On the heels of the state’s worst wildfire season, Washington’s public-lands chief said Wednesday he is asking the Legislature for more money to beef up the state’s firefighting crews. Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark wants more than $24 million next year to add firefighters, equipment and training next year.
- PUB DATE: 10/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Seattle Times

After a firefighter from the South Metro Fire District nearly died from a heart attack on duty, the department decided to change how it goes about keeping its firefighters healthy. "They hooked me up to the heart monitor and and immediately saw that something wasn't right. And then at that time I went into arrest," firefighter Nick Gravina said, speaking openly about his massive heart attack.
- PUB DATE: 10/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KMGH-TV ABC 7 Denver

A recent UK study shows people under the influence of alcohol are causing issues for responders, who don't feel they are prepared to deal with them. "Perhaps the most shocking finding of our survey was how widespread drunken physical, sexual and verbal abuse of emergency services staff is. Again, police and ambulance crews suffer the worst.
- PUB DATE: 10/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Firehouse.com

As recently as the 1960s, a patient being rushed to the hospital with crushing chest pain would be treated en route only with sirens and sympathy. Alarmed by high death rates and encouraged by new technology, a small group of pioneering physicians started equipping ambulances with defibrillators and paramedics who knew how to use them.
- PUB DATE: 10/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Chicago Tribune

The four U.S. Forest Service firefighters who were overtaken by the Twisp River Fire Aug. 19 did all they could but couldn’t have saved themselves under the prevailing conditions. That’s the opinion of Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers, whose office did its own investigation. The incident ended in the deaths of three of the firefighters and serious burns to the fourth, who remains hospitalized.
- PUB DATE: 10/29/2015 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Wenatchee World