East Peoria Fire and EMS crews have a new addition that will help people having medical emergencies at big events get to the hospital faster. The new skid unit will allow first responders to get closer to those emergencies. It connects to the city's Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) and can hold a cot. The cot it carries will transfer directly to the ambulance and will be one less step in the emergency care process. The assistant fire chief told us Monday it could be useful as soon as the Fourth of July fireworks on the riverfront. "To be able to have the ability to bring the cot right to the point where the emergency is and put them on the cot, it's much easier for the patient and much less stressful," said East Peoria Assistant Fire Chief Kim Riggenbach. Riggenbach said the skid unit will also be available in county-wide assistance calls.  

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hosted the training classes for local first responders. They talked all about the dangers of solar panels and electrical vehicle projects. The IBEW president Matt Strupp said in a statement that they're "seeing an increase in solar systems on homes and businesses in Central Illinois and as a result are happy to provide training to help our firefighters navigate the dangers in the case of an emergency." When a residential fire occurs before first responders get on the scene, the power must be shut off. Solar panels bring in the possibility of more electrical currents even if the power is shut off. Matthew Stolspart helped teach the class and said they're seeing more frequent solar fires.  

First responders in Whittier rushed to a fire at the city's fuel dock just before noon on Tuesday. A call to the area's dispatch confirmed that multiple crews were called to the scene, with fire and EMT teams from Whittier, Girdwood and surrounding towns. The Whittier Fire Department and the Coast Guard were also called to respond. The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel was closed to allow easier access for emergency vehicles, but reopened for regular service shortly after the fire was extinguished. While no large cruise ships were docked in Whittier at the time of the fire, the town was full of holiday visitors boarding and disembarking from boats at the Whittier Harbor. Whittier Fire Chief Richard Valentine said the department initially heard about the fire from someone who observed the fire and rushed to nearby fire department personnel.  

VIDEO: Twitter is one of the quickest ways for fire departments and other emergency services to alert you to fires. But changes with Twitter in the last couple of days means those tweets aren't being seen when it really matters. If you tried to use Twitter this weekend, you likely had some trouble. The app is starting to limit how many tweets people can view, which local firefighters say is troubling while we're in the middle of peak fire season. "So for us to be limited in the number of tweets that we send out to the community, it can put us in a really difficult situation," said Spokane's Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer. The Spokane Fire Department has used Twitter as a foundation for its communication with the public for over ten years. Its Twitter account has a direct feed from dispatch, sending out crucial fire updates in real-time.  

A Phoenix firefighter and three others were sent to the hospital following a crash in West Phoenix. It happened on Indian School Road near 70th Avenue just after 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Security camera video from someone living at the apartment complex right where the crash happened shows the moments unfold. In the video, you can see a dark-colored SUV traveling east on Indian School Road when it stops in the far left lane. The two vehicles behind it also stop. Then the video shows a black sedan crash into the back of one of the stopped cars pushing it into oncoming traffic. That's when you can see the Phoenix fire truck hit the car sending it several feet in the opposite direction. The fire engine then crashes into a concrete wall at the apartment complex.  

New equipment for first responders is defining the line between life and death. Nearly a year ago, the Tidewater EMS Council launched the Whole Blood Initiative which allows first responders to carry blood in the field to administer to trauma patients over the age of 15. The tool has been vital for Lt. Bobby Hoag with Chesapeake EMS when he's on the go. "Now that we've transitioned to giving whole blood, there's been a massive emphasis on how much we can do to not just stop the bleeding but now improve their outcome," Hoag said. David Long, the executive director of the Tidewater EMS Council, said the program was an opportunity to improve the trauma care they deliver. "When we started looking at our data, the impacts that we were having were rather limited because the loss of blood is one of those things that really dictate outcomes," Long said.