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  • 05.20.12 Paramedic mom of newborn twins battles flesh-eating bacteria – South Carolina

    Lana Kuykendall, a 36-year-old mother to newborn twins, is in critical condition as she fights off a flesh-eating bacteria, just days after a Georgia woman was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis. NBC’s Gabe Gutirrez reports.>>> race to save another woman who’s battling a rare flesh-eating bacteria. the latest case, a new mother from south carolina on the heels of the infection of a young woman in georgia. nbc’s gabe gutierrez has details on this. gabe, good morning.>> reporter: good morning, matt. right now this woman is in critical condition here, but she has stabilized. and friends and relatives are hopeful that she’ll not only be able to survive, but that she’ll keep all of her limbs. lana kiuykendall had expected to spend the week bonding with her newborn twins.>> lana got to hold her babies once.>> reporter: instead the new mother is fighting for her life.>> so you’ve got two babies that don’t have a mom right now.>> reporter: the 36-year-old gave birth at the beginning of last week in an atlanta hospital. a week ago today she was released and drove back home here to greenville, south carolina . friday morning, friends say, she noticed a spot in the back of her left leg. at first, kuykendall, a paramedic, thought it was a blood clot.>> around 11:00 , 11:30 is when she saw it. it was about the size of her palm. her husband said. and then by the time she went to surgery and they thought they knew what it was, it had consumed practically her whole leg.>> reporter: since then, her husband, darren, a firefighter, has stood by her through four surgeries.>> it all happened kind of quickly. she deteriorated quickly after coming to the hospital.>> reporter: this case comes just days after another woman in georgia was also diagnosed with what’s called necrotizing fascitis. aimee copeland got the bacteria after cutting herself in a zip lining incident west of atlanta. so far she’s lost her left leg, and her family fears she could lose her fingers. but her father says she’s improving.>> at this point, seeing her spirits high, knowing that she can communicate with us, and we have some wonderful moments in there with her. and the visiting hours just runs far too short.>> reporter: these infections are rare. between 500 and 1,000 cases each year in the u.s. and they are often lethal. a quarter of those infected die. in south carolina , kuykendall’s friends are thankful she went to the er so quickly. they’re now raising money for her treatment and waiting for her to breathe without a respirator.>> leaning over and talking into her ear and then watching the heart monitor as you talk, you kind of see that heart rate go up a little bit. i truly believe that she hears us and she knows.>> reporter: a paramedic that has dedicated her life to helping others now finds her friends helping her. and right now those friends are helping take care of those two beautiful twins. many of those friends work here at greenville memory. we’re told that little boy and thelittle girl are doing just fine. but right now, matt, it is still a mystery how their mother came down with this flesh-eating bacteria.>> gabe gutierrez, gabe, thank you very much….

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  • 05.20.12 Couple Dies After Cell Calls Don’t Go Through

     911 cellphone calls don’t go through, couple perishPublished: 2:00 AM – 05/12/12ANDES — An elderly Manhattan couple whose car got stuck near their Catskills vacation home died after nine attempts to make a cellphone call for help, and after the woman searched in vain for a neighbor.A car driven by Arthur Morris, 88, slid down an embankment 60 feet from their vacation home May 3 in Andes, Delaware County, according to state police and relatives.Family members said Friday that Morris tried to get out but became wedged between the tilted car and the ground and was asphyxiated.His wife, Madeleine, 89, walked with her cane to an neighbor’s empty house. She died of exposure after a rainy night sheltering under a tarp on the patio. Her family didn’t know if she had also tried walking home.”She walked a quarter mile to the neighbor’s house and there was no one there,” Madeleine’s grandson Jeantet Fields told the New York Daily News.Cell service is spotty in the rural area, and calls they made to 911, Madeleine’s son and a neighbor did not go through.Hunters found the husband’s body the next day, and searchers soon after found the wife’s body on the patio, police said.Fields said the family agreed to share the story of the deaths out of concern for others who might be put at risk by gaps in cellphone coverage….

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  • 05.20.12 Paramedics hurt after vehicle crashes into ambulance – England

    Two paramedics were taken to hospital Friday afternoon (May 18) after the ambulance they were travelling in was struck by another vehicle.Steve Van Valkenburg, the deputy chief of operations for Middlesex-London EMS, said the ambulance was responding to a call with its lights and sirens on and was heading south on Richmond Street south of Huron Street when it was struck by a Mercedes— apparently making a turn from a side street— just before 12:30 p.m.Both vehicles ended up on the east side of the northbound lanes of Richmond Street, with the Mercedes pressed up against the ambulance.The paramedics, both men, were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and no one else was hurt in the crash.The ambulance was not carrying a patient at the time of the crash.Police were not available for comment on whether charges are being considered in the matter.&nb…

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  • 05.20.12 Motorcycle crashes into ambulance on ‘The Dragon’ – Tennessee

    The Tennessee Highway Patrol says at least two wrecks happened around the same time this afternoon on the popular stretch of US-129 known as ‘The Dragon.’US129photos.com photographer David Allison captured one motorcyclist crash into an ambulance en route to treating another motorcycle crash victim.”I thought he was going to go up underneath the ambulance,” says Allison. “But the bike hit the ambulance, he missed the ambulance, and walked away.”THP had no update on the condition of the first accident victim.By the end of April 2011 THP says 20 people died in motorcycle accidents in Tennessee.Numbers for the entire year declined 18% over 2010.But so far this year they seem to be on the rise.By the end April 2011, 20 motorcyclists died on the road. THP says at the end of April 2012 that number rose to 28. …

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  • 05.20.12 FDNY-Multi Million LODD, FF In ICU, 2 Hatters, Summertime (The Secret List)

    Hey,The widow of an FDNY Firefighter killed in the Line of Duty at the Deutsche Bank fire (videos of the fire below) has reached a $10 million settlement with the city and contractor held responsible for safety lapses at the tower.Nearly 5 years after the fire, Bovis Lend Lease has agreed to pay FF Joseph Graffagnino’s widow, Linda, and her two small kids $9 million, while the city has signed off on covering another $1 million. The settlement still must be approved by a Manhattan Supreme Court justice, which is expected at a hearing set for Monday.As you know, on Aug. 18, 2007, Graffagnino and Firefighter Robert Beddia became trapped and lost their lives in the 14th floor stairwell of the former Deutsche Bank tower. The building had been damaged in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists murderous attacks on the adjacent World Trade Center.There were multiple safety gaps by the contractor, Bovis, its subcontractor, John Galt Co., and the city and state agencies — including the fire and buildings departments — tasked with keeping the site safe. A standpipe that would have taken water to the upper floors had been cut, and the FDNY had failed to inspect the building regularly as required.FF Beddia’s family settled two years ago for $6 million. Bovis reached a non-prosecution agreement with the Manhattan district attorney to avoid criminal charges, while the three job site supervisors who were charged with manslaughter were all acquitted.The settlement ends all litigation with Bovis and the city, but the Graffagnino family still has a pending civil suit filed against John Galt Corp., the mob-tied demolition company that was found to have cut numerous corners on safety inside the tower during demolition. Though Bovis avoided criminal charges in the Deutsche Bank fire, last month the company was charged criminally with overbilling for fictional overtime on numerous city projects — including the Deutche Bank job.As part of a plea deal, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch agreed to defer prosecution of those charges if Bovis agreed to pay a $56 million fine.FIRE VIDEO 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-6CWA3mZwEFIRE VIDEO 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3hsNoeQoFQFIRE VIDEO/MEDIA REPORT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvK_gSeZDQREAD MORE HERE:http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/widow-firefighter-joseph-graffagnino-reaches-10m-settlement-5-years-hero-husband-dies-deutsche-bank-fire-article-1.1081291#ixzz1vQvsqUSC RE: FDNY:CONSIDER Your Name On A Petition To Include FDNY Black Sunday Hero,
    Rescue 3 Lt. Joey DiBernardo’s on the FDNY’s “Wall of Heroes” http://tinyurl.com/cuufxxv VIRGINIA FIREFIGHTER IN ICU-APPARATUS CRASH WHILE RESPONDING:A Volunteer Firefighter from Providence Forge (Charles City County, VA) was injured this morning when the truck he was driving overturned.  He was the only person in the apparatus. The accident happened around 0500 on Old Union Road just off of Route 106. Fire Captain Mike Buchanna was air lifted to VCU Medical Center where he’s in the intensive care unit. The firefighters were responding to a structure fire in the 400 block of Old Union Road. More to follow.   NORTH CAROLINA MOURNS:Well-known Fire Instructor Kenneth Scott “ScrapIron” Walters, age 58, of North Wilkesboro, suffered a heart attack and died May 19 at his home.  He was a fire inspector with the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Department; former President of Wilkes County Fire Association, former fire marshal; served as a NC State Certified Fire Instructor; and was with the Broadway Fire Department.  ScrapIron touched the lives of many fire service personnel throughout the state as an instructor and was known for his loud voice and infectious laughter. RIP.  ”TWO HATTER” FIREFIGHTERS ISSUE CREATES A LAWSUIT – LOCAL GOVERNMENT VS FIREFIGHTERS:In areas with career and volunteer Firefighters, the issue of “Two Hatters” is well known. A “Two Hatter” Firefighter generally when a career Firefighter also serves as a volunteer Firefighter elsewhere-when not on duty at their career positions. That’s about as simple as I can explain the issue-but it’s complicated and this time a local Government is filing a lawsuit against their own Firefighters.HERE IS MUCH MORE:http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_20663479/borough-chambersburg-sues-firefighters?source=most_viewedHERE is some RELATED HISTORY from Curt V: http://firelawblog.com/tag/two-hatter/  SUMMERTIME:(VIDEOS BELOW)Amongst several conferences you should plsn on attending, be sure to check out:NY STATE ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS:June 13-16 Tunring Stone Resort-Details HERE: http://www.nysfirechiefs.com/fire_2012_main.phpFIREHOUSE EXPO IN BALTIMORE:July 17-21, Details HERE: http://firehouseexpo.com/FIRE RESCUE INTERNATIONAL /  IAFCAugust 1-4 Denver, CO: http://s36.a2zinc.net/clients/iafc/fri12/Public/MainHall.aspx?ID=2716 THESE “summer is here” VIDEOS may seem foreign or even bizarre to those who have’nt lost hair or don’t who have gray hair-YET-but viewing strongly is encouraged by ALL ages:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p-Qp-S7Gh0  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGpk1w0qRUw (For those who have been ‘down the shore)Take Care-BE CAREFUL. Enjoy Summer.BillyGThe Secret List 5-20-12 / 1437 Hourswww.FireFighterCloseCalls.com…

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