Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Wednesday, May 20, that he backs a bill moving its way through the Assembly that would make it a crime for first responders in California to take photos of dead bodies at emergency sites unless for an investigation. Assembly Bill 2655 would make it a misdemeanor for police officers, sheriff’s deputies, firefighters, paramedics and other emergency personnel responding to disasters to take such photos.
- PUB DATE: 5/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Gabriel Valley Tribune

VIDEO: Six homes were destroyed early Thursday morning in a roaring apartment fire in Tomball. The fire started around 4 a.m. at the Cobble Creek Apartments on Lawrence Street near Medical Complex Drive. Tomball police officers helped neighbors evacuate the building as flames tore through the roof, firefighters said.
- PUB DATE: 5/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Courier

The fear is still there, but some first responders have somewhat mastered coping with that fear of COVID-19. “You push it back so that you can maintain your mission,” Parma firefighter and department spokesperson T.J. Martin said. But the fear of unknowingly carrying the virus is hard to ignore. Martin says no one on his team has tested positive, but it would be comforting to know for sure.
- PUB DATE: 5/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WEWS-TV ABC 5 Cleveland

VIDEO: The more than 20,000 paramedics, EMTs and 911 dispatchers in Massachusetts were honored Wednesday as part of National EMS Week as a large convoy of ambulances traveled from Worcester to Boston. The "Convoy of Champions" set off from UMass Memorial Medical Center about 1:15 p.m. and made the 40-mile drive in about an hour, with a state police escort and a UMass Medical Life Flight helicopter.
- PUB DATE: 5/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WBTS-TV NBC 10 Boston

As the world continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of focus has been on the health risks to healthcare workers due to the infectiousness of the virus and the insufficient amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) available. However, another health risk to these providers that is just starting to get attention are the physical and mental health effects from their constant exposure to the trauma of this disaster.
- PUB DATE: 5/21/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: In Public Safety