Massive medic shortage: About a third of city’s rescue, fire units sidelined last weekend

In recent years, the city’s firefighters and medics have grown accustomed to responding to Baltimore’s many 911 calls with skeleton crews. But this summer, weekends have been even more fraught than usual. That tension culminated on Saturday, when nearly a third of the Baltimore City Fire Department’s engine and truck companies were out of service due to shortages of personnel, according to Josh Fannon, president of IAFF Local 964, the fire officers’ union.