AMU Emergency Management Public Safety

EDM Friday Briefing: 911 Dispatcher Suspended Following Death of Boy Trapped in Minivan

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Emergency and disaster management briefing for April 13, 2018: Wildfires prompt evacuations in Oklahoma amid extreme fire conditions, a Yarmouth police officer was fatally shot while serving a warrant in Massachusetts, an Ohio 911-dispatcher was suspended following the death of a 16-year-old boy trapped in a minivan, health officials in Kentucky warn patrons that they may have gotten Hepatitis A from a food handler at a McDonald’s, two U.S. Air Force officers were treated for smoke inhalation at a missile control facility in Nebraska, an anticoagulant used in rat poison was found in patients with severe bleeding after their use of synthetic pot in Illinois, the CDC is investigating a multistate E. coli outbreak, a massive spring storm trekking eastward set to bring severe weather from the Gulf Coast to Iowa today and the South on Saturday.

  1. Wildfires in Oklahoma, [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/massive-storm-system-bringing-heavy-snow-northern-plains/story?id=54438726″ title=”that have been spurred by high winds from a massive spring storm and extremely dry conditions”], have prompted the evacuation of several towns in Oklahoma. About 1,000 people were evacuated from the town of Vici as fire raged through the area, and about 450 people in the adjacent county of Woodward were evacuated from a fire that has burned at least 115,000 acres. The area has received only about [link url=”http://kfor.com/2018/04/13/oklahoma-town-evacuated-as-wildfires-tear-through-state/” title=”one-half inch of rain in the last six months”], creating extremely dangerous fire conditions as high winds push out of control fires into more populated areas. [link url=”https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/13/us/oklahoma-wildfires/index.html” title=”A wildfire in Dewey County has scorched at least 19,000 acres and is only 20 percent contained”], while six other fires across the state have consumed nearly 27,000 acres.  

  2. A police officer in Massachusetts was [link url=”http://www.wcvb.com/article/officer-shot-serving-warrant-in-marstons-mills-section-of-barnstable-state-police-say/19758150″  title=”fatally shot on Thursday while attempting to serve a warrant”] to an individual who was linked to 111 criminal offenses and was also on probation. Yarmouth Police Officer Sean Gannon, 32, was shot in the head and his K-9 partner was also injured while serving a warrant to Tom Latanowich, 29, in the town of Barnstable. Officer Gannon was accompanied by two state troopers while serving the warrant, and after he was shot, [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/13/suspect-accused-killing-massachusetts-cop-had-111-prior-offenses.html” title=”the suspect barricaded himself in his home for hours before finally surrendering to law enforcement”].  

    3. https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/984587159020736513

  3. Dispatcher’s in Hamilton County, Ohio [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/12/boy-16-dies-after-being-crushed-by-minivan-in-school-parking-lot-despite-2-calls-to-911.html” title=”are under scrutiny following the death of a 16-year-old boy”] crushed by a minivan seat–even after he made two calls to 911. Kyle Plush, 16, called 911 twice–and gave accurate descriptions of his location and the minivan, but that information was never relayed by dispatchers to officers who responded to the call. [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-died-mysteriously-car-repeatedly-called-911/story?id=54416116″ title=”The 911 operator has been suspended”] and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office has launched a full investigation into the incident.  

  4. Health officials are cautioning patrons who may have eaten or come in contact with the food handler at a McDonald’s in a Berea, Kentucky facility on March 23, [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2018/04/12/mcdonalds-customers-warned-could-have-hepatitis-because-infected-food-handler.html” title=”that they may have been exposed to Hepatitis A”]. Local health officials stated that the symptoms are likely to appear between April 7th and May 12th, which include fever, fatigue, nausea, and joint pain but that the risk is low to patron’s who may have eaten at that location. McDonald’s is reportedly [link url=”http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article208682089.html” title=”cooperating with local and state agencies who are investigating the incident”].  

  5. Two officers in the U.S. Air Force had to be [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/04/12/electrical-problem-investigated-at-nebraska-missile-facility.html” title=”treated for smoke inhalation at a western Nebraska missile alert facility”] near Harrisburg in Banner County. First responders found that the two officers, who were in a support and living facility for Minuteman III nuclear missile launch crews, were overcome by smoke from overheating electrical equipment in an underground equipment building. The officers, who have not been identified, were [link url=”http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska/fire-prompts-evacuation-of-nuclear-missile-alert-facility-in-western/article_2c0ec33b-c165-52c1-bdbc-a831777d424d.html” title=”transported to Regional West Medical Center”] where they were treated for the smoke inhalation, then released.  

  6. The Illinois Department of Health is cautioning the public to remain vigilant after emergency rooms have reported [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/04/11/fake-weed-in-illinois-leaves-3-dead-dozens-with-severe-bleeding.html” title=”a spike in patients using synthetic pot who are experiencing severe bleeding”]. Health Department officials said the total number of cases had climbed to 118 on Wednesday, including three deaths, but all cases have required hospitalization due to symptoms such as severe bleeding from the nose, gums, and ears, coughing up blood, and blood in the urine. [link url=”http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/04/11/authorities-eye-rat-poison-as-fake-pot-kills-3-leaves-others-bleeding-from-eyes-ears.html” title=”Numerous patients have tested positive for brodifacoum, a lethal anticoagulant used in rat poison”].  

    7. https://twitter.com/DonPIODCHD/status/983431604281532416

  7. The Centers for Disease Control is investigating [link url=”http://www.techtimes.com/articles/225056/20180413/e-coli-outbreak-recorded-in-7-states-what-is-the-cdc-doing.htm” title=”a multistate E. coli outbreak that has made at least 17 people sick”]. The CDC has yet to identify the source of the outbreak, but says that New Jersey has the highest number with six cases–possibly linked to Panera Bread–and is followed by Idaho at four cases. The other states involved in the outbreak, which is linked to the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli–O157:H7–are [link url=”http://www.techtimes.com/articles/225056/20180413/e-coli-outbreak-recorded-in-7-states-what-is-the-cdc-doing.htm” title=”Connecticut, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington”].  

  8. [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/massive-storm-system-bringing-heavy-snow-northern-plains/story?id=54438726″ title=”A massive spring storm is impacting much of the nation”] as it moves eastward bringing everything from damaging high winds, to hail and snow. Parts of the Rockies received over a foot of snow on Thursday, and more than a dozen states are under storm alerts on Friday into Saturday, which include anything from blizzard warnings in the Northern Plains, to high wind warnings in the Southwest. [link url=”http://abcnews.go.com/US/massive-storm-system-bringing-heavy-snow-northern-plains/story?id=54438726″ title=”Residents in states from the Gulf Coast to Iowa need to be alert to severe storms on Friday”] that are likely to bring high and damaging winds, hail and tornadoes, impacts which will also affect the South on Saturday as the storm continues its eastward trek.  

Kimberly Arsenault serves as an intern at the Cleveland/Bradley County Emergency Management Agency where she works on plan revisions and special projects. Previously, Kimberly spent 15 years in commercial and business aviation. Her positions included station manager at the former Midwest Express Airlines, as well as corporate flight attendant, inflight manager, and charter flight coordinator. Kimberly currently holds a master's degree in emergency and disaster management from American Public University.

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