 people including a deputy who rushed to the scene, police said.

27. Paws of War Launches Nations First Mobile Veterinary Clinic Exclusively for Veterans and First Responders

    

    Paws of War set to provide free veterinary care to disabled veterans and first responders in need.

28. California EMTs and Paramedics to Stay On Duty During Breaks as Prop 11 Passes

    

    Emergency ambulance employees who work for private companies will be allowed to continue their current practice of having emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics stay on-duty during their meal and rest breaks in order to respond to 911 calls.

29. Longtime Oklahoma EMS Leader H. Stephen Williamson Passes Away

    

    H. Stephen Williamson was the president and chief executive officer of Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) since the Authority began operations in 1978, and served for over 39 years.

30. Florida Association of EMS Educators Honors Sunstar Paramedics Employees

    

    Anthony Grasso was named Preceptor of the Year and Tony Cambone was recognized as EMS Continuing Educator of the Year.

31. NIH Requesting Input on Ways to Enhance Emergency Medical Care Research

    

    NIH is asking members of the public, providers and researchers about their experiences conducting research under the Exception from Informed Consent Requirements for Emergency Research guidelines.

32. Brownsville, Texas, Kickstarts New Program to Help Reduce Non-Emergency 9-1-1 Calls

    

    Brownsville Fire Chief Jarrett Sheldon says a new program will be able to identify the people who frequently call for non-emergency situations.

33. 1 Dead, 2 Injured as Storms, Possible Tornados Hit South

    

    Officials say severe storms sweeping across the South on Tuesday have killed a person and injured at least two others, knocking down trees and leaving thousands without power.

34. EMS in Crisis: Patients Pocketing Insurance Checks

    

    EMS services already struggle with low reimbursement rates from Medicaid and Medicare. On top of that, add patients pocketing insurance checks.

35. Texas Newlywed Killed in Helicopter Crash after Wedding

    

    The newlyweds were seniors at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

36. Suicide Raises Florence Death Toll to 41

    

    North Carolina's official death toll from Hurricane Florence is now 41, after a man whose home was damaged by two hurricanes in the past three years took his own life.

37. One Dead in Mid-Air Crash Over Ottawa

    

    Canadian paramedics said one person was killed Sunday after two small planes crashed mid-air in the capital of Ottawa.

38. French Rescue Teams Find Body in Collapsed Buildings

    

    France's interior minister arrived in Marseille Tuesday at the site where two buildings collapsed into rubble, killing at least one man.

39. Dependable, Heavy-Duty Accuride International Drawer Slides Offer Life-Saving Solution for 1st In Emergency Products

    

    To make it easier for first responders to do their jobs, 1st In uses only Accuride drawer slides in the emergency vehicle cabinets that it builds and installs in police, fire and EMS vehicles.
    

40. Buildings Collapse in France

41. Buildings Collapse in French City of Marseille

    

    Two buildings collapsed in the southern city of Marseille on Monday, leaving a giant pile of rubble and beams. Fire services said two people were lightly hurt.

42. Girl Scouts, Adult, Killed in Wisconsin Crash

    

    A young driver was inhaling chemical vapors, or huffing, just prior to striking and killing three Girl Scouts and a mother and critically injuring a fourth girl who had been picking up trash along a rural Wisconsin highway, police said Monday.

43. Storms, Floods in Sicily Kill at least 12 People

    

    A Sicilian prosecutor opened an investigation to determine if neglect, such as possible inadequate drainage of the river, played a role in the deaths.

44. Tornado Hits Amazon Center in Baltimore, Killing Two

    

    The National Weather Service confirms a tornado struck the distribution warehouse killing two workers.

45. Eight Children Hurt in Fall from UK Inflatable Slide

    

    Approximately 40 children were playing on the slide.

46. At Least 14 Killed in China Highway Pile-up

    

    Truck went out of control and crashed into vehicles waiting at a toll station.

47. Two Dead, Six Wounded in Florida Yoga Studio Shooting

    

    Two women — a 61-year-old faculty member at Florida State University, and a 21-year-old FSU student — were fatally shot.

48. Two Stabbed Near Sony’s London Headquarters

    

    The condition of the two victims was not immediately known. The London Ambulance Service said it took one to a hospital and the other to a major trauma center.

49. Video Shows Fight Before Bus Plunges Off China Bridge

    

    A fight between a bus driver and a passenger who missed her stop caused the bus to plunge off a high bridge into China's Yangtze River, police said Friday. All 15 people onboard are presumed dead.

50. Bus Recovered in Deadly Bridge Crash in China

    

    Crane pulled bus from the Yangtze River.