The city of Chicago is launching four new free coronavirus testing sites starting Tuesday in a new pilot program, according to the mayor's office. Two of the testing sites will be community-based while the other two will be focused on first responders, Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office said in a statement. The first community-based site will begin operating Tuesday at Austin Health Center and the second will start operating later in the week at Kennedy King College, officials said. The testing sites for first responders will begin operating on the city's North and Southwest Sides Tuesday but will travel to areas "where they are most needed," Lightfoot's office said. Lightfoot announced the new testing sites one day after revealing that Chicago would enter phase four of its reopening plan alongside the rest of Illinois on Friday, five days earlier than the city had anticipated based on its ability to meet various criteria.  

Two people died Monday after a South Jacksonville house fire. South Jacksonville and Jacksonville firefighters said they learned when they arrived about 9:30 a.m. that two people might still be inside the house in the 600 block of Hall Drive. South Jacksonville Fire Chief Richard Evans said firefighters were able to pull both people from the house, but the two later died at the hospital. "We conducted our primary search and were able to find the two individuals and get them pulled out," Evans said. "We are saddened that they did not make it." Both victims were in their 70s, according to reports. Their names were not released pending notification of family members  

A pregnant woman has been airlifted to a St. Louis hospital after Hamel emergency crews responded to a two-vehicle collision involving a mini-van and a flatbed truck at Illinois Route 140 and Staunton Road Monday afternoon. The initial call came in around 12:30 p.m., according to Hamel Police Sgt. Brent Stewart. Two women and two children were traveling eastbound on Route 140 in a Hyundai Entourage when a man driving an Isuzu flatbed truck, which had been southbound on Staunton Road, attempted to cross 140. At approximately 1 p.m., an Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter landed at nearby Hamel Elementary School to transport the pregnant woman, the front-seat passenger of the mini-van, to Barnes Hospital in St. Louis for precautionary measures.  

One of the mainstays of the Bradley Fire Department, Lt. Tari Roselius, will be retiring from the village force at month's end. Lt. Roselius, hired as one of the six original members of the fire department in June 2003, turned in her resignation as she will be entering a related profession. Roselius will begin as a nurse in AMITA Health St. Mary's Hospital in Kankakee as a medical intensive care unit nurse. She expects to begin her new career on July 15. She was the only woman on the fire force. The village administration plans to fill the soon-to-be-vacant position, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Watson said. After Monday's Bradley Village Board meeting, Watson said he hoped to have the staff position filled in July. The position has a starting salary of about $57,500. Now 40, Roselius said she began her Bradley career at age 2 as a part-time officer.  

VIDEO: Nearly one hundred firefighters from 10 companies and two counties rolled into Specialty Tire in Indiana Monday morning. Indiana Fire Association First Assistant Chief Ron Moreau described the scene: "Lots of heavy black smoke." The picture from Indiana Fire Association shows the issue from the outside. Visibility inside the nearly 100-year-old building was a problem, as was what was once stored there. "You have a facility like this, you have a lot of different chemicals, products, gases that are involved," says Moreau. "When we got here, the transformer was burning, the breakers were blowing — lots of excitement with electric." As the fire burned inside, firefighters on the cement roof were essentially standing on something akin to a giant baking stone.  

With half of US states reporting a rise in new cases, one expert warns of ‘danger signs' in some parts of the US. After weeks of many Americans failing to heed face mask and social distancing guidelines, health officials in some states are reporting an increase in younger populations testing positive — saying those individuals are often asymptomatic but could be infecting others. And public health measures meant to control infection aren't quite up to speed — a problem the country has consistently faced in past months. "As you reopen … you expect to see more cases. But what we're hearing, in terms of the public health model — of testing people, through contact tracing, and then isolation and quarantine — it doesn't sound like it's working as well as it really needs to," says former acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Richard Besser.  

Firefighters face occupational hazards on a daily basis. Now, new research shows they face additional risk just by gearing up. Fabric used for firefighter turnout gear tested positive for the presence of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), according to the study published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, led by Graham Peaslee, professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame. Peaslee embarked on a more extensive study, after initial tests on gear samples showed significantly high levels of fluorine. "When we ran our initial tests, the fluorine content was so high, there was little question as to whether or not we'd find PFAS in a larger sample of gear," said Peaslee. "Our primary concern — as is always the case when it comes to these particular chemicals — became how much of it is coming off the gear and getting into the environment?"  

Chicago Fire showcases the intense and dangerous situations which firefighters deal with every day, and the crew wants it to be as realistic as possible. They use some fantastic special effects and pyrotechnics, which as amazing as they look, still isn't real enough. In addition, this drama goes above and beyond by using real life firefighters in the show. NBC‘s Chicago Fire follows the lives and work of the windy city's most dedicated heroes- Firefighters. The show uses dramatic reenactments, heartfelt relationships, and awesome special effects to tell the story of Chicago's firefighters and paramedics, who risk their lives every day in the line of duty. The show focuses on Firehouse 51 and its crew, who treat each other more like family than co-workers. Chicago Fire has been on the air for eight seasons, with season nine expected to premiere this fall. The main cast of Chicago Fire are actors, but they still had to go through plenty of professional firefighter training.  

There has been quite a bit of discussion about how telehealth could be utilized during a public health emergency or more commonly during medical care. But only 1% of rural communities in the U.S. routinely use telemedicine and it is rarely utilized outside of emergency situations, such as natural disasters. Now, many physicians, nurses, ERs and EMS are utilizing telemedicine to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to conserve resources. In this article we'll examine some of the ways telehealth has been utilized during this pandemic and how it could be used going forward. Pre-COVID-19, there had been interest in telemedicine triage, which would decrease non-emergent ambulance transports. Often, transportation is a barrier to receiving healthcare, which means EMS become that transportation even when the medical problem itself is non-urgent.