Quick takes
Mayday audio and FF’s picture: This is FF Joel Rogozinski, the Rockville (MD) VFD member recovering at the MedStar Burn Unit of the Washington Hospital Center. The picture is provided by Rockville VFD. They also have the audio from the mayday during the fire last Thursday when FF Rogozinski was injured. Click here for the audio. Click here for the update on FF Rogozinski’s condition.
Did furlough have an impact on man’s death?: We have a detailed look at a cardiac arrest call in Prince George’s County, MD where the closest medic crew was on its 8-hour furlough. If it had been in-service and in the station (a lot of “ifs”), Medic 846 would have been a little more than a mile from the 71-year-old man’s home. That man died. It took 13 minutes before the arrival of the second-due medic unit. Did the approximately eight additional minutes mean the difference between life and death for a man who recently underwent heart surgery? There are a lot of people with strong opinions on that topic, but it is not likely anyone could say for sure. What is clear is if you believe every second counts in an emergency, getting there in five-minutes is better than getting there in 13-minutes. Read the story.
I know you will find this hard to believe, but there is a brand new issue brewing in Prince George’s County: If a bill offered by County Executive Jack Johnson is made law, the volunteers in Prince George’s County will lose the right to vote for members of the Fire Commission. The commission would also become civilian run with only three volunteer commissioners instead of nine. The career side would also get three members. Read the bill.
Mechanism means consult in Maryland: If you are an EMS provider in Maryland and want a helicopter for mechanism of injury expect to be talking to the trauma center before you get your chopper. That is the immediate reaction to the national debate over medevacs in the wake of Trooper 2’s crash and the other deadly medical helicopter accidents. Dr. Robert Bass, MIEMSS Executive Director has also called for a panel of nationally recognized experts to look at how they do business in Maryland. Read details.
The top doc at Baltimore’s Shock Trauma Center made a passionate case that people need to think carefully before they tinker with what he and others believe is the model pre-hospital trauma care network in the US. During yesterday’s press conference, Dr. Thomas Scalea read from an op-ed piece in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun by former Maryland State Police spokesman Chuck Jackson. You may recall we ran that same column from Chuck last Thursday.
An update on the airport crash truck that did just that: Firegeezer has more pictures and the latest on the fire truck from the Atlanta airport that overturned about two weeks ago. Click here.
Hopelessly deadlocked in San Diego: A mistrial has been declared in the gay pride parade suit by four firefighters after the jury could not agree on a verdict. Read the details.
FF grabs man before he goes off of ladder: In Beverly, MA pictures and an interesting story of the fire department grabbing a guy on the roof of a church. About 100 people watched the drama unfold. Here’s the story.
