Posts in category: Americas – Featured News

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has urged Congress to pass a bill that will provide $15 billion to 9-1-1 infrastructure, protect infrastructure from cyber threats and ensure that first responders will be able to efficiently use Next Generation 9-1-1 technology to save lives. 

IAFC Government Relations Manager Ryan Woodward commented: “This bill provides the tools to effectively carry out the modernisation of the nation’s 9-1-1 infrastructure. Of particular importance are the portions of this legislation that address interoperability, cybersecurity, training and consultation with first responders and other end users of the 9-1-1 system.

“Next Generation 9-1-1 has and will continue to place a great deal of information about reported emergencies at the disposal of first responders. This information is crucial in enabling first responders to swiftly respond to emergencies where every second could mean the difference between life and death. However, this information can also be overwhelming or worse time consuming if first responders are not properly trained to handle it. That is why The IAFC is very pleased that the grants provided in this legislation will go to training that will enable first responders to fully take advantage of this innovative technology.”

Emergency Reporting has announced the acquisition of Medusa Medical Technologies. Medusa Medical Technologies provides electronic patient care solutions to emergency response and EMS agencies around the world.

The company operates from its headquarters in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, with an additional office in the United Kingdom. Medusa Medical Technologies’ high-performing EMS software solutions, such as Siren Field User and Siren Web Administration, will complement Emergency Reporting’s ecosystem of solutions built to empower first responders around the world with the tools and data they need to keep themselves and their communities safe.

“The acquisition of Medusa Medical Technologies will allow us to further expand our global reach, and positions Emergency Reporting as a leader in first response software worldwide,” said Emergency Reporting CEO, David Nokes. “Medusa Medical Technologies patient care reporting and the ER Records Management ecosystem will unite in a shared vision for reduced complexity, increased flexibility, and a greater degree of data-driven, organisational intelligence for both fire and EMS customers globally.”


Medusa Medical Technologies has over 18 years of ePCR experience working with ambulance services, as well as mobile healthcare clinicians who need to capture patient care information on the go. The Siren Suite of solutions that Medusa Medical Technologies offers includes rapid data entry capabilities, real-time alerting, robust workflow tools, and powerful analytics that help improve processes and optimise organisational performance.

Products in the Siren ePCR Suite include Siren Field User, Siren Workflow, Siren Data Analytics, Siren Notification Board, and Siren Field Editor. Their suite serves many customer segments, including British Columbia (Canada) EHS, Alberta (Canada) Health Services, East of England (UK), East Midlands (UK), Ireland’s Health Service, Nova Scotia (Canada) Emergency Health Services, MEMS (USA) and Mecklenburg County (USA), to name a few.

“The global effects of COVID-19 have made it even more apparent how vital it is for our global first responder and emergency service agencies to be digital, with the ability to complete their work from anywhere, whether in the field, at the station, or from their homes. I

“I’m looking forward to working with Emergency Reporting to leverage a strategy for all of the Siren products, and to continue to improve the ways data is used to increase safety and collaboration in this field,” stated Glen V. Dexter, Chairman & CEO of Medusa Medical Technologies. “We are also going to be looking at how Emergency Reporting’s operational support modules, such as skills and asset management software, can enhance our customer experience in the near future.”

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) are accepting nominations for their Bringing Safety Home Award, which recognises outstanding efforts by a safety advocate who diligently promotes the importance of home fire sprinklers.

The Bringing Safety Home Award honors members of the fire service and other fire sprinkler advocates in North America who use HFSC educational material, NFPA data, and NFPA Fire Sprinkler Initiative resources to educate decision-makers on home fire sprinklers. These efforts are aimed at educating the public and policy makers to increase the use of home fire sprinklers in new homes. The award winner will receive a $1,000 grant to further fire sprinkler advocacy and educational efforts in their area. The winner will be announced during Home Fire Sprinkler Week May 16–22, 2021.

“There have been many challenges, especially with the pandemic over the last year, yet we’ve seen advocates step up to the plate and continue to educate about the life-saving benefits of home fire sprinklers,” says Lorraine Carli, NFPA’s vice president of Outreach and Advocacy and HFSC president. “New construction did not slow down and we are progressively seeing more jurisdictions embracing this technology thanks to the dedication of fire sprinkler advocates.”

According to NFPA research, the risk of dying in a reported home fire is 85 percent lower if sprinklers are present.

A legislator has filed a series of bills that is aimed at protecting injured first responders and their families. Representative Jared Patterson serves on the House Committee on Business & Industry.

Patterson stated, “As a freshman member serving on the House Committee on Business & Industry, I was deeply impacted by the statements from the first responders who showed up to testify about issues accessing workers’ compensation. My resolve to address these issues was hardened when taxpayer-funded entities fought so hard against protecting the very men and women who protect us back home.

“Our first responders sacrifice their safety, health, and financial well-being every day for the people of Texas. If they experience an injury on the job, whether it’s COVID-19, post-traumatic stress, or a devastating career-ending injury, the least we could do is take proper care of them.”

The bill package, which is expected to receive broad bipartisan support, is below:

HB 541 establishes COVID-19 as a presumptive disease for public safety employees. That is, if a public safety employee – peace officer, fire fighter, detention officer, county jailer, or emergency medical services employee of this state or a political subdivision of this state – contracted the disease, it would be presumed this occurred during the course and scope of their employment for workers’ compensation and other benefits.

HB 1635 would specifically focus on studying workers’ compensation for first responders – both the good and the bad. This legislation would allow for valuable information to be shared with state leaders regarding first responders’ experiences with workers’ compensation and would pinpoint the issues using real numbers. The findings would be reported to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house, and the members of the legislature.

HB 2242 seeks to assist firefighters and police officers who are in danger of losing their jobs due to the time off required to recover from an injury or illness. This legislation seeks to resolve this issue by requiring a county or city to provide a qualifying firefighter or police officer with appropriate time off and full pay.

If necessary, the leave shall continue for at least one year. This legislation also provides options for a county or city to extend to a firefighter or police officer that is still not fully recovered at the end of the one year. Finally, this legislation clarifies options that may be made available to a firefighter or police officer struggling with an injury or illness that is not related to their job and ensures that they will be reinstated to their same rank and seniority they were at prior to taking leave.

HB 2502 relates to Lifetime Income Benefits (LIBs), which is a workers’ compensation benefit a person can qualify for if they sustain a catastrophic injury on the job. HB 2502 would clarify the definition of paralysis so that individuals like former police officer Justin Ellis, who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair but can move one of his toes, are not denied LIBs. This bill also seeks to raise the employee’s average weekly wage for first responders by creating an exception that would increase the percentage of weekly wages.

HB 2598 would amend statute so that the date of diagnosis for post-traumatic stress is the actual date of injury. It would then provide 60 days for the first responder to report the injury to their employer.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a difficult injury to recognize as it is not an outward wound. Many first responders go years before realizing that they are suffering from PTSD and current statute is based on when the individual first knew or should have known they had the disorder, which can be difficult to prove.

HB 2832 would allow for a first responder who qualifies for lifetime income benefits due to a line of duty injury to receive a property tax exemption. Currently, there are property tax exemptions for the surviving spouse of a first responder that has passed away in the line of duty, but there is not an exemption for a first responder that is disabled in the line of duty.

HB 2832 would also provide for the spouse to continue to receive this benefit if they were married to a qualifying disabled first responder at the time of their death. This legislation is enabling legislation, as it accompanies HJR 119, which is the constitutional amendment to make this exemption possible. Voters would need to approve of this amendment in the next constitutional election, which will take place on November 2, 2021, or this bill has no effect.

HB 4385 seeks to address the issue many injured employees face when dealing with workers’ compensation, which is differing medical opinions between their physician and the physician employed by workers’ compensation. Differing medical opinions have caused problems for employees seeking treatment as it often slows down the process. This legislation would eliminate the utilization review process and would allow for employees to be treated for their injuries without involving the interests of workers’ compensation.

Jared Patterson represents House District 106, which encompasses the eastern portion of Denton County. During the 86th Legislative Session, Patterson authored and passed initiatives in policy areas such as transportation, education, property taxes, as well as eliminated unnecessary and burdensome government regulations. Patterson serves on the House Committees on Business & Industry, Calendars, and Homeland Security & Public Safety. He also serves on the Texas Cybersecurity Council. His family resides in Frisco.

Oshkosh Corporation, a leading innovator of mission-critical vehicles and essential equipment have been named one of Barron’s “100 Most Sustainable Companies” and has been included in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2021, both for the fourth consecutive year.

These achievements underscore the Company’s commitment to creating a more sustainable future. Steadfast in sustainable initiatives, Oshkosh Corporation has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption and continues to make investments in technology including the development of battery-powered products.

“At Oshkosh Corporation, our culture is centered on creating a safe and inclusive workplace. We embrace the responsibility to care for our people, our communities and the planet by operating sustainably, empowering people and developing innovative solutions,” said John Pfeifer, Oshkosh Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer. “Being ranked on these prestigious lists reinforces the great work our nearly 15,000 team members do each day.”

The Company’s inclusion in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook highlights Oshkosh Corporation’s sustainability performance placement in the top 15% of its industry category.

“We congratulate Oshkosh Corporation for achieving a place in the Sustainability Yearbook 2021. With over 7,000 companies assessed, an inclusion in the yearbook is a true statement of corporate sustainability excellence,” said Manjit Jus, Global Head of ESG Research, S&P Global.

In addition to being named one of the Top 100 Most Sustainable Companies by Barron’s and listed in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2021, Oshkosh Corporation has also been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere, one of FORTUNE’s World’s Most Admired Companies, one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek and is listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.

Korea’s leading visual recognition AI firm, Alchera Inc. has been formally selected by California’s Sonoma County to provide early warning alerts of pending wildfire events.  Alchera will offer consulting services to develop and deliver products utilising state-of-the-art fire detection technologies based on machine learning with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The firm’s visual anomaly detection solution can detect the start of a wildfire from a simple video.

Notably, Alchera’s solution is the world’s first commercialised Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering for wildfire detection.

In October of 2017, a series of destructive wildfires blazed through Northern California, including the Tubbs fire which burned 36,807 acres from Eastern Napa County to Santa Rosa, in which Sonoma County lost 6,000 structures and 21 lives. Sonoma County opened an RFP to the public primarily in response to this event, as the fire was not detected until it was already too late. In January 2021, Sonoma County officially selected Alchera as the contract winner after reviewing the submitted proposals.

According to Sam Wallis, the Community Alert & Warning Manager of Sonoma County, “Sonoma County continues to invest in wildfire detection technology that will provide advanced smoke detection warning to emergency managers and first responders. As the field of artificial intelligence has advanced in sophistication, we are excited to add such a monitoring system to our alert and warning toolkit.”

The company has been working to develop camera-based fire detection algorithms or visual anomaly detection technologies since 2018. The first such deployment was with Korea’s largest utility, KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corp.) to deploy fire detection systems in both indoor and outdoor environments. From then, Alchera has been processing millions of images—detecting hundreds of early-stage wildfire ignitions from ALERT Wildfire cameras since June of 2019 through various proof of concepts and trials.

“With our cutting-edge AI-based wildfire detection system, we are able to help reduce the damage of forest fires in California, which, as we have seen, suffers greatly from this phenomenon every year,” said Young-Kyoo Hwang, CEO, Alchera. He added, “We are very grateful and honored to see our firm’s technology being recognised worldwide. We are now expanding into global markets in earnest with this export to the US market.”

The firm will start to implement real-time early wildfire detection on Sonoma County cameras from March 2021. The project is intended to run until March of 2023.

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is marking the 45th anniversary since being founded. When it first convened as an organisation on March 15, 1976, representatives from 18 state associations gathered to lay the framework for the association that serves as the voice of the volunteer fire, EMS, and rescue services.

This historic meeting was the culmination of months of groundwork and discussions as to the need for an organisation to represent volunteers in matters of national interest, to Congress and federal agencies, and in working with other national fire service organisations. The result was the birth of the National Volunteer Fire Council. Minutes captured from that first meeting in 1976 aptly noted that “a giant awakened.” The NVFC has been serving the volunteer fire, EMS, and rescue communities ever since.

“We are proud to be the organisation that serves the volunteer fire, EMS, and rescue services as these men and women are the backbone of our communities,” said NVFC chair Steve Hirsch. “While we have significantly grown and expanded since 1976, we remain true to our mission to provide a unified voice for volunteer fire/EMS organisations. These are neighbors helping neighbors, and the NVFC is here to support volunteers in every way we can.”

The NVFC currently consists of 47 state fire associations, approximately 25,000 individual members, and over 50 corporate members. The organisation implements unique and award-winning programs such as the Make Me A Firefighter recruitment and retention campaign, Share the Load behavioral health support program, National Junior Firefighter Program, Fire Corps, Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program, and the Wildland Fire Assessment Program. In addition, the NVFC provides training, resources, and advocacy to help the volunteer emergency services thrive.

The Governor of New York has announced a $29M grant scheme that will aim to help first responders during the pandemic.

In a statement Governer Andrew Cuomo said: “”From the early, dark days of this pandemic, our essential workers have been on the front lines risking their health and safety every day to keep this state running. They took care of us and it is now time for us to take care of them. This grant program will provide critical funding to those individuals and families still struggling from the pandemic and help them get back on their feet as we continue our transition to a new normal.”

As well as first responders, the grant is available for health care, and many multi-industry workers, with up to $1,000 available per household. OCFS Commissioner Sheila J. Poole said: “We at OCFS are proud and honored to assist our first responder and essential worker neighbors by getting relief to those who honorably and tirelessly responded to the COVID-19 crisis. All New Yorkers owe a debt of gratitude to these everyday heroes who bravely served so others could stay safely at home and to the health care workers who courageously saved so many lives.”

Emergency Reporting, the leading provider of Fire & EMS records management software headquartered in Bellingham, WA, has launched a new website for its Rover notification and alerting app at RoverAlert.com.

Rover, acquired by Emergency Reporting in 2020, is a cloud-based notification and response platform that provides critical two-way communication between dispatchers and first responders. When an incident occurs, Rover’s CAD-to-mobile technology instantly relays the call to responders’ mobile devices, shaving seconds off their reply.

Responders can send their availability with a single touch through the Rover app, which automatically retrieves their credentials, location, and travel time. Once responders have confirmed their acceptance, Rover provides everyone who has secure access to the Rover portal (via station dashboard, laptop, in-vehicle tablets, or cell phone) with the precise location of each responder and a countdown to their arrival. The Rover platform also integrates with Emergency Reporting’s records management system (RMS).

The new Rover website features a “Who We Serve” section, which gives an overview of what Rover offers to its customers (currently located across the United States, Canada, and Australia), and breaks down its benefits for specific sectors of the emergency services industry – including the fire service, EMS, search & rescue, and industry/HAZMAT. The “About Us” section details Rover’s history and its integration with the Emergency Reporting system.

“The new website is an excellent resource for those interested in learning more about our Rover alerting software, and also serves as an easy-to-use customer support and sign-in site for our existing Rover customers,” said David Nokes, CEO of Emergency Reporting. “Rover is currently being used by more than 43,000 first responders around the world, and with the launch of this site, we aim to grow our online presence and get Rover into the hands of even more first responders.”

Also included on the website is a blog featuring company and industry-related content and a Case Studies page highlighting existing customers’ experiences with Rover (including a fire department, EMS agency, and an animal rescue team). Those who want an in-depth look at the Rover platform can visit the site’s Demo Webinars page to sign up for an hour-long live webinar demonstration.

To learn more about the Rover notification and alerting app, visit https://roveralert.com or join a free live demo webinar at https://roveralert.com/resources/webinar/.

Los Angeles City Council has passed a motion that will enact fire life safety building practices in the city of Los Angeles. Council members Monica Rodriguez, who led the Public Safety Committee, and Bob Blumenfield a co-sponsor of the motion, announced the initial release of the Motion in June of 2019 and it was most recently approved unanimously by the Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) on December 3, 2019. 

Build with Strength, a coalition of housing advocates, architects, builders, engineers, union organisations, emergency services personnel, faith leaders, and community activists testified in support of the City Council’s efforts. Strengthening local and national building codes and ensuring the use of non-combustible materials, especially in fire prone Los Angeles and all of California, is among the organisation’s top priorities.       

“We fully support the City Council’s efforts to strengthen building practices in our city,” said Ron Miller, Executive Secretary of the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. “We represent the skilled men and women who build LA. We see firsthand how important safety is. This ordinance will have a huge impact on many communities across the city, and I encourage the City Council to act swiftly and give all residents access to safer and more resilient housing.”

Coalition members in Los Angeles include: The Los Angeles Urban League, The Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California, The California Conference of Carpenters and the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

There are already measures in the city of Los Angeles that address increased fire risk in densely populated communities through the City’s Building Code and Fire District 1. This motion instructs the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) to identify areas in the City where the stricter code dictates that builders and construction workers use enhanced fire protections and fire-resistant materials during the building process. This initial motion only covers areas located in Fire District 1, which includes many of Los Angeles’ high density, commercial zones.

Blumenfield and Rodriguez’s motion specifically instructs the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Department of Building and Safety and the city attorney’s office to prepare and present an ordinance to expand Fire District 1. The Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 further detailed what criteria the expansion will include:

• Amend Fire District 1 to include high density, commercial, and multi-family designated areas;
• Present an ordinance to require a Fire Protection Plan, as allowed under Chapter 33 of the Los Angeles Fire Code, for all new and significantly altered projects over 150,000 square feet and/or 100,000 square feet if the building is over 30′ in height;
• And make recommendations to ensure proper enforcement.

“Our city faces severe fire threats year after year. We want our communities to be safer while still allowing for development,” said Walter Contreras, Vice President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NaLEC). “Passage of the motion sponsored by Councilmembers Blumenfield and Rodriguez will allow our city to do that. They’ve shown great leadership on this issue and we are hopeful that the draft ordinance will be in front of the Committee in 30 days and be approved by the full Council quickly. The future of housing in Los Angeles will be much better off with this policy in place.”