Memphis EMTs Fired Amid Controversy After Tyre Nichols’ Death
News outlets report on the ongoing impact of Nichols' death following a traffic stop, including the firing of two EMTs and a lieutenant from the Memphis Fire Department. The rise of Valley fever, slow ambulance response times in Boston, and more are also in the news.
The Hill:
Memphis Fire Department Terminates Three Officials Who Responded To Tyre Nichols Arrest
The Memphis Fire Department on Monday announced that it has terminated two emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and a lieutenant it determined violated “numerous” policies and protocols when they responded to the scene where Tyre Nichols had been handcuffed on the ground leaning against a police vehicle. (Oshin, 1/30)
The Wall Street Journal:
EMTs Fired, Two More Police Officers Relieved From Duty After Death Of Tyre Nichols
The three EMTs were let go after an internal investigation into their actions at the scene of Mr. Nichols’s Jan. 7 encounter with police following a traffic stop, the Memphis Fire Department said in a statement. The review showed they “failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,” the department said. (Bhattacharya and De Avila, 1/30)
The Hill:
Scott Says Democrats Are To Blame For The Failure Of Police Reform Legislation
Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the lead Senate Republican negotiator on police reform, on Monday signaled he’s willing to have another go at the tough issue in the wake of Tyre Nichols’s death at the hands of Memphis police, while criticizing Democrats for blocking his reform bill in 2020 for not going far enough. ... Scott's Just and Unifying Solutions To Invigorate Communities Everywhere Act (JUSTICE) Act would have ended the use of police chokeholds and created a “duty” for officers to intervene when they see a colleague use excessive force against a suspect. (Bolton, 1/30)
On Valley fever —
The Mercury News:
As California’s Climate Heats Up, Valley Fever Spikes
On a windy summer day a decade and a half ago, insidious fungal spores, each a tiny fraction of the width of a human hair, wafted through a Modesto orchard and into Jaime Gonzalez’s lungs. Several weeks later, Gonzalez grew weak and feverish. The spores had infected him with Valley fever, a little-known and often-misunderstood disease that causes him fatigue, chronic pain and skin ulcers to this day. Sometimes, he said, his legs fail him. (Cummings, 1/30)
NBC News:
Valley Fever, Historically Found Only In The Southwest, Is Spreading. It Can Have Devastating Consequences
The fungus is endemic to the hot, dry soils of the Southwest; 97% of all U.S. cases of Valley fever are reported in Arizona and California, according to the California Department of Public Health. But that could change: Fungal infections, including Valley fever, are increasingly being diagnosed outside of their usual ranges. One study in the journal GeoHealth projected that, due to climate change, the range of Valley fever could spread east, through the Great Plains and north, to the Canadian border, before the end of the century. (Bauer and Schwartz, 1/30)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
The Boston Globe:
In Boston, Ambulance Response Times Slow As Crews Get Stuck In Hospital Gridlock, Short Staffing
Median ambulance response times in Boston for life-threatening emergencies — think cardiac arrest, arterial bleeds, an unconscious person — have grown significantly this past year, rising from just over 7 minutes in January 2022, to 7.7 minutes in December, Boston EMS records show. Those city-wide numbers mask even more troubling signs in some neighborhoods: Response times in Hyde Park hit nearly 11 minutes for the most urgent calls in December, while West Roxbury was at 9.5 minutes. (Lazar, 1/30)
St. Louis Public Radio:
Rural Missouri School Districts Will Scan Servers For Threats
Dozens of rural school districts across Missouri will use specialized software to scan their servers and Wifi internet traffic looking for signs of students who may hurt themselves or others. The Department of Justice is giving $2 million dollars to the districts to purchase software and train staff to use it. (Ahl, 1/31)
Detroit Free Press:
U-M Health Public Websites Hit By Pro-Russian Cyberattack
University of Michigan Health experienced problems with its public websites Monday as a result of a cyberattack on a vendor, according to a statement from the hospital system. The problems are among other reports of similar cyberattacks at hospital systems around the United States and in other countries that have agreed to provide tanks to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia nearly a year ago. (Hall, 1/30)
KHN:
California Author Uses Dark Humor — And A Bear — To Highlight Flawed Health System
Mother-to-be Kathleen Founds made a routine doctor’s appointment to discuss the risks of antidepressants in pregnancy. After the visit, Founds, who relies on medication to quell the manic highs and despondent lows of bipolar disorder, learned the physician was out of network. She received a surprise bill for $650, launching her into a maze of claim forms and hours on the phone being routed from one office to the next to dispute the charges — insurance red tape that so many Americans have encountered. A decade later, Founds captured her experience in a graphic novel, “Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Health Insurance,” a richly illustrated, darkly funny fable for adults about the country’s dysfunctional health system. (Scheier, 1/31)
