** Chicago looking to make attacks against paramedics a hate crime
** Report into March emergency landing of New Brunswick air ambulance says tow bar was still attached to landing gear
UNITED STATES NEWS
** The City of Chicago in Illinois is pondering expanding its hate crime laws to include attacks against paramedics and other emergency responders. That is the word form ABC 7 Chicago (Chuck Goudie/June 6) which said the amendment would see offenders face hefty fines and up to six months in jail. Along with the city undertaking the move, politicians are also lobbying to make it a state statute as well. The proposal is part of a national lobby known as Blue Lives Matter. In May, Louisiana became the first state to enact such a law with penalties equivalent to those for individuals convicted for attacks against minorities.
CANADA NEWS
** A report into the March emergency landing of an air ambulance in New Brunswick has pegged the cause of the near mishap at a rudder problem caused by a still attached tow bar. Canadian OH & S News (June 7) said the information comes from an incident report prepared by Transport Canada’s Civil Aviation Daily Occurrence Reporting System. According to the tome, the Ambulance New Brunswick flight was en route from Moncton on March 3rd to do a patient pick-up in Bathurst when the pilot noticed the right rudder pedal was unusually stiff. The flight then returned to Moncton for the emergency landing. Once on the ground, the tow bar was found to be still attached to the nose landing gear, damaging the landing gear doors. The near mishap came just two years after a fatal air ambulance crash in Grand Manan, New Brunswick on August 16, 2014. In that instance, the paramedic and pilot were killed, while a second pilot and a nurse were injured.
