A fire apparatus with a heart-lung bypass machine in it will soon be in service with the Edina (MN) Fire Department, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota, according to a report published by the Sun Current.

The unique truck will specialize in treating cardiac arrests and will be equipped with an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, or ECMO, to create a heart-lung bypass providing time to find the root cause of the arrest, according to the report. Earlier this month the Edina City Council agreed to the university/fire department partnership, the paper reported. The program received funding through the Minnesota Mobile Resuscitation Consortium, the paper reported.

The truck will have an ECMO machine, a c-arm fluoroscopy imaging scanner and cameras broadcasting several angles of the patient to a large television screen and technology to allow a cardiologist to be on call through virtual reality, the paper reported.

Two Edina firefighter-paramedics will staff the truck, which will be houses at a fire station, with two or three experts as well, the paper reported, adding that the firefighters will be trained on the truck and the ECMO equipment over the next few months with the goal of having it in service by the end of the year.

McCord’s Crossroads (AL) Volunteer Fire Department used grant money to buy a second-hand fire truck and build an addition on to its fire station, according to a report published by The Gadsden Times.

The newspaper reported the department got a loan and a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, $26,600 in the form of a grant and $43,900 as a loan to be repaid within 10 years.

The new addition to the fleet is a low-mileage HME engine sold by a dealer in Dallas (GA), according to the newspaper, that also reported the new truck as more storage and plenty of space for extrication tools for crashes which the department responds to often.

The addition to the fire station includes a large, commercial kitchen, and administrative office, and living quarters for the members of the night-duty crew which volunteers sign up to do making night coverage possible for about 50 percent of each month, according to the newspaper.

The station also has a training area that is often used by families and organizations for special events, the newspaper reported.  

A fire truck hit a bald eagle in Liberty Township (OH) injuring the bird, according to a report published by WCMH NBC 4.

According to the television station, a truck from Basil Joint Fire District hit the eagle at about 7:30 am on Wednesday, but continued to its destination and made notification of the strike.

The Ohio Wildlife Center and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources were called to assist the injured bird, according to the television station. The eagle was caught and taken to the Ohio Wildlife Center for treatment, according to the report.

Sutphen—Flint Township (MI) Fire Department pumper. Monarch cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Hale Qflo 1,250-gpm pump; UPF Poly 750-gallon water tank; Smart Power 6-kW generator. Dealer: David R. Desrochers, Apollo Fire Equipment Company, Romeo, MI.

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