Fire department to get grant for heart monitors
Stow Sentry – The Stow Fire Department has received a federal grant for $128,439 for operations and safety, according to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s Office.
The money was awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighters Grants program.
“We are thrilled to have received the grant,” Mayor Sara Drew said. “We’re very fortunate. This is outstanding news.”
Fire Chief Bill Kalbaugh said the fire department will receive five heart monitors, which is what was requested.
“This is awesome,” Kalbaugh said. “It is equipment that is absolutely necessary.”
Kalbaugh said the city currently has five heart monitors. Four are 12-years-old and one is 9-years-old, and the company that makes them will not provide support for those models after 2012.
“It monitors your cardiac activity,” Fire Division Chief Lou Ann Metz said, “and gives us enhanced capabilities to diagnose heart attacks. Coupled with the advanced cardiac therapies we have, it gives our patients a higher level of care and a greater chance for a positive outcome.”
