Fort Novosel conducts Integrated Protection Exercises to prepare for sudden emergencies

VIDEO: Fort Novosel was busy Wednesday preparing for the “what if” by practicing emergencies that could happen in real life. All to prepare them for how well they can respond in a crisis. It’s called integrated protection exercises. It’s a scenario-based training. Throughout the day they were put to the test on how well they can respond to complex situations where every second counts. “Today we conducted an exercise with a downed aircraft with victims to test our response posture, and our community relations partners outside of the gate,” Jeremy Evett, installation fire chief at Fort Novosel said. In this scenario, the downed helicopter experienced a hard landing with injuries to which different agencies would need to respond.
WTVY-TV CBS 4 Dothan

Three taken to hospital after charter bus crash on I-59 in Jefferson County

Three people were taken to the hospital after a charter bus wreck on Interstate 59-N in Jefferson County Thursday afternoon. The incident happened on a portion of the interstate between Irondale and Center Point Parkway. The Birmingham Fire Department said 40 people were on board. The fire department said the passengers are with the Salvation Army and were on their way to Georgia for a retreat. A total of seven passengers were examined by medics at the site of the crash. The cause of the wreck is unknown, but the bus crashed into a cable barrier.
WBMA-LD ABC 33/40 Birmingham

Governor Ivey signs proclamation recognizing Dothan as the state’s first HeartSafe City

Governor Ivey signed a proclamation recognizing Dothan’s HeartSafe initiative, Tuesday. Leaders from the Southeast Health Medical Center and Dothan Fire Department visited the state capitol for Governor Ivey to recognize Dothan as the state’s first HeartSafe city. The HeartSafe program has trained over 7,000 people for CPR. Over 70 businesses are also receiving training. The Southeast Health Foundation and the Fire Department are hopeful this will inspire other cities in the state. ”This project, this initiative, has taken us 6 years since its inception. It is really nice to be recognized for the efforts,” Amy Bunting with the Southeast Health Foundation said. ”There are over 350,000 sudden cardiac deaths a year. By having trained people in our community, having someone that can start hands-only CPR or CPR on a patient that needs it, increases the survivability of our community which makes us safer and whole, and a better community all together,” Dothan Fire Chief Chris Etheredge said.
WTVY-TV CBS 4 Dothan

Students participate in Birmingham Fire Expo

VIDEO: Wednesday, Birmingham City School’s Fire Science students participated in the second annual fire expo and challenge with the Birmingham Fire Department. Schools such as Carver, Parker, Huffman, and Wenonah competed, and some of them even got job opportunities. The hard work and dedication of these students impressed their teachers, who are retired firefighters and worked with the Birmingham Fire Department for about three decades. Teachers have been training these students for the last few months while sharing their valuable experiences with them. The students from Wenonah High School were crowned champions of the expo for the second year in a row. Some seniors even spoke to the personnel board about joining the fire department’s recruit class after their graduation this month.
WBRC-TV FOX 6 Birmingham