Ten Dallas firefighters have tested positive for COVID-19, officials say. An additional 10 firefighters are symptomatic and waiting for results as of Wednesday afternoon. Because they work in close quarters, 126 firefighters with Dallas Fire-Rescue are now in quarantine. These numbers change daily. Firefighters are often the first to be at the scene of the most urgent cases of the novel coronavirus. "It's starting to hit home with firefighters and first responders in general," said Jim McDade, President of the Dallas Fire Fighters Association. He referenced the news about the Chicago firefighter of 17 years dying from complications of COVID-19 on Tuesday night. "As infectious as [COVID-19] is, it is inevitable that we are going to have more members that are infected," McDade said.  

Corpus Christi Fire Chief Robert Rocha will be tested for COVID-19, the city announced late Wednesday. He is getting tested "out of an abundance of caution after developing a fever earlier today," a city news release reads. Ten firefighters will be self-monitoring because of possible exposure to Rocha. Once Rocha's test results are in, the next steps will be determined, the release states. "The City of Corpus Christi is committed to ensuring the safety of first responders and will take necessary action to protect personnel, their families, and the community," the release reads.  

Houston City Council approved a lease for an additional 400 hotel rooms for use as quarantine sites by first responders April 8. The $48,000 deal brokered with the Cambria Hotel in downtown Houston provides up to 400 rooms over the course of the month, or an average of 13 rooms per day. In addition to applicable taxes, the agreement includes rooms provided at $60 per night plus a $40 per room meal package and $7 per room parking pass. Houston City Council approved two other hotel leases April 1 and amended one April 8 to add an extension option at an increased rate. The two other leases provide a total of 186 rooms daily at rates between $50 and $60 per room. Government disaster declarations may allow the city to recoup losses from lease payments, city documents show.  

Powderly Volunteer Fire Department upgraded from a 1991 firefighting slip-on unit thanks to a cost-share grant through the Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program administered by Texas A&M Forest Service. "Our department is grateful to have received a $20,000 grant to help replace an older slip-on unit that had decreased water pressure, a leaking pump, and really couldn't fight much fire," said Powderly VFD Fire Chief Roger Bussell. "Having this new unit gives us the capability to have another fire vehicle to put on the front line." A slip-on unit is a complete self-contained firefighting system designed for wildland firefighting as well as structure fires. The unit that the department purchased has a 200-gallon poly water tank.  

A five-year-old Hill County boy died Tuesday evening after a piece of metal fell on is chest, according to the Hill County Sheriff's Office. During an investigation, it was determined that the boy and his brother were playing outside when one of them ran into the piece of metal, which was sitting on two jack stands. The metal then fell and landed on the five-year-old's chest. The mother, who was reportedly outside at the time as well, attempted to remove the piece of metal but it was too heavy to lift. First responders, including Careflite, Air Evac, Hubbard Fire Department and deputies with the Hill County Sheriff's Office, arrived at the address off FM 2114 near Hubbard and performed CPR on the boy. He was later pronounced dead at the scene by Hill County Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Bread Henley.  

VIDEO: As first responders take precautions against COVID-19 contamination, those efforts include extensive measures to sterilize fire stations and equipment. Crew members from Express 911 Board Up spent several hours Wednesday using different methods to sterilize the White River Township Department headquarters in Greenwood. Express Restoration President Robert Turner explained how ozone gas is used to disinfect fire and ambulance equipment inside an enclosed trailer parked outside. "We've got an EPA registered device that produces ozone gas that we're going to enclose all of the equipment in this trailer," Turner explained. "We'll let it run for 15 minutes, which will then disinfect all of the contents inside." Chief Jeremy Pell said sterilizing gear and equipment is a vital step every time firefighters return from an emergency call.  

As the coronavirus crisis intensifies, first responders continue making changes to protect both patients and themselves. Emergency medical service crews in the cities of Roanoke and Salem, as well as Botetourt County, are now using protective tents on patients who need oxygen. The mini-isolettes help contain respiratory droplets that could carry the coronavirus within the plastic. This is not a new procedure, but it's not typical. "We've had to figure out how can we continue doing these treatments that people need that are less invasive and more beneficial to a patient but keep our providers safe, keep the environment cleaner," said Jason Crouch, EMS operations captain for Roanoke Fire-EMS. First responders are also using masks, limiting the number of providers interacting with patients, doing health screenings before coming into work and increasing cleaning.  

A new app from Stanford Medicine built with Apple's help will help connect firefighters, police officers and paramedics in California to drive-through COVID-19 testing if they are showing symptoms of the coronavirus. Here's how it works: Users take a survey with questions about their symptoms. If they have symptoms suggesting COVID-19 infection, the app recommends testing. First responders can take that result to the contact at their workplace in charge of health, referred to as a "department infection control officer" inside the app, and get scheduled for priority testing at a Stanford Health Care site. The First Responder COVID-19 Guide app is one of several new technology initiatives to connect people at high-risk for COVID-19 infection with testing.  

VIDEO: As confirmed coronavirus cases within DC Fire and EMS continue to climb, the department is taking new steps to protect its firefighters and paramedics on the front lines. That means ambulances and crews must undergo a three hour decontamination every time they respond to a call involving a patient with symptoms of the virus. "We've had some units come here twice in 24 hours," said EMS Captain Charles Steptoe. Steptoe showed ABC7 around the new decontamination facility on Wednesday afternoon. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the department used the building to store extra vehicles and apparatus. Now, it's home to a 24/7 operation made possible by a $30,000 machine that DC Fire and EMS purchased not long after the pandemic began.  

Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, residents of hard-hit New York City have been talking about ambulance sirens and how the wailing never seems to stop. They're not imagining things — but the reality is even grimmer than some may have guessed. A huge number of those ambulances are responding to fatal or near-fatal heart attacks suffered by New Yorkers whose true health issue may be COVID-19, the disease associated with the coronavirus. Emergency Medical Services, the part of the fire department that runs the city's paramedic response, is responding to three or four times its average daily number of cardiac calls, with each call almost twice as likely to involve a death. According to the Fire Department of New York, or FDNY, it means more patients are calling 911 closer to death, and many more of them are dying despite the best efforts of EMTs and paramedics before they ever reach a hospital.