BUFFALO, NY -- A Buffalo firefighter has been released
from a hospital after nearly two months. He was critically injured
when a chimney crashed down on him during a fire. Mark Reed's
right leg was amputated and he was placed in a drug-induced coma
during his stay at Erie County Medical Center. The 36-year-old
firefighter was battling a blaze in a vacant home on June tenth
when a brick chimney fell on him. Fire officials say treatment
Reed received at the scene from ambulance crews probably saved
Reed's life. The fire and the injuries Reed suffered focused attention
on Buffalo's problems with the thousands of vacant homes and derelict
buildings throughout the city.
CINCINNATI -- Police in Cincinnati say a woman who had
been in and out of drug rehab is accused of stealing syringes
and other medical equipment from two unattended ambulances parked
outside a hospital. Twenty-two-year-old Leann Kidd was arrested
by University of Cincinnati police after an officer said he saw
Kidd walking near University Hospital with a plastic bag containing
medical supplies. Police Captain Karen Patterson says drivers
don't always lock the doors on ambulances when they run into the
hospital.
RAPID CITY, ND -- Western Dakota Technical Institute has
set up a new training building. It's a new burn building that's
a four-story steel building used for a variety of emergency and
fire-training exercises. The burn building will be the centerpiece
for a planned Emergency Response Training Center that, when complete,
will include multiple training opportunities, including exercises
that simulate rail-car fires, vehicle fires and other emergencies.
The burn building has three segments: a four-story tower, a two-story
residential annex and a single-story burn room. Lt. John Niehaus,
Rapid City fire department training officer, said statistics indicate
there are 50 percent fewer fires today compared with 30 years
ago, which is a credit to fire-prevention efforts and a boon for
life safety.
ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SC -- The Orangeburg County Fire District
is scheduled to reprogram all its radios within the next two weeks
after a check revealed all is clear and ready to go for a new
frequency. Orangeburg County Fire System Coordinator Gene Ball
said radios can be reprogrammed in a matter of seconds with the
touch of a switch. Kelly Communications will be conducting the
transition. The fire district is changing its frequency in response
to firefighter complaints about interference from the Vidalia,
Ga. police department. The changeover will require the district
to reprogram all the fire radios at a cost of about $10,000 to
$13,000, which will be paid by the county's Emergency Services
department.
NORTH AURORA, IL -- The Southern Kane County Training
Association is about 20 cars short of what it needs to conduct
an extrication class in September. Association leaders don't want
to cancel again. A typical association class lasts a week and
uses about 40 cars, which the 30 or so students cut open in a
variety of ways using a variety of tools. The group now is looking
to the public to donate old beaters. As the group is a 501(c)3
nonprofit, the donor would qualify for a tax write-off.
SAN MARCOS, NC -- San Marcos firefighters began using
hand-held electronic touch pads to transmit patient data to doctors
and nurses. Improving ambulance efficiency is especially crucial
for the city, because its rapidly growing population has sharply
increased the number of emergency calls in recent years, said
fire Division Chief Bob Morton. Morton said that call volume in
San Marcos has been increasing between five percent and six percent
each year during the city's population boom, which has seen the
number of residents increase from 38,000 in 1990 up to more than
80,000 today.
The city received 6,276 emergency calls in 2006, said Morton,
and 71 percent were medical emergencies. That works out to 12
medical calls per day, he said. Dobbins said the devices, which
the department began using July 1 after several weeks of training,
are an amazing innovation.
