Grant Allows Fire Department to Purchase New Equipment

The has several new tools to add to its arsenal, thanks to a $60,000 grant the department received last year from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The new equipment includes two $4,000 Masimo Rad-57 machines that can test the levels of carbon monoxide in the bloodstreams of adults, children and firefighters. The department also purchased a new air compressor for Dexter's main station for $42,000. The compressor allows firefighters to fill three air packs at once instead of two, the capacity of its previous system, firefighter Michael Grissom said.

“It is a more efficient system that fits our needs,” Grissom said.

The Masimo Rad-57 machine, also known as a pulse oximeter, looks like a portable fingerprint scanner. The machine can record the amount of carbon monoxide in a person’s body in mere seconds and will sound an alarm if levels are too high, Grissom said.

The department also recently received a $57,000 grant from Homeland Security and will use that funding to purchase four new cold-water rescue suits.

“These federal dollars will help purchase the firefighting vehicles and personal protective equipment that Michigan’s firefighters and first responders need to do their jobs safely and effectively,” said U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan. “Communities throughout Michigan depend on the protection our firefighters provide, and this funding will help them prepare for the dangers they face on a daily basis.”

Grissom said funding will also go to pay for 20 firefighters to enroll in training classes specializing in fire safety and survival and rapid intervention.

“Nintey-nine percent of the training we participate in is for the benefit of the public, but these classes benefit us because they teach us how to get ourselves out of a potentially hazardous situation,” he said.