The Santa Maria Fire Department recently received $200,000 in regional grant funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety. Funding will benefit five local fire agencies, which will receive advanced rescue equipment that could help save the lives of people involved in vehicle accidents.
On May 15 at 10 a.m., firefighters will demonstrate a hydraulic rescue tool on a car, and then display and distribute the equipment at Fire Station No. 1 at 300 West Cook St. in Santa Maria.
“With this assistance from the Office of Traffic Safety, firefighters within Santa Barbara County will be better equipped with the proper equipment necessary to quickly respond and remove trapped patients,” Santa Maria Fire Chief Dan Orr said in a press release. “This should greatly improve someone’s chances of surviving one of these horrific crashes.”
The press release explains that a survey of local area fire agencies highlighted a lack of adequate extrication equipment for first responders to safely free a victim trapped in a vehicle.
“Modern extrication equipment provides improved spreading, cutting, and stabilization forces necessary to deal with the newer vehicles,” the release said.
The Santa Maria Fire Department will serve as the lead agency for distribution of equipment purchased with the grant; those recipients will be the Santa Maria Fire Department, Santa Barbara City Fire Department, Lompoc Fire Department, Guadalupe Fire Department, and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Staff writer Camillia Lanham compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via email at clanham@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 15-22, 2014.