INCIDENT RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES’ Rhodium Incident Management Suite is was used by the University of Arkansas Police Department (UAPD) to coordinate the successful recall of roughly 100 students, staff, and faculty working and studying in Italy. Italy remains one of the highest risk countries in the world for the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Officials leveraged Rhodium’s cloud-based incident action plan (IAP) to manage the effort. Names, contact information, current residence, and travel arrangements for each person were added to the IAP, which made it possible for the department, the university’s global studies office, and study-abroad programs to quickly update information and travel status as recall efforts progressed. www.irtsoftware.com.
REV GROUP (REVG) incorporated several product options into its High-Risk Infection Control (HRIC) ambulance designs to further protect patients and EMS personnel from exposure risk. Horton, American Emergency Vehicles, Leader, Wheeled Coach, Road Rescue, and McCoy-Miller all offer these features in their HRIC designs. REVG has previously delivered ambulances to the Los Angeles County (CA) Department of Health Services and to the National Institutes of Health, which were configured to meet each agency’s specifications for controlling the spread of infectious disease pathogens. Key design elements that provide enhanced protection include isolation of cab crew area from patient compartment and multistage HEPA filters in the HVAC system. www.REVgroup.com.
PULSARA released a COVID-19 management package—the mHealth Pulsara communication platform—to all EMS and healthcare organizations in the United States for free. There are several ways clinicians can use this package to help their teams manage patients with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). During the pandemic, Pulsara for COVID-19 is free for teams using the platform for ANY combination of the following goals: 1) Mitigate patient surge, 2) limit transfers to clinically appropriate cases, 3) limit exposure to clinicians and other patients, 4) limit repeat clinician exposure and conserve personal protective equipment, and 5) secure outpatient medical isolation (quarantine) communication. www.pulsara.com.
names in the news
JOHN EDWARD DIBACCO was named the new chief of Norfolk (VA) Fire-Rescue (NFR) on March 3. DiBacco is a 40-plus-year fire and emergency medical services veteran who began his career with NFR in 1992. He was most recently NFR’s assistant chief and oversaw paramedic services. DiBacco has held positions in training administration and operations with NFR. He also completed public service leadership programs in Virginia and Maryland and has been a presenter and speaker at professional conferences in West Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, Louisiana, and Georgia. DiBacco is also a writer whose works have been published in fire service trade journals and on Web sites.
MATTHEW TIMERMAN was named the new chief of the Watertown (NY) Fire Department (WFD) on March 2. Timerman replaces former chief Dale C. Herman, who retired on February 28, 2020. He has been with the WFD since 1997 and had been the department’s battalion chief since 2008. Timerman, who has also served as a captain in the department, spent most of his career on the rescue truck. As chief, he will devise department budgets, oversee grant applications, and head up member training.
D. JAMES MILLER was named the new chief of the Hendersonville (NC) Fire Department after serving as interim chief since August 2019. He’s served in dual roles as a firefighter/emergency medical technician and firefighter/paramedic including special assignments as a boat captain and rescue diver. Miller has also served as a Type 2 urban search and rescue team officer, a hazardous materials technician, a special operations toxicological paramedic, and a gold team member of a Division of Forestry Incident Management Team. In administrative roles, he’s been a lieutenant, an administrative captain, a battalion chief, and a division chief.
