The National Volunteer Fire Council has released a Code of Conduct that covers ethical expectations for its members and illustrates how the organization’s values go beyond common morality and serve the public good. The Code can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/2qTkUmw.
EMS data shed light on response to opioid overdose crisis
National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) data for the years 2012-2015 were used to assess trends in patients receiving multiple naloxone administrations (MNAs) for opioid overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) collaborated on this research. The findings were recently published online in the peer-reviewed journal Prehospital Emergency Care.
Among the findings in the NEMSIS data were the following:
- Of the total number of incidents where emergency medical services (EMS) administered naloxone, only 16.7 percent of the 911 calls for those incidents specifically identified the medical emergency as a drug ingestion or poisoning event.
- The percentage of patients receiving MNA increased from 14.5 percent in 2012 to 18.2 percent in 2015.
- Patients ages 20 to 29 had the highest percentage of MNA (21.1 percent).
- Patients in the Northeast and the Midwest had the highest relative MNA.
The study authors say that MNA may be “a barometer of the potency of the opioid involved in the overdose” and that more accurate identification of opioid-related events in the dispatch system may make it possible to more closely match services with patient needs. EMS, often the first healthcare providers to treat opioid overdose patients, can provide data that can help in assessing the severity and scope of the epidemic at the national level and in local communities.
“This research is just one example of the value of EMS data for monitoring public health, conducting real-time surveillance, and analyzing prehospital assessment and care,” explains NHTSA Office of EMS Director Jon Krohmer, MD. “The information collected by providers in the field will help us understand the state of the epidemic and save more lives.” Krohmer adds: “The data, especially the number and location of EMS multiple naloxone administrations, help identify when and where highly potent opioids are introduced into a community and serve as an indicator that first responders in these locations should increase the number of naloxone doses they carry.”
The full report is at http://bit.ly/2qUhP5y.
National 911 Program releases updated standards
The National 911 Program recently released its sixth edition of the Next Generation 911 (NG911) Standards Identification and Review, http://bit.ly/2q9Ozuu.
The Program, which does not include setting standards, collaborates with nearly 40 standards development organizations to catalog and describe a variety of current or upcoming NG911-related standards. The report helps 911 industry stakeholders to understand the available standards, identify any overlap among standards, and identify areas where standards are lacking.
The report includes a “what’s new” section that identifies standards added or updated in 2016 and addresses categories in which additional standard development is needed—including access and origination networks, call signaling, call routing, call logging, and geographic information systems—and other call attribute data. For more information, visit www.911.gov.
Hepatitis C: a serious health threat in the United States
Although hepatitis C may not have garnered as many headlines in recent years as in the past, it is still a viable threat to about 3.5 million Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the hepatitis C virus, which is 10 times more infectious than the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has affected and may be chronic in one in 30 Baby Boomers (born 1945-1965), and most do not know they are infected. Hepatitis C has the potential to severely damage the liver and cause liver cancer. The CDC is urging that this population and individuals who may be at risk for this virus (drug users or health care personnel who may have been accidentally stuck by a syringe, for example) to be tested.
IAFC-TransCanada extend training accord to 2020
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and TransCanada Corporation extended to 2020 their partnership that provides training and education for first responders on energy and pipeline safety. The program was introduced in 2013.
The program features an online pipeline incident training portal and a series of regional town halls across the United States, tabletop training, and guidance in developing fire preplans.
In 2017, five town halls, hosted in locations across the United States, will focus on pipeline response plan collaboration; TransCanada will share its local asset maps and response software capacity. Following each town hall, TransCanada and the IAFC will work with local fire departments to establish preplans and will return to lead a joint tabletop exercise and improve response collaboration.
LINE-OF-DUTY DEATHS
June 1. Lieutenant David Jatczskant, 57, Lake Station (IN) Volunteer Fire Department: cause to be determined.
June 5. Firefighter Kelly Wong, 29, Los Angeles (CA) Fire Department: injuries sustained in a fall from a department aerial ladder while participating in a training exercise on June 3.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
Fire Engineering Archives
