Pucket EMS offers free EMT training
Puckett EMS is offering the chance to become an emergency medical technician for free in eight weeks.
Puckett EMS said it is offering th EMT training and will pay for tuition, certification fees and class materials to help remove financial barriers to a career in emergency medical services.
“The demand for dedicated students who are ready to begin their careers in EMS and health care has never been greater,” Puckett EMS Director of Education Daniel Lynn said in an announcement of the program Wednesday. “For our EMT Academy, no previous EMS experience is required – only a willingness to learn and a desire for a rewarding career serving your patients and community.”
Puckett EMS will accept an initial 20 students into its EMT class on April 25; however, the company operates the course multiple times throughout the year. Applicants not accepted into the April 25 program will have the opportunity to put their application forward for identical classes in the future.
Interested peope should apply at puckettems.com/EMTBasicClass.
Puckett EMS joined the Priority Ambulance family of companies in 2017.
BSNF unions want attendance changes
BNSF’s two largest unions will ask an arbitrator to throw out the railroad’s strict new attendance policy instead of appealing a court order preventing them from striking.
The unions that represent 17,000 BNSF workers said Wednesday they decided that arbitration will provide the quickest resolution to the dispute because they can get an answer in a matter of months instead of pursuing an appeal that could take a year or two.
The unions say the new rules that took effect Feb. 1 penalize workers for missing work for any reason and put them on call 24-7, while drastically reducing the number of days workers can take off because of fatigue or other concerns.
The unions have called for a federal investigation into whether the new rules are jeopardizing safety on the railroad. The Transportation Department, however, has declined to intervene in the dispute.
BNSF has defended the rules, arguing they give employees a clearer idea of where they stand than under the old system, while ensuring the railroad has enough workers available to operate its trains that haul the products and supplies many businesses need.
Stocks drop as oil prices climb
Stocks closed lower on Wall Street on Wednesday, giving back nearly all the gains they made a day earlier, as crude oil prices rose sharply again.
The S&P 500 lost 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% and the Nasdaq fell 1.3%. Technology, health care and financial stocks were among the biggest losers. Retailers and communications companies also lost ground.
Energy stocks rose along with crude oil prices. Bond yields eased back. U.S. President Joe Biden headed to Europe for an emergency NATO meeting Thursday, where sanctions and the Russian oil embargo will likely top the agenda.
Putin wants payment in rubles for natural gas
President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will demand “unfriendly” countries pay for Russian natural gas exports only in rubles from now on.
Putin told a meeting with government officials Wednesday that “a number of Western countries made illegitimate decisions on the so-called freezing of the Russian assets, effectively drawing a line over reliability of their currencies, undermining the trust for those currencies.”
Economists said the move appeared designed to try to support the ruble, which has collapsed against other currencies since Putin invaded Ukraine and Western countries responded with far-reaching sanctions against Russia. But some expressed doubt that it would work.
Pfizer recalls some blood pressure drugs
Pfizer is recalling some shipments of its blood pressure drug Accuretic, as well as authorized generic versions of the medication, saying that a cancer-causing compound in those lots exceeded the acceptable daily intake level.
The compound in the medication is nitrosamine, which is also found in water and beer as well as some foods including bacon and grilled meats. It is believed to pose a small risk of cancer in patients taking the drugs for an extended time.
Such recalls have become common in recent years as private labs and companies have detected cancer-causing impurities and set off wide recalls, especially in blood pressure drugs. In September 2020, the Food and Drug Administration urged companies to look for those compounds on a regular basis. The agency announced another nitrosamine-related recall Wednesday for a Sandoz drug meant to reduce discomfort related to painful musculoskeletal conditions.
– Compiled by Dave Flessner