VANCOUVER, Wash. -- The Port of Vancouver will hold a Centennial Public Tour at noon Feb. 23.

This will be the first tour taking place during the port's 2012 centennial year. The unique opportunity allows visitors to indulge in 100 years of port history by participating in trivia, asking questions, and seeing port facilities first-hand.

Since 1912, the port has served as an engine of economic growth in Southwest Washington through leadership, stewardship and partnership in marine and industrial development.

With construction under way on the West Vancouver Freight Access rail project—the largest transportation project in the port's history—tour-goers will learn why the port is attracting nearly $400 million in private investment and new jobs for the community.

VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Officials from the Vancouver Fire Department are participating in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical trials to evaluate treatment for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest under the direction of Dr. Lynn Wittwer, Medical Program Director for Clark County.

The trial will compare two drug treatments and a salt-water placebo in participants with shock-resistant ventricular fibrillation, a condition in which the heart beats chaotically instead of pumping blood.

The majority of the approximately 350,000 people who have cardiac arrest in the United States each year are assessed by emergency medical service (EMS) providers. During a cardiac arrest, the heart stops beating, and unless it is restarted within minutes, the person usually dies. Although immediate CPR can be lifesaving, more than 90 percent of people who experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die before reaching a hospital or soon thereafter.

Officials from Fire District 3 in Clark County were notified a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant request of $267,000 was approved.

The grant will be used to replace one of two aging water tenders. The water tenders are used to supply water for firefighting operations in areas not serviced with fire hydrants. The new water tender will replace one that has a failing 50-year-old 4,000 gallon aluminum water tank. The water tenders are critical to rural firefighting operations and help Fire District 3 maintain an excellent Class 5 insurance rating. Fire District 3 also provides water tender mutual aid to neighboring fire departments when firefighting operations require additional water supply.

Fire District 3 will provide $29,700 matching funds to complete the purchase of a new water tender in the total price range of approximately $297,000. The water tender being replaced will be offered as surplus and sold to the highest bidder.