Our agency has been awarded $26,594.28 through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to upgrade our communications equipment and improve our response capabilities. Our cost share is 5%, which is $1,329.72. This grant is for 6 portable P25 radios and 23 pagers.
P25 radios are considered the standard in emergency radio operations, supporting digital formats, clearer signals, and improved security. These portable radios will improve our ability to talk to our county dispatch while away from the ambulance as well as improve our ability to work with our Paramedic partners, local Fire Departments, and other mutual aid agencies across our county and neighboring counties.
Our current pagers are over 8 years old, well out of warranty, and showing their age. Replacing our pagers will improve our ability to notify our volunteers of calls and improve our response times.
Federal AFG grants are designed to help local fire departments upgrade and modernize their equipment, improve training, and enhance their abilities to comply with response, equipment, and operational standards established by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). SAFER grants support the hiring and retention of firefighters. Together, these programs have injected tens of millions of dollars in federal assistance into local fire departments across Rhode Island over the last decade, enhancing their response and staffing capabilities to provide fire protection, emergency medical services, search and rescue, hazardous materials incident response, and wildfire response. Note that only 3% of AFG grant money is allocated to non-fire department based EMS agencies.
