Firefighter health focus at Hopkins
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. government to help research the high number of heart attacks suffered by firefighters, according to Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin.
Johns Hopkins is working with the National Volunteer Fire Council and will study firefighter fitness programs and ways to reduce preventable heart conditions. Heart attacks are a leading cause of death for firefighters, according to the senators.
"Firefighters risk their lives to protect our citizens, and we must provide researchers with the tools they need to ensure our first responders' health and safety," Cardin said in a statement.
The funds were awarded as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. Mikulski is a member of the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee, and Cardin is a member of the Senate Budget committee.
Baltimore County
Prettyboy
Helicopter used in woman's rescue
A woman who injured her back while walking her dog on a wooded trail near Prettyboy Reservoir yesterday afternoon had to be rescued because she could not describe where she was when she called for help, said Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman Elise Armacost.
"The biggest problem we had was locating her," Armacost said.
To find the woman, Baltimore County police dispatched a helicopter to search for her. Once rescuers spotted her, a basket was dropped from the helicopter and the woman was taken a short distance to a spot more accessible to medical units and an ambulance.
Armacost said the short trip by basket did not constitute a "helicopter rescue," but the basket maneuver did help in getting assistance to the woman more quickly.
The woman was taken to Sinai Hospital. The injury to her back was not life-threatening, Armacost said.
Armacost said it was a "fairly routine medical call" aside from initial problems finding the woman, who had called for help on her cell phone after sitting down to rest on a rock.
Kevin Rector
Baltimore
Mondawmin
MTA Park & Ride lot is to reopen today
The Mondawmin Transit Center Park & Ride Lot is set to reopen today, according to Maryland Transit Administration officials. The lot - which includes 140 spaces - is to provide parking for the public transit center and the redeveloped Mondawmin Mall, the MTA said.
