WEST CAPE, South Africa - The DA claims private paramedic college owners and working paramedics are furious at the government’s decision to terminate emergency medical services (EMS) short courses, which are responsible for training 99 percent of emergency medical personnel. The decision was to phase out short courses offered by private institution over the next four years, was taken by the ...

LAKELAND, Tenn. - Pet oxygen mask helped save five cats and one dog in a Lakeland house fire. 14 other cats died after the fire broke out Tuesday morning. "The cats, by all outward appearances, appeared to have died," said Firefighter Brent Perkins. The pet oxygen masks were bought a year and a half ago, as part of a grant from ...

HOUSTON - Houston firefighter Lanard Lane, 12-0 (7 KOs), takes on the toughest challenge of his boxing career when he faces "The Silent Assassin" Mike Dallas, 14-0-1 (5 KOs), of Bakersfield, CA, Friday, July 16. The showdown between the two undefeated welterweights at the DeSoto Civic Center in Memphis, Tenn., will be aired live on Showtime. It will be Lane's debut ...

DALLAS -- The challenge for Hayden was to find Dallas fire Capt. Laurel Pitman in a pile of concrete blocks as smoke filled the air and strong winds blew. When his handler let him go, the 2-year-old Labrador-Chesapeake Bay retriever made just one circle around the debris. It took him eight seconds to sniff out Pitman. "Oh, he works so fast," ...

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - Authorities say a retired firefighter in Southern Oregon shot and killed his estranged wife when she came home to pick up some belongings, then turned the gun on himself as deputies arrived. The Josephine County sheriff's office told The Grants Pass Daily Courier newspaper that investigators found 59-year-old Ted T. Richardson and 52-year-old Susan C. Richardson ...

MACON, Ga - Macon-Bibb County firefighter Garin Flanders admits it’s a “spooky, eerie feeling” to dive into what’s often murky darkness and use his hands to search in the water. Flanders started diving about 12 years ago while going on cruises and trips to the coast. After joining the fire department, he saw the firefighter dive team as a way to ...

McLEAN, Va. - Rescue workers have temporarily suspended the search for a mother and daughter who disappeared in the Potomac River Monday afternoon. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue River Rescue and Tactical Services crews will resume the search later Tuesday, once the glare from the midday sun dies down. [widget:news__wtop] Helicopters using infrared technology and searchers in rescue boats combed the ...

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP) ― Four Framingham firefighters have suffered minor injuries after their fire engine crashed and rolled over. The fire truck was returning from a call when the driver hit a pole before rolling over onto an Edgell Road front yard. The firemen were taken to a local hospital for treatment. A fireman who answered the phone at the station, ...

HOUSTON, TX - Overtime pay for police and firefighters cost Houston taxpayers $67 million last year, including 714 employees who each earned $20,000 or more, and four officers who pulled down more than $100,000. A Houston Chronicle analysis shows that most of the money — $50 million — went to the Houston Police Department, long bedeviled by staffing shortages while trying ...

FERNLEY, NV--This Thursday, residents will start seeing yellow ambulances operated by North Lyon County Fire Protection District. The District was awarded the ambulance franchise by the Fernley City Council in September of 2009. While obtaining the licenses and permits, service has been provided via a mutual aid agreement between Central Lyon County Fire Protection District, and fire districts in Storey and ...

HAVERHILL -- Former firefighter Kevin Thompson walked out of a retirement board meeting this week with $3,474.04 in monthly benefits and lifetime health insurance. Thompson, 52, quit his job and filed for retirement benefits rather than answer questions about his secret four-month incarceration in a New Hampshire jail and whether he ever drove a city firetruck without a license. City Solicitor ...

SOMERVILLE, MA - A hysterical woman, trapped by fast-moving fire and heavy smoke in her third-floor Somerville apartment last night, was rescued by jakes who climbed a ladder to her window and rushed her out to a hospital. Somerville Fire Deputy Jack Memory, one of the first firefighters on Glenwood Street for the triple-decker, three-alarm blaze, said he saw the woman ...

MANHATTAN — Gov. David Paterson signed the "Jack Shea Bill" into law on Monday, allowing nurses and emergency medical technicians to test suspected drunk drivers' alcohol levels without the supervision of a doctor. The bill was inspired by the 2002 death of two-time Olympic gold medalist Jack Shea, who at 91 years old died was killed in a drunk driving accident ...

SAN JOSE, CA - More than 50 San Jose firefighters were set to lose their jobs in a matter of hours Thursday night as the city struggled to close an $118 million budget gap. Firefighters were also upset because the city may drastically change the way labor contract disputes are resolved. Mayor Chuck Reed had a polite but tense meeting with ...

SUSSEX, UK - A three-year-old girl from Sussex was rescued by her firefighter father after becoming stuck in a bed headrest. Watch manager Bob Beard was on duty when he was called to his own house in Crowborough after his daughter's head became wedged on Wednesday morning. The toddler was freed by the fire crew who rotated her head to release ...

HAVERHILL, Mass. — Prosecutors have charged a 10-year-old Massachusetts boy with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly starting a fire that killed two relatives, including a 6-year-old boy. A not guilty plea was entered for the boy Monday in Lawrence Juvenile Court. His name was not released because of his age. Prosecutors say the boy used a lighter to start the fire in ...

NEW YORK - After many years of costly litigation, the news broke this week that lawyers for thousands who were injured in the World Trade Center attacks have reached a settlement with the City of New York and others that could provide more than $650 million to those who sustained illnesses or injuries in rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero. ...

ST. LOUIS — Ernest Strong hobbled through the courtroom's swinging gate Friday morning and stopped next to the man who shot him seven times. The two did not look at each other. "This young man has completely turned my life upside down," Strong told the judge who was about to sentence Terrence Hendricks. "I ask that you give him as much ...

HOUSTON - Her small frame consumed by 60 pounds of firefighting gear, 18-year-old Andreina Rodriguez paused to steal a moment on the steps after escaping a burning building. Her expression masked by her helmet, Andreina quietly pumped her fists in the air. She was celebrating guts; that her grit had overpowered fear. Moments later, the sweat-soaked Sterling High teen freed her ...

WAYNE COUNTY, TX - Susan Marie Bates told state police she wanted to get boyfriend Timothy Wood's attention when she wrapped herself in a Dallas Cowboys fleece and set the blanket ablaze. The fire was the third that Ms. Bates is accused of setting Saturday afternoon at the rented home she and Mr. Wood shared in Wayne County's Texas Twp. Mr. ...