news in brief

EMS CPR: compressions with pauses “bit better”

Researchers have reported that when emergency medical services (EMS) providers combine chest compressions with interruptions for ventilation when administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in patients following sudden cardiac arrest, patients had longer survival times and shorter hospital stays than CPR that uses continuous chest compressions. The study, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine in November, also noted that compressions with pauses for ventilation lead to more hospital-free days within 30 days of the cardiac arrest, but both methods had a similar overall survival to hospital discharge. The study, funded in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, was presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) 2015 Scientific Sessions in Orlando.

The compressions-with-interruptions protocol consisted of 30 compressions followed by pauses for two ventilations using a bag and mask (the standard CPR for EMS). The continuous-chest-compression method consisted of 100 compressions per minute with simultaneous ventilations at 10 per minute. In both groups, EMS providers used a bag and mask to ventilate.

Both methods are approved in the current CPR guidelines. According to principal study author Graham Nichol, M.D., director of the University of Washington-Harborview Center for Prehospital Emergency Care in Seattle, the research shows that “both types of CPR achieve good outcomes but that compressions with pauses for ventilations appears to be a bit better.”

The researchers believe that the benefits of compressions with pauses for ventilation result from improved blood flow and oxygenation. They are continuing to analyze the data to gain additional insight into the study results. The complete release is at http://1.usa.gov/1Oc6xjt Additional information is at http://bit.ly/1PwtlO5.

Minnesota Court of Appeals overturns sprinkler requirement

The Minnesota Court of Appeals, in October, overturned a Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DOL) requirement for fire sprinklers in homes greater than 4,500 square feet. The court said the 4,500-square-foot provision was an “arbitrary figure while the energy code was upheld because it applies across the board.”

The National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA) at press time was exploring options to support an appeal by the appropriate parties. The NFSA explains that it, of course, prefers that the International Residential Code requirement for fire sprinklers in all new homes be adopted throughout the state of Minnesota. However, it supported the DOL compromise because of the aggressive opposition from the building industry and hoped that the requirement would be passed and eventually be expanded to include all homes.

“All building and construction industries should be working together for improved quality of life with affordable safety requirements,” urges Larry Thau, NFSA board chairman. “We are missing too many opportunities by not working together, and we need to change that.”

Fallen firefighters honored at National Memorial Weekend

Eighty-seven fallen firefighters were memorialized at the 34th National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, on Memorial Weekend October 2-4. The honorees included 84 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2014 and three firefighters who died in previous years.

On Saturday, a Candlelight Service was held. On Sunday, survivors of each fallen firefighter received a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol, and a bronze plaque with the names of the 87 fallen firefighters was added to the National Memorial.

President Obama was among the attendees. In his remarks, he noted the “extraordinary courage” of the fallen firefighters and of all firefighters. He thanked them for their service and for the extraordinary courage they display every day. Other attendees included National Volunteer Fire Council representatives: Chairman Kevin D. Quinn, Chief Executive Officer Heather Schafer, and Board Members Philip C. Stittleburg (WI) and Bob Kilpeck (VT). Melvin Martin (TN) also attended on behalf of his department, which recently experienced a line-of-duty death.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of these 87 firefighters and all of those who have died in the line of duty,” said Quinn. “We will always remember and honor our brothers and sisters who gave their lives while in service to their community. Our hearts go out to the families and departments of those we lost. Every line-of-duty death is strongly felt across the entire fire service, and we will not rest until we reach a day when all of our heroes come home.” Additional coverage of Memorial Weekend is at http://www.firehero.org/.

REMM redesigns Web site

The Radiation Emergency Medical Management Team (REMM) has recently completed a major redesign of its Web site http://www.remm.nlm.gov and has implemented a new e-mail update notification system by GovDelivery.

Content has been updated for the following areas: emergency incidents; guidance documents; Food and Drug Administration approval of filgrastim for the indication of radiation-induced myelosuppression; selection of radiation detection systems, training and education, recovery and resilience; “other audience” pages for legal advisors, first responders, public information officers, and others; the biodosimetry library; dose; data collection; monitoring of drinking water and milk; use of blood products; stem cell transplant; and REMM consultants.

The URLs are the same; therefore, subscribers’ bookmarks will still apply. Users who have previously visited the site may need to refresh (reload) the Web page for the newly designed pages to be visible; otherwise, the old pages cached in the browser will be displayed.

Report on fire resistance of exposed wood available

The American Wood Council (AWC) has revised its Technical Report 10 (TR10): Calculating the Fire Resistance of Exposed Wood Members. Among the revisions are new sections that support the use of the mechanics-based design method for exposed structural composite lumber (SCL) and cross-laminated timber (CLT) members in accordance with the 2015 National Design Specification® for Wood Construction, according to the AWC.

“The superior fire performance of timbers can be attributed to the insulating effect of the char layer created as wood burns,” says AWC Vice President of Engineering Brad Douglas. “Wood members, including SCL and CLT, can be designed so that a sufficient cross section of uncharred wood remains to resist loads for the required duration of fire exposure. Recent testing, as outlined in the revised TR10, has verified this approach.” The free report can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/1H4V063.

NIST: “Actions can change outcomes”

“Wildland urban interface (WUI) fires are very different from earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornados, where the hazard cannot be controlled,” says National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) fire researcher and principal investigator Alexander Maranghides. Referring to NIST’s study of Colorado’s 2012 Waldo Canyon wildfire, Maranghides explains: “Our study showed that WUI fires also are distinct from either urban or wildland fires alone. We provide strong evidence that defensive measures designed specifically for the WUI and administered early can significantly reduce destruction and damage.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the federal Joint Fire Science Program worked in conjunction with NIST on this study, which NIST says is the most comprehensive examination in history of a WUI fire. The two-year study focused on the Mountain Shadows community in Colorado Springs, where all of the homes destroyed in the Waldo Canyon fire were located.

Along with the most detailed timeline for a WUI fire ever created, the Waldo Canyon investigation yielded 37 technical findings that served as the basis for 13 technical recommendations aimed at improving community resilience to wildfires.

The Waldo Canyon WUI fire started on June 23, 2012, just southwest of Colorado Springs, Colorado. By the time the fire was declared contained on July 10, 2012, two people had died, 344 homes were destroyed and more than 100 were damaged, and 18,247 acres were burned; the estimated cost in insured losses was $454 million.

Among the technical recommendations for fire departments is that there should be a nationally accepted system for preplanning a response to WUI events. NIST is developing an in-the-field, two-tiered system for collecting data after WUI fires (http://1.usa.gov/1WWi2D6) and a WUI Hazard Scale (http://1.usa.gov/1lrFnf2) for predicting and mapping the ranges of exposure risks to fire and embers from a WUI event throughout a community.

NIST’s complete release is at http://1.usa.gov/1SiphP6.

LINE-OF-DUTY DEATH

October 25. Firefighter Larry O’Neil, 58, Lone Camp Fire Department, Palo Pinto, TX: suspected cardiac event.

Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database

 

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