Chicago's beleaguered first responders will soon be getting some help, as nearly 36 new paramedics will be hitting the streets in the next couple of days after their training was accelerated. That, as Mayor Lightfoot announces the city will be taking over a downtown hotel to provide a home away from home for first responders. A no-frills swearing-in ceremony, with social distancing, of course, occurred for 34 new city of Chicago paramedics who were rushed through the Fire Academy to help battle coronavirus. "Your city needs you more than ever," said Mayor Lightfoot. "And as proof of that, you need look no further than the fact you're graduating ahead of schedule." The state-certified paramedics crammed 10 weeks of training into four weeks and will be reporting to firehouses across the city within the next four days.  

As police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs continue to work on the front lines of the city's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, a downtown hotel is making its 274 rooms available to first responders worried about possibly taking the virus home to their families. Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city is paying for the rooms at the Hotel Essex, at 800 S. Michigan Av., to give first responders a safe place to stay during the coronavirus outbreak. "It's often said that our first responders run towards danger, and that reality has never been more true in these unprecedented times. We need to continue to rally as a city to support all of our first responders, because we need them now more than ever," Lightfoot said.  

A man who honored first responders by placing American flags on funeral routes has died. Larry Eckhardt, also known as 'the Flagman' died Tuesday at the age of 63, according to a post on his caretaker's Facebook page. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 before suffering from vocal cord paralysis. In 2006, Eckhardt, of Little York, Illinois, started placing flags along funeral routes to honor first responders. He received the same honor when he traveled back to Little York after spending a month in Iowa City for hospice care.  

A fire early Wednesday morning has displaced the residents of a home in northwest Champaign. Fire Department spokesman Randy Smith says crews were called to a single-story duplex at 1618 West Union Street just before 1 a.m. Wednesday. Smith says firefighters saw smoke coming from one unit of the duplex when they arrived on scene. He says they quickly put out the flames that had only started to extend beyond a bedroom. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. A dollar damage estimate was not available. The occupants of the duplex were not home at the time of the blaze.  

VIDEO: N95 masks are ideally single-use, which contributes to the shortage felt by first responders amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That's why one southern Colorado fire department sought out a way to extend the life of each mask. South Fork Fire Rescue in the San Luis Valley says it's developed a way to safely reuse a mask up to 10 times. "This UVC Chamber allows the use of an N95 to be extended to 10 times vs a single-use," said Captain Tyler Schmidt with SFFR in a Facebook post. "It doesn't cure the current shortage being experienced during the COVID-19 Pandemic, but it will help us stretch our masks a little longer until the factories can keep up with demand." Schmidt posted a video explaining how to build the UV light chamber and the department's calculations.  

A partnership between FEMA and New York City is aiming to bring aid to an overburdened FDNY EMS system that has received an "unprecedented" influx of calls due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Mayor Bill de Blasio, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell and FEMA Region II Administrator Tom Van Essen announced the partnership, which will bring more than 250 ambulances and approximately 500 more EMTs to the city. "When I heard that this was actually a real thing, that people would come from around the country and help us out with ambulances, I almost didn't believe it — but, seeing is believing" said Nigro. "All I can say is thank you so much for the people of the city of New York," said Nigro, at Fort Totten in Queens — where EMTs from across the U.S. were gathered on Tuesday.  

The police and fire departments have gone full Star Wars on battling the coronavirus. Cops and firefighters are using electrostatic guns to disinfect cruisers, cells, fire apparatus and equipment. "It looks like something out of Star Wars," Police Chief Brian Clark said Tuesday, adding that the gun quickly and evenly coats a surface with a chlorine solution. The applicator gives a negative charge to the disinfecting solution as it exits the nozzle. It allows the sanitizer to wrap around and evenly coat all types of surfaces for a better cleaning job, Clark said. In addition, the surfaces that are already covered repel the spray, making the method extremely efficient. "It cleans more. It's more efficient and you don't have to touch the surface," Clark said.  

As lawmakers prepare a fourth round of stimulus relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a Michigan lawmaker plans to introduce a bill this week calling for a federal income tax holiday for doctors, nurses and first responders. Rep. Bill Huizenga, a Zeeland Republican, said the proposed tax holiday for three months is modeled after how the federal government excludes income taxes from members of the military serving on the front lines in combat zones. It's targeted at first responders like police, firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians. The holiday also would cover hospital staffers such as nurses, doctors, physicians assistants and nurse practitioners who work in a county with at least one case of COVID-19 or are providing direct services to COVID patients in a hospital. "If we're viewing this as sort of a war-like footing, then let's try to treat it that way," Huizenga said.  

VIDEO: A group of first responders in Palmdale expressed their appreciation to those on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic Monday night. The salute to doctors, nurses and medical staff at Palmdale Regional Medical Center took place around 7:30 p.m., coinciding with the setting sun, according to a post on the Palmdale sheriff's staton's Facebook page. Sheriff's deputies, as well as personnel from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and California Highway Patrol, took part in the salute. They parked their patrol cars and fire engines outside the hospital, located at 38600 Medical Center Drive, then turned their emergency lights on. Numerous first responder vehicles were lined up at the curb outside the facility, and many had their sirens turned on, video of the demonstration showed. The bright, flashing lights, as well as the many sirens blaring, caught the attention of the emergency room staff.