The dire needs and lack of funding at rural emergency response companies caught the attention of a South Dakota organization that formed seven years ago to financially help families of fallen first responders, law enforcement officers and military soldiers, MitchellRepublic.com reported. After learning of the challenges volunteer fire departments are up against, an organization called South Dakota Salutes developed a special needs fund to provide them with updated equipment and protective gear.

On Thursday, leaders of South Dakota Salutes trekked to Fedora to donate a pair of checks to the Fedora and Woonsocket volunteer fire departments, giving them funds to update critical equipment to enhance their ability to respond to fires and emergencies. Woonsocket received $2,500, while Fedora got $5,000, the report said.

The donations from South Dakota Salutes provided SBCA breathing air cylinder bottles that are vital in taking on fires, according to the report.

Tacoma police are trying to find the man allegedly responsible for causing an explosive fire while stealing gas. He is described as a white male, 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighing 185 pounds, with brown, curly, hair (pictured right). He was wearing a black jacket, jeans, tan boots, and might have facial burns, according to the report.
- PUB DATE: 1/20/2023 10:22:00 PM - SOURCE: KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

A fire department is its people, plain and simple: without trained personnel, both career and volunteer, to fight fires and administer lifesaving medical care, the department is just a collection of visually striking vehicles and the occasional dalmatian. But for many fire departments in Grays Harbor County, finding those personnel is getting harder.
- PUB DATE: 1/20/2023 12:30:00 PM - SOURCE: The Daily World - Metered Site

The 44-member West Point Fire Department has requested over $1.7 million for new equipment, but Army headquarters only funded the unit for $96,000, MidHudsonNews.com reported.

On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer was at the military academy calling for Washington to approve the rest of the money so that new, modern equipment can be purchased, the report said.

Connor Miller, president of Local F-7 of the International Association of Firefighters, said it is difficult to operate with their current budget, according to the report.

With one of its fire trucks out of service, the West Point department has borrowed a truck from the Veterans Administration, the report said.

The West Point department is often called out under mutual aid to assist neighboring communities and sometimes asked to drive over Storm King Mountain to assist the City of Newburgh Fire Department, the report said.

Alia Malik
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(TNS)

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a sole-source contract of $5.7 million with Stryker Sales Corp. for equipment that will go in the county’s ambulances.

The initial term of the contract costs almost $1.4 million and runs through the end of this year, but it can be renewed annually for a total of three years, according to county documents.

The equipment to be purchased includes power stretchers and systems to safely load and carry patients to and from ambulances, Fire Chief Russell Knick told commissioners. The contract also covers chairs to carry patients up and down stairs and automated mechanical chest compression equipment for patients in cardiac arrest.

“That device actually allows our staff to be able to continue high quality CPR even when you’re moving patients, frees up hands for IV use, push medications and things like that,” Knick said.

The contract also includes a service agreement and preventative maintenance for all the equipment, he said.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services has 51 front-line and reserve medical vehicles, according to the sole-source approval forms. The department has 48 Stryker stair chairs in its transport and rescue units and 47 power stretchers. The sole-source contract allows the department to standardize the equipment that firefighters train on, according to purchasing staff.

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