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Discipline, Demotions Follow Drinking Incident in DeKalb County
There's been an update on the DeKalb County, GA case involving the firefighters who stayed overnight at a fire station during the ice storm after having been out drinking. DeKalb Chief Talks About Firefighters Accused of Drinking: MyFoxATLANTA.com
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Albuquerque Fire Bans FMB Stickers
The Albuquerque Fire Department has taken the dramatic step of banning a controversial new sticker that firefighters began placing on their helmets recently. The stickers have the letters "FMB" inside a maltese cross, and the Mayor, Richard Berry, seems to think the stickers are directed at him. The firefighters counter that the FMB stands for "forever my brother"…….. They happen to be locked in a protracted legal battle with MB over wages cuts. Where are our First Amendment scholars…. any thoughts?
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Pittsburgh Paramedic Fired After Blizzard Death Reinstated
The Pittsburgh paramedic who was fired for refusing to walk through the snow to a patient’s home during a 2010 blizzard, has been reinstated by an arbitrator. Josie Dimon was in charge of Medic 8 on February 7, 2010, when it was dispatched to the home of Curtis Mitchell. Mitchell died in his home after calling 911 numerous times over a 30 hour period. None of the attempts to reach him succeeded. Medic 8 was able to get within several blocks of Mitchell ‘s home, but Dimon refused to walk the rest of the way through the snow and instead…
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Conn OSHA Cites Bridgeport Fire in LODDs
Conn OSHA has fined the Bridgeport Fire Department a total of $5,000 for safety violations occurring at the July 24, 2010 fire that killed Lieutenant Steven Velasquez and Firefighter Michael Baik. Both Lt. Velasquez, 40, and FF Baik, 49, died from smoke inhalation, although Baik’s death was complicated by an underlying heart condition. Conn OSHA is part of the Connecticut Department of Labor. Connecticut has a public-sector only OSH plan, meaning that the state OSHA enforces Federal OSHA regulations against state and local employers, but has no jurisdiction over private sector entities. In citing the Bridgeport Fire Department, Conn OSHA…
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Florida EMS Shooting Hoax
A paramedic in Escambia County, Florida is accused of falsely reporting that he had been shot by someone who tapped him on the shoulder at a staging area, when in fact the wound was self inflicted. Yes, another candidate for youcantmakethisstuffup.net. Paramedic Brandon Richie is charged with filing a false police report. He is suspended without pay. For more on the story.
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SC Fire Official Charged with Sexual Assault
The Fire Coordinator for Greenwood County, South Carolina has been charged with sexual assault and official misconduct for an incident that occurred during the January 11, 2011 ice storm that hit the region. Randolph Grumelot is accused of taking a 26-year-old female who allegedly was medically impaired to a hotel room for sex while he was supposed to be transporting her from Abbeville to Greenwood because of the bad weather. The woman was on medication that rendered her physically helpless, and the sexual assault allegedly took place while she was unconscious. Following the incident, he took her to a hospital…
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The NLRBs Non-Ruling in the Facebook AMR Case
The decision that labor lawyers, social media gurus, Constitutional scholars and fire lawyers have been patiently waiting for has finally been issued… sort of. The controversial case of Dawnmarie Souza, a Connecticut EMT who was fired by AMR in part because of work related information she posted on Facebook, has been settled. The settlement means there will not be a formal decision by the NLRB, and no possibility that the case will be brought to a court for an appeal. So where are we? Perhaps it would be best to look at the case in more detail to understand what…
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Wilkes Barre Arbitration Decision Changes Residency Requirement But Not Staffing
An arbitration decision in Pennsylvania awarded firefighters the right to live outside the community. But the decision is being criticized by the firefighters’ union more for what it failed to do than what it actually did. A three arbitrator panel handling the Wilkes Barre interest arbitration issued its ruling on February 1, 2011, awarding IAFF Local 104 two 3% raises effective January 1, 2011 and January 1, 2012, and granting personnel permission to live within a 13.5 mile radius of fire department headquarters effective January 1, 2012. The decision also eliminated parity pay with police, eliminated a no-layoff provision, imposed…
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Retired Brazilian Fire Chief Charged With Vigilante Murders
The former fire chief of Panara, Brazil has been arrested and charged with murdering at least eight drug users after his son was murdered by robbers. Jorge Luiz Thais Martins is believed to have committed the crimes in retaliation for his son’s death in 2009. The death remains unsolved. Chief Martins left the department in 2009. For more on the story.
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Ethics Charges Settled With EMS Chief
The former chief of EMS for FDNY has been slapped with a hefty fine by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board. Chief John Peruggia, who was demoted in early January following numerous complaints over the city’s response to the December 26, 2010 blizzard, agreed to pay a $12,500 fine to dispose of the matter. The board alleged that an EMS vendor, Masimo, Inc., gave Chief Peruggia free trips and compensation in exchange for presentations the chief made at various locations across the country. At the time, Chief Peruggia was on a committee responsible for recommending whether FDNY should buy a…
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