‘What Took You So Long?’: San Francisco Has ‘Scary’ Shortage Of 911 Dispatchers, First Responders
Chronic understaffing has led to employee burnout and lower-quality services for residents because the city is failing to meet standards for 911 call response times, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Other news is from Missouri, Massachusetts, Texas, Connecticut, and Colorado.
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F.’s 911 Dispatch Struggling Amid Staff Shortage: ‘We Are Bleeding’
The 911 call came in the day before Thanksgiving. A person had been found in a bathroom, unconscious — maybe dead. It looked like a drug overdose, and 911 dispatcher Valerie Tucker was trying to figure out how to save the person’s life, if it wasn’t too late. (Moench, 12/9)
St. Louis Public Radio:
New Law Expands VA Benefits For Toxic Exposure
Many St. Louis area veterans may qualify for toxic exposure-related health care and benefits under the PACT Act. The new law, which Congress passed this summer, expands benefits and health care for veterans who have been exposed to hazardous toxins like radiation, smoke, toxic air, Agent Orange and burn pits. (Lewis-Thompson, 12/12)
The Boston Globe:
Lawmakers, Citing New Momentum, Plan To Reintroduce Right-To-Die Bill In January
Will Massachusetts become a right-to-die state in 2023?Though polls show a growing majority of residents favor it, legislation that would give the terminally ill the option to obtain lethal drugs has never been brought to a vote in the full state House or Senate. (Weisman, 12/11)
The Texas Tribune:
Texas Abortion Law Likely Won’t End Up At The Ballot Box
Despite the state’s near-total ban on abortion, just 12% of Texans think abortion should be illegal in all cases, according to an August poll from The Texas Politics Project. One Texas Democrat hopes to give voters more of a say in abortion policy. (Williams, 12/12)
Connecticut Public:
Violence Intervention Specialists Hired At Hartford Hospitals Hope To Break Cycles Of Violence
Three Hartford-area hospitals have hired violence intervention specialists through federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding this year. Nationally, firearm related deaths among children and young people rose 28% during the pandemic from 2019-2020, latest data show. (Srinivasan, 12/11)
The Colorado Sun:
Why Colorado Is A National Hot Spot For West Nile Virus
The Mosquito Man enters his lab with the energy of a kid bounding into a Chuck E. Cheese. All his friends are inside. There in one small screen-and-plexiglass enclosure is Sabethes cyaneus, a mosquito with an iridescent blue body and feathery paddles — what one researcher has called the “Hollywood showgirls of the mosquito world.” They float inside the box like dandelion seeds in the breeze. (Ingold, 12/11)
