First Responders

FEMA created a map using its data and risk assessments that shows the counties across the U.S. currently considered the most and the least at risk of potential wildfires, from very low to very high.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also called on the federal Small Business Administration to work with state and local partners on preliminary damage assessments of the wildfire that has burned more than a million acres.

Making Mobile Data Terminals in police cars more useful by allowing them to be used for drivers’ license scanning, photos and data collection for evidentiary purposes is within the scope of what agencies should be doing.

The company sells subscription-based offerings to law enforcement but, like Axon, wants to build sales in other industries such as health care and retail. With its Series A funding round closed, AI and hiring are also on Halo’s to-do list.

Clark County EMA received $2,750 to purchase a rescue boat that will be used for water-related rescues. It will kept at Tri-Township Fire & Rescue but will be used throughout the county when there is a water emergency.

Several Midwest public safety agencies this week either tested their emergency warning sirens as planned or sounded a siren as a warning of what to expect from now on; one accidentally sounded a real alarm.

The county had to declare a temporary local emergency for 911 communications, due to the loss of the primary tower, until a new tower is installed at the primary site. Communications was re-established on temporary sites.

The 15 deaths in the first two months of the year are by far the most in this time period since 2015 and almost five times the nine-year average of 3.2 deaths, according to data obtained by CT Insider.

The pop-up warming shelters were said to have achieved the goal of shuttling people inside during January’s five-day, four-night arctic freeze, but some have concerns about security at the shelters.

It’s unclear so far whether Positive Train Control, a technology that is deployed on railroad tracks to prevent such accidents, was in play during the March 2 incident and whether it would have stopped the derailment.

The closing of the Series C round, with $75 million from BlackRock, could drive further integration of AI into RapidSOS’ products. The company is now one of the “highest-funded businesses” in public safety, an industry observer said.

Officials at Eau Claire County, Wis., have debuted a new dashboard that displays “up to the minute information” on weather, fires and related events. Issues identified in an update of the county Hazard Mitigation Plan also will be incorporated.

Early CPR — an emergency lifesaving procedure performed when the heart stops beating — and rapid defibrillation from an AED are proven methods in improving a person's chance of surviving sudden cardiac arrest.

Violence on the Brockton, Mass., High School campus has gotten to the point where teachers are afraid, and four school committee members asked the governor to call in the National Guard to restore order.

Everyone should have a disaster recovery plan and should avoid signing any documents within the first 72 hours. Anyone whose property has been impacted by disaster should call their insurance company.

The county first responders took a tour of the Texas State Technical College’s Immersive Interactive lab and its ambulance simulator. The county recently purchased its own immersive interactive lab.

The new $74 million upgrade is scheduled to go live in October and will improve radio coverage by expanding capacity from 3,000 radios to 5,000 and moving the system into the 700- to 800-megahertz frequency range.

Processing times for DNA samples can take up to a year at a state lab, but a rapid DNA machine could have results in 90 minutes to two hours, the Bellingham police chief told city council members Monday.