Ten out of the 12 volunteer fire departments across Bertie County (NC) received the 2021 Volunteer Fire Department Fund Grant, totaling $198,368, reports DailyAdvance.com. The money will go toward helping the departments purchase necessary equipment.

To apply for the grant, the departments must price the equipment they want to purchase. Then they total up the final cost and submit the list.

Each fire department, excluding Windsor, must meet 25% of the grant; Windsor has to meet 50% of the grant.

Askewville officials say their department plans to purchase an equipment truck with a Cascade System.

A Blue Jay official says they plan to use the grant money for training equipment, a projector screen, and other minor equipment like a rake and shovel. They also plan to purchase truck equipment nozzles, pagers, flashlights, and turnout gear.

The Kelford Fire Department is planning to use the money to purchase a telescopic tool used for extraction, turnout gear, VHF radios, different tools for the trucks that can be used for forcible entry, and a chainsaw with chain chaps.

Merry Hill/Midway Fire Department plans to use the grant money to purchase a back-up generator for the station, to update their viper communication system, to buy some five-inch fire hoses. They will spend $10,000 and be able to put $40,000 worth of equipment in the building.

Powellsville Fire Department officials say that the department plans to use the money to purchase battery-operated Hearse tools, five pagers, turnout gear along with 10-20 five-gallon buckets of foam to dispose of kerosene and gasoline.

The Windsor Fire Department plans to use the grant money for breathing apparatuses, personal protective equipment, a thermal-imaging camera, and automated external defibrillator.

The remaining fire departments to receive a grant includes Colerain Fire Department $15,343; Lewiston Woodville Fire Department $8,210; Perrytown Fire Department $23,181; and Roxobol Fire Department $11,853.

Seagrave—Merrick (NY) Hook and Ladder Co. 1 95-foot Aerialscope. Attacker stainless steel tilt cab and chassis; Cummins X12 500-hp engine; Harrison 10-kW generator. Dealer: Ray Drycz, Rescue Vehicles Inc., Bohemia, NY.

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By Alan M. Petrillo

Necessity sometimes breeds ingenuity. That’s the case of Mike Matros, the inventor of the Mobile Extraction Unit® that brings decon of contaminated turnout gear to a fire scene, 24/7.

Matros, the president of RedLine First Responder Gear Cleaning, determined there was a need for onsite decon turnout gear cleaning, whether at a fire incident or at a fire station. “We know that firefighters’ skin is constantly exposed to chemicals and there is an elevated risk that combustion byproducts will be absorbed, regardless of personal protective equipment (PPE),” Matros says. “Often, the exposure is a result of the cross-transfer of contaminants from the PPE to the skin, which can increase the risk of cancer.”

Matros also is the founder of the Heroes Cup Foundation, a non-profit foundation that works toward cancer prevention, and has spent years working with researchers to identify the risks associated with firefighters wearing contaminated turnout gear.

In order to minimize firefighters’ exposure to carcinogens, Matros came up with the idea of developing a mobile cleaning system that could be brought to a fire scene or fire station and clean the turnout gear onsite.

Matros says he worked with Peterbilt, which provided engineering and design support for the Mobile Extraction Unit, built on a Peterbilt chassis and two-door cab with a 40-foot body that holds the mobile laundry that can decon all of a firefighter’s PPE. The Mobile Extraction Unit’s body has a 70-pound outer shell PPE gear extractor that’s designed to decontaminate while ensuring a maximum controlled environment and safety of the gear, he points out. The unit also has a 70-pound inner shell PPE gear extractor designed to decon the inner shells without breaking down the materials.

The Mobile Extraction Unit has a 110-pound tumble dryer for inner shells, commercial laundry machines that balance drying temperature, airflow pattern and usable cylinder space for optimal drying results, as well as outer shell drying cabinets that allow controlled ventilation for outer shell items, including helmets and boots, Matros says. In addition, the mobile laundry has a portable ultrasonic cleaning unit designed specifically for PPE, which can process multiple he

How one Mississippi hospital pioneered a cross-departmental triage workflow in their facility by leveraging a mobile-first telehealth communications platform

BOZEMAN, Mont., May 24, 2021 — Pulsara, the leading telehealth and communication platform that connects teams across organizations, announced today that St. Dominic Hospital, located in Jackson, MS, has pioneered an innovative new triage protocol that uses Pulsara’s platform to improve care team communication and patient care. After initially embracing Pulsara for front-end stroke and STEMI care, the hospital recently saw an opportunity to further improve other cross-departmental workflows via the same mobile-first platform.

“We started using Pulsara not only for the stroke alert process but also for triaging patients beyond the emergency room,” said Crystal Scott, BS RT(R)(CT), of St. Dominic Hospital’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. According to Scott, the care teams wanted to find a way to free up beds in the ER and improve turnaround times in the process, a mission that was especially impactful in the midst of COVID-19, when available beds were at a premium. Improved turnaround times freed up ER space for more critical cases and freed up physicians to better support those patients.

“One of the great benefits of this system is not just the improved communication and getting the patients upstairs, but also that you have a nurse handing off to another nurse—an RN to RN handoff,” said Scott. “Also, our ICUs and floors, along with our Patient Access Center, are now using Pulsara so all care teams can be looped into the conversation about everything from where a new or current patient is going to key patient status updates. Using Pulsara in this way means patient information and care is streamlined and coordinated in ways we could not achieve before.”

As new patients come in or are moved to new rooms, this process can quickly become a challenge to manage on the level of assigning and alerting the accepting physician. St. Dominic’s has mitigated this by using Pulsara to communicate to the care teams who the accepting physician is and also directly alerting that physician. “This has been revolutionary for our teams and patients,” said Scott. “It has enabled us to streamline communication for the whole care of the patient. Patients are getting the care they need much faster than before—and care teams are better able to take care of each patient at every step of their recovery.”

“It is always exciting to hear about innovative new use cases like this example from St. Dominic’s, representing measurable improvements that directly impact people’s lives,” said Erich Hannan, Chief Technology Officer at Pulsara. “Improving the lives of patients and caregivers through innovative communication is our purpose at Pulsara. But it’s the talent of leading-edge care teams like St. Dominic that makes all the difference. Pulsara simply helps bring them together. We’re honored and excited to be supporting them and their community.”

ABOUT ST. DOMINIC’S

St. Dominic Health Services is sponsored by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady and is a part of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. St. Dominic’s is more than just a hospital, it is a family of services focused on fulfilling a mission of Christian healing to those in need. St. Dominic Health Services, Inc. is the parent company for a large group of subsidiary organizations and programs dedicated to the same mission. These include St. Dominic Hospital, the Community Health Services Clinic, St. Dominic Medical Associates (physician network), New Directions for Over 55, MEA Clinics, The Club at St. Dominic’s, the School Nurse Program, St. Dominic’s Foundation, St. Catheri

VIDEO: At least one firefighter was hurt in a crash involving a fire engine responding to a call along Girard Avenue in North Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon. Police said firefighters and civilians were injured when Engine 29 crashed about three blocks from its Girard Avenue station. At least one firefighter could be seen getting removed from the rubble.
- PUB DATE: 5/28/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCAU-TV NBC 10 Philadelphia