Trenton's firefighters will soon begin wearing bulletproof vests to protect themselves on the job when they double as medics. The vests were approved as part of the fire union's new contract. The Trenton Emergency Medical Services have been wearing vests for years, but the firefighters have been the only first responders without them — even though they're often the first to arrive on the scene of a medical call, union president Wayne Wolk said.
- PUB DATE: 12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: nj.com

KIMA spoke with the firefighter who found an abandoned baby outside a Yakima fire station for the first time since it happened on Christmas Eve. It's now become a case the Yakima Police Department is trying to solve. Joanna Albrecht says it was hard to ignore her snooze button on Christmas Eve for an early morning work-out, but that she's very lucky she did.
- PUB DATE: 12/30/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KIMA TV

A coalition of fire chiefs, responding to an increase in repeated drug overdoses by the same people, is seeking state money to hire drug counselors who can train first responders in how to better direct victims toward treatment and recovery services. Emergency responders this year have administered nearly 3,000 doses of the opioid antidote naloxone, known by its brand name Narcan.
- PUB DATE: 12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WMUR ABC

(VIDEO) What volunteer Fire Chief Nate Tracey did Monday morning was what any trained rescue worker would have done, he said. He just happened to be the first one there. The call came in as a crash with unknown injuries. It was in the first block of Indian Rock Dam Road in York Township and Tracey's department, Goodwill Fire Company, was the first one assigned to the incident.
- PUB DATE: 12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Evening Sun

A San Diego firefighter remains employed after getting drunk at a department-sponsored training event — conduct he defended in court, saying there was no city rule against it. The November 2012 training class took place at the union hall, while firefighters were off-duty. The city paid for the training, which was required for certain career advancement, and firefighters were given considerations such as excuses from mandatory overtime while they were at the training.
- PUB DATE: 12/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Diego Tribune