Thanks to a $415,000 federal grant, Barrow County Emergency Services added a number of tools to its arsenal recently, which officials say will greatly enhance the ability to quickly and effectively remove patients from mangled vehicles.
All of the equipment was purchased with a Federal Emergency Management Agency Assistance to Firefighters Grant and a contribution from Barrow County of $37,000.
A committee was responsible for writing the grant and managing the evaluation, bidding, and purchasing of the equipment, a team effort that lasted over two years, according to county officials.
The new tools are now in service on all of the county’s six fire engines and its ladder truck and have already been deployed several times by crews in the short period since being installed.
