Two dozen city workers have finally been granted unlimited sick leave as they fight the illnesses linked to their time at Ground Zero — as critics hammer Mayor de Blasio for doling out the much-needed help on a chaotic, piecemeal basis, the Daily News has learned. The added sick leave coverage comes six months after de Blasio approved the special sick leave for DC37, one of the city’s largest unions — vowing the agreement would form the basis for additional pacts with unions whose workers suffer with a 9/11 illness.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: New York Daily News

In a quiet but dramatic change, the Anchorage Fire Department plans to shift staffing next month to adapt to an ever-rising demand for emergency medical responses. Managers recently reached an agreement with the city fire union, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1264, to switch up staffing on fire rigs and ambulances.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Anchorage Daily News

Utah’s emergency communications may be on the brink of collapse, lending urgency to a planned massive system upgrade. But the project is on hold while two industry giants brawl over the taxpayer-funded contract for new two-way radios and equipment. Florida-based Harris Corp. won the contract with a bid of some $50 million — a price that the state says is $30 million below that of the losing bidder, Motorola.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Salt Lake Tribune

Inova Health System, Inova Trauma and Blood Donor Services, and the Northern Virginia EMS Council, in collaboration with the Fairfax County and Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Departments, have launched Field Available Component Transfusion Response (FACTR) to provide blood to entrapped trauma patients on the scene.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Loudoun Now

First, the good news: Fatal drug overdoses in Louisiana appeared to level off in 2018 after years of steady increases fueled by the nationwide opioid epidemic. Now, the bad news. Even though the number of overdoses stabilized, it plateaued at a historically high number. And it would take many years of steep reductions to bring the rate back to where it was before the opioid crisis began.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2019 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Baton Rouge Advocate