$30K grant helps Va. county purchase EMS equipment

By Bill Carey
EMS1

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Va. — Cumberland Fire and EMS announced the receipt of a $30,000 grant that will help purchase video laryngoscopes, ventilators and emergency child restraints.

The non-matching Centra Community Grant follows a Rescue Squad Assistance Fund grant of $5,000 that helped purchase a CPR device, the Farmville Herald reported.

"Our focus is adding as many tools to the toolkits for our emergency medical response teams so they can tackle any situation that might arise in the field," Cumberland County Administrator Derek Stamey said. "The LUCAS devices are critical in that they free up a provider and chest compressions can continue on a patient."

"I cannot stress enough the focus that the Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff's Office, and the volunteer fire departments and the county administration have had on public safety," Stamey added. "Whether it is through ARPA funding, through our commitments through the operating budget and through our collective efforts in seeking out and applying for grants, we are constantly focusing on the public safety needs of our residents. Those efforts will continue."