Hamden Fire Department Receives $46K Federal Grant For PPE

Press release from Hamden Fire Department:

July 28, 2020

Fire Chief Gary Merwede is pleased to announce that The Hamden Fire Department has received an award of $45,983.34 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for COVID 19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) reimbursement. This funding is from the Assistance to Firefighters grant (AFG) COVID-19 supplemental program, a subsect of the AFG program which provides millions in funding to fire departments across the country. Over 2100 hundred departments in the US applied for funds specifically related to PPE costs already spent on or in immediate need to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic response and Hamden is in the first 100 recipients. In the early staging or planning and preparation, Chief Merwede and his administrative team saw the need to secure PPE for first responders before the needed gloves, masks, and gowns were in short supply due to the global aspect of the response. Using known commodity chains and logistical awareness, the department was able to secure the needed items which put additional strain on regular operational spending. This grant will give the Hamden Fire Department the ability to ensure further PPE can be purchased without an added financial burden to the taxpayers, and replace well-worn equipment that would have been scheduled for replacement if the COVID 19 pandemic had not occurred. The grant application required deep and substantial justification based on departmental funding and the usage-rate of pandemic PPE. Most medical PPE is designed for single- use only to prevent contamination.

This press release was produced by Hamden Fire Department. The views expressed here are the author's own.