A wrong turn on the way home from Taco Bell changed Adam Thiel's life. It was 24 years ago when the then-19-year-old student at American University got lost returning to campus and passed a firehouse advertising free EMT lessons. Thiel, impressed by the emergency responders who rushed his father to the hospital when he was dying of cancer, signed up and never looked back.
- PUB DATE: 5/31/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: philly.com

New Syracuse firefighters will have to reside in the city for the first five years of their career under the terms of a three-year union contract ratified this week by firefighters. That's a first for Syracuse firefighters, who previously were exempt from residency requirements under state law. The state law, which exempts police, fire and sanitation workers, can be superseded by local collective bargaining agreements, said Paul Motondo, president of Local 280 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
- PUB DATE: 5/31/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Syracuse Post-Standard & Syracuse.com

Police throughout the metro area expect this fall to start routinely calling for an ambulance to carry people suffering a mental health crisis to the hospital instead of handcuffing them in the back of a patrol car for the ride. The state has adopted new rules that allow for ambulance services to apply to provide secure transport for people suffering behavioral health problems.
- PUB DATE: 5/31/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: the oregonian

Dallas paramedics are making plenty of house calls, but they’re not making much money for the city. Officials started the Mobile Community Healthcare program last year with the hope that that it could pay for itself using fees from hospitals that want to alleviate the burden on their emergency rooms.
- PUB DATE: 5/31/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: dallas morning news

A man and dog escaped a fire that erupted at noon Saturday and destroyed the home at 435 New St., Germania Hose Company Chief Joe Bender said. Three firefighters sustained minor injuries when a fire engine malfunctioned as the crew was setting up to pump water, and the vehicle’s windshield smashed into a tree after the fire engine began rolling, Bender said.
- PUB DATE: 5/31/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: citizens voice