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This Week in EMS: A Recap for December 1 - 7, 2007
It has been a busy week for rescuers around the nation with a mall shooting, 2 parking garage collapses, a train collision, and emergency flooding in the Pacific Northwest.
In Nebraska this Wednesday, a 19-year-old opened fire at a busy mall, killing eight people and wounding five before killing himself. Robert A. Hawkins had recently split with his girlfriend and been fired from his job at McDonald's, it was reported.
He chose his victims at random, and left behind a note that read, in part, "Now I'll be famous."
Read more at:
Early Thursday, dozens of Jacksonville Fire-Rescue personnel responded to a mass-casualty event when a six-story parking garage under construction collapsed. At least 23 workers were hospitalized, but nearly half were released by the end of the day.
Urban search and rescue teams continued through the night looking for a 26-year-old worker who may have been trapped in the debris.
To follow this story visit
- Search Continues at Florida Collapse Site
- 18 Hospitalized, 1 Missing After Florida Parking Garage Collapse
In a separate incident Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina, a portion of a parking deck at a mall collapsed, killing the driver who may have triggered the accident by crashing into the structure. Visit 1 Dead in North Carolina Parking Deck Collapse.
On Monday the Pacific Northwest was smacked with hurricane-force winds and several inches of rain, which was blamed for five deaths in Oregon and Washington state.
The governors of both Washington and Oregon declared states of emergency. In Washington, some 130 people had to be rescued from flooded areas.
Read the article, Storms Pound Pacific Northwest.
Last Friday, Nov. 30, an Amtrak train hit a stationary freight train in Chicago, Illinois, injuring dozens of people.
Most of the 187 passengers onboard the Pere Marquette traveling to Chicago from Grand Rapids, Mich., walked away without major injuries from the impact, reported the Associated Press.
The accident sent 71 people to hospitals. Three people - one Amtrak crew member and two passengers - were hospitalized overnight and released Saturday.
Read more and view photos at Amtrak, Freight Trains Collide in Chicago.
Funeral services with bagpipers and a helicopter fly-over were held Monday in Missouri for a first responder who collapsed at an EMS call last week. Wilfred "Willie" Livingston, 33, was a member of the Cole County First Responders.
On Nov. 28, Livingston had assisted with a medical call about 1 a.m. "Just after the patient was loaded into the ambulance, he complained of having shortness of breath. The other crew members gave him oxygen and called for a second ambulance," said Capt. Kevin Wieberg. He went into cardiac arrest, and CPR was initiated immediately. He was taken to a hospital where he passed away later that evening, Wieberg said.
"Willie enjoyed helping others. He was very, very, very dedicated," Wieberg said. "He died doing what he loved to do." Read the article by EMSResponder.com at Missouri Responder Mourned after On-Duty Death.
Rescuers in Alaska were still awaiting news Friday on a LifeGuard helicopter that disappeared this week over Prince William Sound while carrying a patient, pilot, paramedic, and nurse.
A multipronged search has continued for several days involving military, state and private resources, including snowmachines. The search will continue until the Air Guard's Rescue Coordination Center determines all efforts have been made or until the weather becomes a danger.
Read the latest at Alaska Copter's Crew Known for Savvy; Hope Remains.
EMSResponder.com Featured Column
"Asking for assistance should not be feared. Nor should it be considered a sign of 'weakness,'" writes EMSResponder.com columnist Paul Murphy. "To the contrary, it can prove to be invaluable." Paul's column offers some items to consider when preparing to ask someone for assistance -- especially when the individual is someone you do not know as well as your friends.
Industry News
House Passes Volunteer Incentive Protection Language
This week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act of 2007, which excludes from taxable income any property tax benefit and up to $360 per year of all other payments from a state or local unit of government to volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel. The IRS began to count such local volunteer incentives as taxable income in 2002, reports the IAFC.
Elderly Visits to Emergency Departments Accelerating
Rates of visits by elderly to emergency departments are increasing more rapidly than for any other group, which could lead to catastrophic overcrowding as the ranks of patients over the age of 65 swell, according to a study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
The study finds that the additional emergency department visits over time were not less urgent than at the beginning of the study, and suggests that older Americans are having more true emergencies, rather than increasingly visiting the emergency department for convenience or because of lack of access to nonemergency outpatient care.
EMSResponder.com Featured Job
EMS Coordinator, Sonoma County, CA
The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Coordinator for the Sonoma County Department of Health Services assists the Regional EMS Manager with the administration of the local EMS Agency. The incumbent develops emergency medical disaster plans, and assists with planning, coordinating, and evaluating agency policies, activities and goals. The listed salary for this position is $66,307.80 - $80,604.57.
If you're interested, act fast -- applications are due this Friday, Dec. 7.
Visit www.EMSResponder.com/jobs and our linked partner sites for additional EMS and public safety job listings. Also, watch for our expanded employment center coming soon.
To submit an EMS related job listing e-mail Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.
EMSResponder.com Hot Topics
Among this week's hot topics:
A visitor to the EMS General Forum writes regarding a 2005 EMS Magazine editorial of this title by David W. Powers,
"Have people read this? I found this very interesting! This is an issue that has come up in my line of work just this week. We as hospital techs have just been stripped away of half our ER duties in NYC because of a small technicality between the word license and certification in the law, even as medics."
Visit www.emsresponder.com/forums to follow the full conversation or to browse additional topics.
EMSResponder.com Poll
Do you get a yearly flu shot?
Visit the poll on the lower right side of EMSResponder.com to participate. View previous polls at www.EMSResponder.com/polls.
To submit a poll idea e-mail Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.
Other top headlines this week on EMSResponder.com:
- Iowa EMT Struck Trying to Help Motorist
- Emergency Responders Face Deep Aid Cuts
- New Jersey Mayor Plans to Phase Out EMTs
- Massachusetts EMTs Difficult to Keep
- Paramedic Trainee to be Fired in Baltimore Noose Case
- Two Nevada EMTs Appeal Dismissal for Failure to Render Aid
- Woman on Bike Injured in Crash with Orlando Ambulance
About Heather Caspi, EMSResponder.com Editor-in-Chief
Heather Caspi has been a public safety journalist since 2000, beginning as a reporter for sister site Firehouse.com. She later became the assistant news editor for Firehouse.com and Officer.com, and led the launch of EMSResponder.com in 2005. She graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in Journalism and English Language and Literature, and earned her EMT-B at Merritt College in Oakland, California. She can be reached at Heather.Caspi@cygnusb2b.com.
