From everyone at Never Forget 9-11 Foundation we wish you a very Happy New Year 2021 and hope the New Year brings us all closer together.
We hope you will remember the many front line responders (police, fire, EMS) and hospital workers who work on this holiday to bring you safety while you spend time during this pandemic, COVID19.
Jeffrey Sanford Jr., a former central Illinois paramedic, has been convicted of sexually assaulting a patient in an ambulance has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.
On Tuesday, Judge Randy Rosenbaum said the paramedic destroyed the public trust in calling for an ambulance when choosing a sentence for Sanford.
In October Rosenbaum found the 48-year-old Jeffrey Sanford Jr., guilty of two counts of sexual assault in October after forcing a suicidal woman to perform oral sex in the back of an ambulance in July 2019. Judge Randy Rosenbaum noted when convicting Sanford that the victim had immediately reported the assault to hospital staff and that Sanford’s story had changed after DNA evidence tied him to the crime.
Champaign County Assistant State’s Attorney Kristin Alferink also presented evidence linking Sanford to sexually inappropriate conduct with a 10-year-old girl, a woman who called for an ambulance and an 89-year-old woman with dementia. Sanford’s defense attorney, Anthony Bruno, acknowledged his client’s faults but argued for a lighter sentence based on Sanford’s more than 20-year career as a paramedic, adding that he had saved 25 cardiac arrest patients and delivered 36 babies.
An Oregon firefighter/paramedic stands accused of using fire department drugs to impair women before raping them.
500 Doses of the Moderna COVID19 vaccine were destroyed by a now-former employee at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin. The coronavirus vaccine vials were “intentionally removed” from refrigeration, forcing officials to throw out nearly 500 doses, according to an internal investigation.
Aurora Medical Center officials had initially suspected the Moderna vaccines, which must be kept between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit, had inadvertently been left out at their Grafton hospital location on December 26.
A later investigation found the individual “acknowledged that they intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration,” officials said Wednesday.
The medical center, which is part of Advocate Aurora Health, has notified “appropriate authorities for further investigation” and added that the individual is no longer employed by Aurora. The individual has not been identified.
“We continue to believe that vaccination is our way out of the pandemic. We are more than disappointed that this individual’s actions will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine. This was a violation of our core values.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Aurora Health Care said, more than 21,000 health care workers had received the first of two injections at the company’s centers.
This news comes as providers and first responders across the country from New York to Texas are getting their initial doses and as the more contagious mutant UK version is seen in Colorado.
The vials can remain at room temperature for up to 12 hours. That allowed clinicians to salvage some of the doses.
The UK COVID19 strain has appeared in a Colorado man. He is the first person in the United States diagnosed with a new COVID-19 mutation that United Kingdom officials recently warned was significantly more contagious, according to state officials.
The man, who lives in Elbert County, is in his 20s, has no travel history and no close contacts yet identified, state officials said in a Tuesday news release. The man remains in isolation, and contact tracing continues. A second case in the county is suspected, and both individuals were working in Simla, about an hour northeast of Colorado Springs.
Governor Jared Polis revealed the worrying news in a tweet, writing: ‘Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK. The health and safety of Coloradans is our top priority and we will monitor this case, as well as all COVID-19 indicators, very closely.’
An attached statement said the Colorado State Laboratory confirmed the case and notified the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
The new mutant strain may not be treated with the vaccine being distributed currently. It has not moved quickly enough to stop the cancellation of the NCAA’s college football Texas Bowl which was cancelled yesterday.
The Mercari Texas Bowl between Arkansas and TCU has been canceled due to COVID19 cases, bowl officials said Tuesday.
The game, which was scheduled for New Year’s Eve at NRG Stadium in Houston, was canceled because of an increase in positive COVID-19 tests, injuries and other circumstances within TCU’s program.
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati said in a statement that those issues left the Horned Frogs short of the Big 12’s threshold for player availability.
It was set to be Arkansas’ first bowl appearance since 2016. The Razorbacks received an invitation, despite a 3-7 record, because the NCAA waived win eligibility requirements this season due to scheduling difficulties stemming from the pandemic. The Razorbacks join Missouri, South Carolina and Tennessee as SEC teams that accepted a bowl invitation but will not play in one because of COVID-19 issues with one of the participating teams.
TCU’s season concludes at 6-4. It is the second game the Horned Frogs had to cancel because of virus-related issues; they also canceled their season opener vs. SMU.
While the COVID19 vaccines are in the process of being distributed multiple social media posts state that at the current pace it will take ten years to innoculate everyone.
Public health officials have been warning of a surge in COVID19 numbers since Thanksgiving and Christmas travel where more people traveled than almost any other time of the year.
A Nashville Christmas morning explosion rocked the streets as officers were responding to a report of shots fired in the area.
Authorities have found what they believe to be human remains near the site of the explosion in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the ongoing investigation.
From everyone at Never Forget 9-11 Foundation we wish you a very Merry Christmas 2020 and hope the New Year brings us all closer together. We wanted to share the quote below from one of our favorite holiday stories in hopes that we all find these days to be filled with charity, mercy, and general good acts of kindness. These are the same traits that brought America together in the aftermath of September 11 and together we accomplish so much more than apart.
We hope you will remember the many front line responders (police, fire, EMS) and hospital workers who work today to bring you safety while you spend time during this pandemic, COVID19.
“…and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!” – Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Tony Alapa was on the United Airlines flight with the COVID19 patient and one of those who performed CPR. He went on CNN to tell his side of the story.
EMT Tony Aldapa was on the flight from Orlando to Los Angeles on December 14, when he saw another passenger experiencing trouble breathing. He and two other Good Samaritans provided care during the medical emergency including administering CPR. Aldapa said he and two other passengers took turns performing chest compressions for about 45 minutes as the plane was diverted to New Orleans for an emergency landing.
Aldapa is a Navy veteran and began experiencing possible virus symptoms following the incident. His symptoms included cough, body aches and headache. He has since said he he has tested negative twice and is looking forward to returning to work and getting the COVID-19 vaccine when he completes quarantine.
Aldapa also credited the other two good Samaritans who performed CPR, as well as other bystanders who gave assistance and the United Airlines flight crew. He said it is unfortunate that he was the only one receiving recognition.
Chief Jared Heon received a vote of no confidence from the department members of Ansonia Rescue and Medical Services. The no confidence vote caused the city to launch an outside investigation.
A seven-page letter was sent to Mayor David Cassetti and the Board of Aldermen and included the signatures of a supervisor and more than two dozen EMTs.
The letter claims ARMS members “have been disheartened by the actions and behavior of Chief Heon.”
“He has tested our willpower and confidence in his skill, ability and leadership to adequately lead this department,” the letter states.
The city has hired an outside lawyer to investigate allegations included in a letter against the current top-ranking member of its emergency medical services department.
The letter also states members of the department accused their chief of bullying those under him, double-dipping by working another job while on the schedule for Ansonia and spending department funds on high-end devices and leather chairs.
The letter comes as the department’s part time staff, supervisors and front line EMTs, are in contract negotiations with the City of Ansonia. The city is also considering regionalizing its EMS service per local reports.
Jared Heon is chief of the Ansonia Rescue and Medical Services. Their mission is to provide quality emergency medical care and rescue service to those who live, work or visit the City of Ansonia and surrounding communities in time of illness, injury, crisis or disaster. Their website states that they employ highly trained members render services in a professional manner utilizing state-of-the-art equipment. Members actively participate in the community, serve as role models and strive to provide services deemed excellent by the citizens of Ansonia.
Zephi Trevino, is a Texas teen is accused of Capital Murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a man that occurred when she was 16. Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot intends to charge her as an adult pending a January 4, 2021 hearing per a Dallas news story.
Her mother and other advocates, including Jamie Lee Curtis and Kim Kardashian West, say she is a victim of sex trafficking, not a killer.
Zephaniah Trevino, now 17, is one of three people charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of Carlos Arajeni-Arriaza Morillo, 24. He was killed in a Grand Prarie apartment in August 2019. 
Another defendant, Philip Baldenegro, then 18, admitted to fatally shooting Morillo and shooting and injuring another man as part of a robbery attempt. He and Jesse Martinez, then 19, are all charged in the case. Attorney David Finn represents Baldenegro. “She brought the guys to the apartment and set the whole thing up,” said Finn.
Zephi Trevino’s parents and Baldenegro’s attorney agree the men were there to have sex with Zephi, but Zephi’s parents claim Baldenegro was forcing their daughter to have sex for money. Baldenegro’s attorney says his client admits he pulled the trigger, but he is not a pimp. “She is no victim. My client Philip Baldenegro is 19 and I think she was 16 at the time. They had a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship that is born out on my client’s cellphone,” said Finn. “She engineered, organized, executed the entire plan,” Finn said.
Zephaniah, or “Zephi” as she’s known to friends and family, was a typical teenager in her Grand Prairie, Texas community. Kind, outgoing, and the youngest of four siblings raised in a loving home, she was involved in activities from her church worship team to pitching for her high school softball team.
Trevino’s mom, Crystal Trevino, told local media her daughter was offered a plea deal that would give her 10 years in prison, but declined. Crystal said her daughter played sports and was involved in her church before she fell in with the wrong crowd, saying the plight of her daughter Zephi Trevino is “a mother’s worst nightmare.”
Crystal Trevino says her daughter was offered a ten year plea deal, which she declined. She faces up to 40 years in prison. Trevino’s case has caught the attention of numerous celebrities.
Civil rights lawyer Justin Moore is helping the family and helped get the attention of Jason Flom, a founding board member of The Innocence Project. Flom says he thinks Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot should take a closer look at the case. “On what planet does it make sense that we are going to charge her with capital murder? It’s a disastrously failed social policy,” Flom said. The Innocence Project, has helped secure the release of hundreds of wrongfully convicted people.
The case also presents an interesting challenge for Creuzot.
Recently, former Chief of Police Reneé Hall was reported to be in an inappropriate relationship with convicted felon and local activist Dominique Alexander. The public report hastened Hall’s exit as police chief and her depature was announced less than twenty-four hours after the report. Creuzot has not been seen out front on sex trafficking issues unlike the local US Attorney’s Office who recently arrested a local man for sex trafficking.
Additionally, like Reneé Hall, Creuzot is known to be friendly with Dominque Alexander and there are multiple sources who indicate Creuzot made a nonprosecution with Alexander and Next Generation Action Network in return for not endangering his election campaign with Alexander’s activism in certain neighborhoods. John Creuzot and his office are prohibited from speaking about the Trevino case, but he is noticable silent on relationships with both Alexander and Judge Audrey Moorehead, recently arrested for DWI.
Sex trafficking is an important training topic to fire and EMS responders. Never Forget 9-11 Foundation plans programming around this subject ion 2021.