Hot and dry Monday afternoon before isolated storms pop up this eveningCaught on Camera: Firefighters respond to dumpster fire at FGCU
WINK NEWS Hot and dry Monday afternoon before isolated storms pop up this evening On monday morning, the weather is starting mild and humid with temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Firefighters respond to dumpster fire at FGCU San Carlos Park Fire District responded to a dumpster fire Sunday afternoon.
FORT MYERS FGCU students affected by Covid celebrate first commencement ceremony Graduation is a right of passage from school to the real world, but for these students, reality hit them in 2020.
PUNTA GORDA Motorcycle crash leaves 1 dead One person has died after a motorcycle crash in Charlotte County.
LEE COUNTY Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to register WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar goes on patrol with Lee County Deputies in search of transient sex offenders who don’t register.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Know your risk Hurricane season starts on June 1st, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated the week of May 5 through May 11 as National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Each day, Meteorologist Lauren Kreidler will be highlighting ways to stay prepared ahead of this year’s hurricane season.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Stay alert – chance of showers and storms on Sunday Hot, humid, and more rain for parts of Southwest Florida on Sunday.
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
The Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida A rainy Saturday evening across much of southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Lee Health Touch-A-Truck event educates families on Trauma Awareness On Saturday morning, sirens were ringing to celebrate Lee Health Trauma Center’s 30 years of service and to provide the public with trauma education and prevention methods.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (CBS) CDC says bird flu viruses “pose pandemic potential,” cites major knowledge gaps Bird flu continues to appear to pose a “low risk to the general public” for now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. But the agency’s scientists ran into roadblocks investigating a human case of this “pandemic potential” virus this year, they said in a new report.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers in need of fertility treatment.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
WINK NEWS Hot and dry Monday afternoon before isolated storms pop up this evening On monday morning, the weather is starting mild and humid with temperatures in the upper 60s and lower 70s.
FORT MYERS Caught on Camera: Firefighters respond to dumpster fire at FGCU San Carlos Park Fire District responded to a dumpster fire Sunday afternoon.
FORT MYERS FGCU students affected by Covid celebrate first commencement ceremony Graduation is a right of passage from school to the real world, but for these students, reality hit them in 2020.
PUNTA GORDA Motorcycle crash leaves 1 dead One person has died after a motorcycle crash in Charlotte County.
LEE COUNTY Lee Deputies work to track down transient sex offenders who fail to register WINK News Anchor Corey Lazar goes on patrol with Lee County Deputies in search of transient sex offenders who don’t register.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Know your risk Hurricane season starts on June 1st, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated the week of May 5 through May 11 as National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Each day, Meteorologist Lauren Kreidler will be highlighting ways to stay prepared ahead of this year’s hurricane season.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Stay alert – chance of showers and storms on Sunday Hot, humid, and more rain for parts of Southwest Florida on Sunday.
CAPE CORAL What we learned about Cape Coral’s water crisis after a ride along On Friday, WINK News got to ride along to see just what people are doing that could be wasting water.
The Weather Authority: A wet Saturday evening as storms move through Southwest Florida A rainy Saturday evening across much of southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS Lee Health Touch-A-Truck event educates families on Trauma Awareness On Saturday morning, sirens were ringing to celebrate Lee Health Trauma Center’s 30 years of service and to provide the public with trauma education and prevention methods.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA (CBS) CDC says bird flu viruses “pose pandemic potential,” cites major knowledge gaps Bird flu continues to appear to pose a “low risk to the general public” for now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. But the agency’s scientists ran into roadblocks investigating a human case of this “pandemic potential” virus this year, they said in a new report.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS Bay Street Yard set to open in late May A new place to hang out in Downtown Fort Myers is opening this spring.
Aetna agrees to settle lawsuit over fertility coverage for LGBTQ+ customers Aetna has agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the health insurer of discriminating against LGBTQ+ customers in need of fertility treatment.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WINK Neighborhood Watch: Robbery, Pawn Shops, and Child Porn This week’s segment of Wink Neighborhood Watch features an armed robber, fraud at a pawn shop, and possession of child pornography.
Southwest Florida The Weather Authority: Sun, clouds, humidity, rain – it’s all in your weekend forecast Saturday afternoon will be hot and humid, with a mix of sun and clouds.
This Sept. 13, 2017, file photo, police surround the Rehabilitation Center in Hollywood Hills, Fla. At first there was no hint of distress in the 911 calls, no sense of a crisis unfolding. But newly released emergency calls from the sweltering Florida nursing home that lost its air conditioning to Hurricane Irma showed staffers becoming increasing agitated by a disaster that would eventually claim 14 elderly lives. (John McCall/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP, File) FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) At first there was no hint of distress in the 911 calls, no sense of a crisis unfolding. But newly released emergency calls from a sweltering Florida nursing home that lost its air conditioning to Hurricane Irma showed staffers becoming increasingly agitated by a disaster that would eventually claim 14 elderly lives. The six calls made from the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills between 3 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 13, the day the first eight patients died, show that several patients were in respiratory distress and at least two were in cardiac arrest. By the second call, an employee is heard muttering “Whatta night.” On the fourth call, another tells someone, “Oh my God, this is crazy.” But it wasn’t until the final call did one of the 911 dispatchers realize that the sick patient wasn’t an individual event but part of a series. The dispatcher, seeing the earlier calls on his computer screen, questioned if this was the same patient. No, the unidentified employee replied, a different one. The dispatcher then asks if additional paramedics are needed. “You guys already have a few other paramedics here, so I’m not sure,” the employee responds. The Hollywood, Florida, Police Department released the tapes Monday. The department is conducting a criminal investigation into the deaths but no arrests have been made and no charges filed. After the eight initial deaths, six other patients injured by the heat have since died, the latest two last week. The dead ranged in age from 57 to 99, with most from their 70s to 90s. Investigators have said they want to know why the home’s approximately 150 patients were not evacuated to a fully functioning, air-conditioned hospital just across the street until after the first deaths had occurred. Some who died had body temperatures as high as 109.9 degrees Fahrenheit (48 Celsius) when they arrived at the hospital. The state has suspended the home’s license and Gov. Rick Scott has issued an executive order requiring that nursing homes install generators that can power air conditioners. Geoffrey D. Smith, the attorney representing the nursing home, had no comment Monday, saying in a statement he has not yet reviewed the calls. Irma struck South Florida on Sept. 10, knocking out power to most of the region, including the nursing home. The home had generators to power its lights and equipment, but not its air conditioning. The first 911 call came at 3 a.m. on Sept. 13. The unidentified hospital employee tells the dispatcher that an 84-year-old patient is in cardiac arrest. “I saw her slouch over. I noticed she is not breathing,” the employee says, adding that the patient’s mouth and fingers are turning blue. “We are doing CPR.” She then reports that the patient has resumed breathing on her own, but it’s “very labored.” The second call came an hour later. Again, the patient is near death. At one point the employee mutters, “Whatta night.” The dispatcher again sends paramedics. The third call is short. Another patient in full cardiac arrest is receiving CPR. It is about this time that city officials say paramedics realized they might have a crisis developing. The employee who makes the fourth call 30 minutes later is showing stress. She reports nurses are doing CPR on another male patient, sighing, “Oh my God, this is crazy.” The employee who makes the fifth call reported that another patient is not breathing. In an annoyed tone, she says to an interrupting co-worker, “Oh my God, I am on the phone.” At this point, no one from the home had told the 911 dispatchers, who work for Broward County, about the earlier patients. While the dispatchers are not identified, from their voices it is clear that most if not all of the calls were taken by different people. Only in the final call, coming at 6:30 a.m., did the 911 dispatcher question the employee, asking if this is for a different patient. Yes, he is told. He soon asks if he should send more than just two paramedics. It’s then that she tells him there are several already there. About this time, emergency room employees at Memorial Regional Hospital had become concerned by all the patients coming in from across the street. Two employees went to investigate, saying they found patients dying and summoning help. Dozens of doctors, nurses and other employees swarmed across the street, treated the patients and evacuated them to the hospital.