This Week in EMS: A Recap for Feb. 9 - 15, 2008
It's been a violent week with four school shootings across the country, including one in a Louisiana EMT class.
It's been a violent week with four school shootings across the country, including one in a Louisiana EMT class.
In the largest scale shooting, a former student at Northern Illinois University opened fire on a science class Thursday, killing five students and wounding 16 before committing suicide. Four people died at the scene, including the gunman, while two others died at a hospital. At least two of the wounded were reported in critical condition as of Thursday night.
The EMT class shooting occurred Friday, Feb. 8, when a woman shot two fellow students to death and then committed suicide at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge.
In the other shootings, a Memphis, Tenn. teen is accused of critically injuring a student Monday during a high school gym class, and an Oxnard, Calif. teen has been declared brain dead after a shooting at a junior high school.
Read more at:
- 6 Dead in Northern Illinois U. Hall Shooting
- Louisiana EMT Student Kills 2 Classmates, Commits Suicide
Two major ambulance crashes were in the news this week.
One person died and three were injured Thursday in an accident involving an Iowa ambulance. The accident in Bondurant involved an ambulance from Baxter with three people on board.
A witness said he watched as a vehicle rolled into the path of the ambulance. "The ambulance never had a chance to hit the brakes," he said. The conditions of the victims were not immediately reported.
On Tuesday, two Texas EMTs were transported to a hospital after their ambulance was struck from behind by an 18-wheeler.
Texas Department of Public Safety trooper Barry Evans said the two Champion ambulance attendants were treated for back and neck injuries but were released from a local hospital.
Read more on these incidents at:
Responding to criticism of slow EMS response times, the mayor of Philadelphia, Pa. has announced a $3.8 million funding increase for EMS overtime and hiring.
Plans are to hire 40 new EMS personnel, to increase overtime for existing staff, and to purchase supplies and equipment, including two new EMS vehicles, all with the goal of reducing response times.
A similar announcement was made in D.C., where upon city council approval, D.C. EMS will receive $3.7 million in extra funding to enhance services. The plans are based on recommendations of a task force created as part of a settlement with the family of slain reporter David Rosenbaum, who received an inadequate EMS response.
For more on these visit:
EMSResponder.com Podcasts:
Following this January's two EMS responder line of duty deaths at motor vehicle accident scenes, we asked for safe staging advice from two experts: EMS Magazine contributors Rick Patrick and Dave Long. Click above to hear their top tips for safe staging and safe road operations.
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