Rescue Workers

Government and real estate industry groups are offering help to survivors, victims' families and workers involved in last week's disasters in Pennsylvania, New York and Washington. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, two quasi-government corporations that make funds available to the mortgage industry, are asking lenders to work with affected borrowers so they don't lose their homes or damage their credit rating. Lenders and borrowers can call Freddie Mac at 800-743-0076 or Fannie Mae at 800-732-6643.

When a deadly earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, and Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana seven years ago, humans weren't the only creatures in distress. Countless horses and other animals also needed help, and emergency teams from the Woodbine-based Days End Farm Horse Rescue came to their aid. The 58-acre farm in Woodbine, established in 1989, has carved out an international reputation for its work training first responders, animal control officers,...

A New Windsor woman is coordinating a drive to collect clothing for rescue workers in New York. Sylvia Fox is asking area residents to donate heavy work gloves, socks, coveralls, boots and dust masks during the weekend. Designated collection sites are fire halls in Westminster, Hampstead, Winfield and Mount Airy and at ideas etc. toys etc. ltd. in 140 Village Shopping Center. The store will be selling flags and donating the proceeds to the Red Cross. Monetary donations, which will be used to buy work clothing, also will be accepted.

Baltimore rescuers were searching Monday night for a man they think lowered himself into the harbor by the 900 block of Fell St. after a what may have been an argument with his wife. Firefighters, a diver and other rescue workers searched for the missing man, as a city police helicopter scoured the area from above, Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright said. They were responding to a call that came in shortly before 10 p.m. Monday. The man, who was described as 30- to 40-year-old white male, ran from his wife after a domestic dispute, and witnesses told police he lowered himself into the water from a pier, Cartwright said.

AS PRESIDENT BUSH reminded us yesterday, this week's murderous attacks have spawned unselfishness of massive proportions. And in his visits to the Pentagon and to the World Trade Center he has paid tribute to the rescue workers who continue to risk their lives to save others in the aftermath of Tuesday's events. We all owe a giant debt to the more than 300 firefighters and at least 57 police officers reported as missing who worked heroically to help office workers escape the inferno at the World Trade Center.

Anne Arundel County residents can get a free "vial of life" kit, a container designed to hold emergency medical and contact information, starting Friday at county fire stations. Fire Chief John Robert Ray said residents should complete the form in the 3-inch "lifesaving information for emergency" vial and place the vial in the refrigerator, which protects it from fire. A refrigerator sticker will alert emergency workers that there is a vial inside. The vial can be especially useful for people who are elderly, disabled or live alone, he said.

It is an alarming scenario: terrorists unleash deadly gas in the food court of a crowded mall. Rescue workers rush in and are overcome by toxic fumes. The injury and death toll climbs.That was the script for a Defense Department training film being shot yesterday at the Harford Mall in Bel Air.The film is part of a $42.6 million national program to teach police, firefighters, medics and other emergency workers how to recognize and deal with the possible terrorist use of chemical and biological weapons.

A 46-year-old man died Sunday night after he went to an Anne Arundel County firehouse complaining of chest pains, became verbally abusive, was handcuffed by police officers and taken to a nearby hospital when his condition worsened, police said. Anne Arundel County police said Michael Francis Butkus, of an apartment in the 3300 block of Bloomingdale Road, arrived at a firehouse in Riva about 7 p.m. and told rescue workers that he needed help for chest pains. "During the time the emergency medical care was being provided, the patient began to act in an irrational manner.

A 46-year-old man died Sunday night after he went to an Anne Arundel County firehouse complaining of chest pains, became verbally abusive, was handcuffed by police officers and was taken to a nearby hospital when his condition worsened, police said. Anne Arundel County police said Michael Francis Butkus, 46 of an apartment in the 3300 block of Bloomingdale Road, arrived at a firehouse in Riva about 7 p.m. and told rescue workers that he needed help for chest pains. "During the time the emergency medical care was being provided, the patient began to act in an irrational manner.

Howard County fire and rescue workers are going door-to-door this month to encourage residents to clearly number their houses in case of emergency.Unnumbered houses delay the response time for fire and rescue workers and police during emergency calls, officials said."

A quick-acting Howard County fire captain who found himself in North Carolina during a tornado did what he was trained to do: Grab a sledgehammer and pry bar and start searching for people trapped under heavy wreckage. On assignment at a heavy vehicle rescue course in Sanford, N.C., last month, Capt. Michael Sharpe, 32, found himself at a flattened Lowe's Home Improvement store after a twister ripped through the town. It was a Saturday, and it was possible that customers or workers could be found under the a mound of collapsed steel, roofing members and cinderblock walls.

Anne Arundel County residents can get a free "vial of life" kit, a container designed to hold emergency medical and contact information, starting Friday at county fire stations. Fire Chief John Robert Ray said residents should complete the form in the 3-inch "lifesaving information for emergency" vial and place the vial in the refrigerator, which protects it from fire. A refrigerator sticker will alert emergency workers that there is a vial inside. The vial can be especially useful for people who are elderly, disabled or live alone, he said.

A utility worker died in northeast Baltimore after he fell into a hole and became trapped Saturday afternoon, Baltimore City Fire Department officials said. The unidentified man in his late 20s was employed with a small, private utility company that was repairing a sewer line in the front yard of a home in the 1600 block of E. Cold Spring Lane, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, spokesman with the department. The man was attempting to climb out of the hole using a ladder when he fell back and became trapped in dirt up to his waist, Cartwright said.

A 46-year-old man died Sunday night after he went to an Anne Arundel County firehouse complaining of chest pains, became verbally abusive, was handcuffed by police officers and taken to a nearby hospital when his condition worsened, police said. Anne Arundel County police said Michael Francis Butkus, of an apartment in the 3300 block of Bloomingdale Road, arrived at a firehouse in Riva about 7 p.m. and told rescue workers that he needed help for chest pains. "During the time the emergency medical care was being provided, the patient began to act in an irrational manner.

A 46-year-old man died Sunday night after he went to an Anne Arundel County firehouse complaining of chest pains, became verbally abusive, was handcuffed by police officers and was taken to a nearby hospital when his condition worsened, police said. Anne Arundel County police said Michael Francis Butkus, 46 of an apartment in the 3300 block of Bloomingdale Road, arrived at a firehouse in Riva about 7 p.m. and told rescue workers that he needed help for chest pains. "During the time the emergency medical care was being provided, the patient began to act in an irrational manner.

Rescue workers from five state agencies were unable to communicate with each other by radio when they responded to a fatal crash on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in May, though officials said command procedures in place mitigated the issue. "We're not aware that it materially affected the incident," said John Contestabile, the Maryland Department of Transportation's director of engineering and emergency services. Battalion Chief Michael Cox, a spokesman for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, said rescue workers from his county and from Queen Anne's County had radios that used the same technology.

Rescue workers and dogs searched unsuccessfully for seven hours yesterday after reports that a baby wrapped in a blanket and seated in a child carrier was floating down Deep Run Creek in Elkridge Sunday night.Two people reported seeing the baby."Nothing has been located -- no child, no carrier, no blanket," said Battalion Chief Donald R. Howell, Howard County fire and rescue spokesman.Police said there have been no reports of missing children in Howard, Baltimore or Anne Arundel counties.

SEATTLE -- As the search for three missing climbers on Oregon's highest peak unfolded on national television this month, many questions hung in the air. Who's paying for all this? Why aren't mountain climbers required to carry emergency locator devices? And what were these men doing on Mount Hood in December? In the wake of the Oregon case, in which one climber was found dead and the others were missing and presumed dead, the case for regulations that could avert another tragedy might seem obvious.