The Addison Township Board of Trustees approved the fire department spending over $23,000 on equipment that would benefit their residents during medical emergencies.
The department will be upgrading one of their two cardiac monitors by purchasing a 12 lead Life-pak monitor/defibrillator, which visualizes the heart from 12 directions.
A 12 lead electrocardiogram in the field allows the paramedics to alert the catheterization lab at hospitals to have it ready before they arrive with a patient, minimizing cardiac damage.
Fire Chief George Spencer said that Physio-Control Inc. will be providing them the monitor for $7,013.50.
Also being purchased will be 1,300-feet of a large diameter hose to equip both tanker trucks and 1,200-feet for their new rescue pumper for a total of $13,775 from the Apollo Fire Equipment Company.
According to Spencer, having a large diameter hose ‘is an essential component of any water delivery system.?
The third item being purchased is an electric rewind electric reel and wheel chocks for the rescue pumper for a total of $2,519.
During the approvement cycle for the purchase of the rescue pumper last year, a number of items were removed from the vehicle to reduce the cost.
Now that the proper funds have been allocated, the department is ready to purchase these items.
The electrical reel is an important part of the electrical distribution system and will allow firefighters to deploy rescue tools and lights to both sides of the vehicle at a crash scene.
The wheel chocks are a ‘safety issue? to prevent the vehicle from rolling away if the parking brake fails.