Archive for November 2nd, 2020

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 217

Monday, November 2nd, 2020

Here’s a little slice of history for all of you “Emergency” fans out there: “Sirens In the Night”, a 1972 documentary about the Jacksonville Fire Department. Jacksonville was (according to the YouTube captions) the first fire department in the US to provide EMS services.

In November 1967, Mayor Hans Tanzler placed emergency ambulance service permanently in the care of the Jacksonville Fire Department. The Rescue Division began with six station wagons, each staffed by a chief and two firefighters, equipped with first aid kits and folding Army cots for stretchers. Within a few months the department equipped and staffed six new modular transport vehicles for continuous 24-hour service. Crews soon became aware that they were in over their heads due to the nature of the calls, a large proportion of which were cardiac related, so the department connected with area doctors eager to provide better training. With advanced medical training and better equipment, the Jacksonville Fire Department saved more lives, and Jacksonville became known as the ‘safest city in the world to have a heart attack.’

…

Notable accomplishments of the JFRD are:
1. Establishing one of the first Advanced Life Support (ALS) service in the nation;
2. Establishing the first Hazardous Materials team in 1977;
3. Becoming the first fire department to successfully extinguish a fully involved petroleum tank fire

Bonus video: from 1959, Mike Wallace interviews Rod Serling.

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Obit watch: November 2, 2020.

Monday, November 2nd, 2020

Great and good FotB RoadRich sent over an obit for actor Eddie Hassell. HouChron.

The Dallas Morning News is basically unreadable if you are not a subscriber, so I can’t link to that. According to the reports I’ve seen, Mr. Hassell died as a result of an apparent carjacking.

Nikki McKibbin. She finished third in the first round of “American Idol”.

Ms. McKibbin rose to national fame in 2002 as a contestant on “American Idol,” the Fox reality show in which singers competed for a record deal. Appearing with an unabashedly punk style, complete with a shock of dyed red hair, she was praised for her soulful covers, including “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler, “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles and “Piece of My Heart,” which Janis Joplin made famous with Big Brother and the Holding Company.

She was only 42, and passed away due to complications from a brain aneurysm.

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