Lewisville City Manager recently announced Assistant Fire Chief Mark McNeal has been selected as the new Fire Chief for the Lewisville Fire Department. McNeal takes the position after Chief Tim Tittle passed away in January after battling cancer. "I am grateful to Chief Tittle for seeing something in me and giving me the opportunity to develop," McNeal said. "I am humbled to be given this opportunity and look forward to serving the men and women of the Lewisville Fire Department and the people of our community," McNeal went on to say. McNeal has a bachelor's degree in Fire Administration and is a Texas Commission on Fire Protection Master Firefighter. Lewisville was his first department job, but he also worked as a volunteer firefighter in his hometown of Sanger for a few years after hiring on with Lewisville.  

The City of Austin is establishing an isolation facility specifically for city workers and first responders to isolate themselves if they don't want to risk bringing potential COVID-19 contagions into their family homes. The Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said it is setting up a "crew rest facility." This would be in addition to the Crown Plaza Hotel, a site the city has dubbed "Austin-Travis County Isolation Facility One." This hotel has 292 rooms, 204 of which have been specifically categorized for COVID-19 isolation and quarantine. The decision comes as many first responders and hospital workers are making the tough choice to find alternative places to stay to keep their loved ones from becoming sick.  

The city has rejected a Houston firefighter's claim for workers compensation benefits over exposure to the coronavirus, the first such claim filed during the pandemic, the firefighters' union said Friday. Tristar Risk Management, the third-party claims administrator that handles workers' compensation for the city, told the firefighter "there is no evidence that … the risk of contracting COVID-19 is inherent in your specific type of employment or that disease was indigenous to your work or present in an increased degree in that work." Last week, Houston firefighters began wearing more personal protective equipment when responding to 911 calls, to better shield them from the virus. And they now have been instructed to assume that every patient is infected, Fire Chief Sam Peña said. By Thursday, 12 Houston firefighters had tested positive for COVID-19, two of whom have recovered, according to Peña. Another 173 firefighters were in quarantine, which has not yet prevented HFD from staffing its vehicles but is nonetheless straining the department, Peña said.  

The Ocker Brethren congregation is reeling this morning following a fire that badly damaged their church on Thursday night. Volunteer firefighting crews from Troy, Rogers, Westphalia and Rosebud all responded to the blaze just east of Temple on Hwy 53. Temple Fire and Rescue also sent two units and 6 personnel to the scene as well as law enforcement and Temple EMS. The fire was quickly extinguished and most of the damage was to the back wall of the church and the attic. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Bell County Fire Marshal's Office.  

There can be a lot of stressors during a pandemic, so local pastors are stepping up to help counsel those who are on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis every single day. Pastor Jennifer Webber at First United Methodist Church in Bryan says she has been speaking with local first responders and medical staff during this time through virtual counseling. "Those who are getting the phone calls for help everyday, they are telling me they are sad and they are confused during this time," said Webber. Bryan Fire Chief Randy McGregor said it's important that the men and women of the department are both physically and mentally healthy. "Everybody is trying to figure it out and how to deal with it most effectively. So there is a concern on all levels and it is very stressful. It is very fatiguing," said Chief McGregor.  

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, the Spring Fire Department is still bringing in more firefighters and adjusting for the current climate as best they can. The department has 11 new recruits in training, SFD Spokesperson Tracee Evans said, which will make 96 full-time firefighters on their force once orientation is complete April 10. Despite the pandemic, SFD Capt. Larry Wilkinson, who helps lead the orientation, said they have a detailed schedule with more training than classroom learning. "It's all about getting the reps in," Wilkinson said. "We go over all of the basics—getting gear on, deploying hose lines, using ladders, forcing doors, a confined space mazes, and they have three days of rope rescue work."  

As the U.S. continues to combat the coronavirus outbreak, the New England Patriots' airplane is being used to help aid the country in its response to the pandemic. The Patriots' team plane departed early Wednesday morning from Shenzen, China, where the Boeing 767 had picked up 1.2 million N95 face masks to bring them back to the United States, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The plane was expected to land at Boston Logan International Airport on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. "No days off. Thanks to some serious teamwork, Massachusetts is set to receive over 1 million N95 masks for our front-line workers. Huge thanks to the Krafts and several dedicated partners for making this happen," Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker tweeted. A picture of the Patriots' plane with workers moving large cargo can be seen in the governor's tweet.  

VIDEO: Protecting first responders has never been more important. Now a local business has developed a simple safety solution. CBS 2's Steven Graves takes a look at how it works. Like most operations around the country, the one at Crown Point, Indiana Fire and Rescue has shifted. "Our thought process is that everybody is a potential patient with COVID-19. That's just how we have to treat it right now," said assistant fire chief Mark Baumgardner. "Even though we have the proper PPE on, it still puts us at a much higher risk to get contaminated." This week, they started using this isolation box, similar to ones used in emergency rooms, but strapped to a stretcher. "We can not only protect our people, but still provide the advance care we need to give to our patients," Baumgardner said. It's made out of a thin layer of plastic that can be easily sterilized. It goes over the patient's head, can be taken on and off and moves with the stretcher.  

Cardiac patients who flatline will not be taken to area hospitals for further care, according to a new directive handed down as the city battles the rise in coronavirus cases. The new orders from the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City say that "no adult non-traumatic or blunt traumatic cardiac arrest is to be transported to a hospital with manual or mechanical compressions in progress" unless the person's heart restarts at the scene. The council — which sets policies followed by private and government EMS crews in the five boroughs — issued the order to free up emergency room space for the continuing onslaught of COVID-19 cases. "In the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of the NYPD," the directive notes. Traditionally, EMTs responding to cardiac cases rush their patients to the hospital to continue resuscitation efforts even when the patient has died.  

Tucked away in the corner of his office, Dr. Richard Saint Syr has created a little treatment station. On the bottom shelf of his bookcase, hidden behind one of his pictures, is an ultraviolet light the size of his forearm, two N95 masks and some goggles. The light he bought from Amazon a few days back after he was hit with a realization. UV lights are used in hospitals to clean rooms and kill off germs, in HVAC systems to squash mold, in aquariums to fight off bacteria and parasites — why not enlist light in the fight against the coronavirus? As stocks of personal protective gear like the N95 masks that health care workers wear as they treat sick patients dwindle, Saint Syr, a family doctor at Swedish Medical Group's Bainbridge Island Primary Care facility, has taken to practicing the UV technique and preaching it to his colleagues.  

Hospitals are seeing early success giving hydroxychloroquine to patients with COVID-19. Now, Henry Ford Health System wants to see if the drug can prevent the virus. The health system and the city of Detroit are launching the first research trial in the nation in which healthy people are given hydroxychloroquine. It plans to enroll 3,000 first responders and health care workers from southeast Michigan in the eight-week trial. The goal is to see if the drug can prevent or weaken COVID-19, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said. "In Detroit, we don't normally take things lying down. We fight back," Duggan said. "If this study works out, we'll save the lives of first responders around the world." Enrollment is voluntary for any first responders or health care workers in southeast Michigan who don't have COVID-19 or related symptoms.