Many research studies have focused on firefighter mental health challenges due to a sinAcross the country, firefighters are responding to fewer fires but are increasingly called upon to provide Emergency Medical Services (EMS), perform search and rescue, and react to hazardous materials incidents and natural disasters.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: U.S. Fire Administration

The state Supreme Court refused Wednesday to reinstate a San Francisco jury’s $3.7 million damage award to 15 firefighters who claimed age discrimination in the city’s scoring of a 2008 exam on promotions to lieutenant. The Superior Court jury agreed with the firefighters in 2013 that the Fire Department’s exam unit had weighed some parts of the test more than others, and ranked the test-takers, in ways that were unrelated to fitness for the promotion, and that had an adverse effect on applicants older than 40.
- PUB DATE: 1/18/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFGate.com

Break a leg on the job and workers compensation will pay the medical bills and cover lost wages. But suffer emotional or psychological trauma after a failed attempt to revive an infant or hours processing dead bodies in the wake of a mass shooting and you're out of luck. Families of first responders and a bi-partisan group of lawmakers are behind a proposal to include post traumatic stress disorder in workers comp coverage.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tallahassee Democrat & Tallahassee.com

A Houston Republican is starting to pay a hefty price as she runs for re-election for running afoul with police and firefighter unions in Texas. In the last to Legislature sessions, State Sen. Joan Huffman has sponsored legislation to make it harder for many public worker unions to collect membership dues.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Houston Chronicle

The bitter contract dispute between the city and the firefighters’ union could last much longer than the year deadline that City Council members hope. Syracuse attorney Nathaniel Lambright, who is representing the Watertown Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 191, warned on Tuesday that the labor dispute may not be resolved for another two to 2½ years while it continues through the lengthy appeal process.
- PUB DATE: 1/17/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Watertown Daily Times