Emergency medical technicians with Culpeper County's Little Fork Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company are now able to send more patient information from their ambulance to the nearest hospital.
Spotsylvania County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services upgraded the advanced life-support equipment on all 22 of its ambulances for a fraction of what it would have cost.
And the Fredericksburg Fire Department was able to buy new temperature-control devices that the state requires for medications kept in firetrucks.
This was possible because of the $239,535 the Fredericksburg region was awarded through grants from the state's Rescue Squad Assistance Fund.
This year, the fund returned a total of $3.2 million to Virginia localities.
Tina Skinner, executive director of the Rappahannock EMS Council, said the fund plays a very important role in the emergency-medicine community.
"The rescue-squad assistance program ensures that our agencies have the funds to do what they need to do," Skinner said. "It ensures that we have a quality EMS program in our region."
For Little Fork, a rescue company that has limited resources and often finds itself more than 15 minutes away from the nearest hospital, the $14,160 it received in grant awards will make a difference in its rescue capabilities.
The squad upgraded two defibrillators to get the 12-lead capability, a piece of equipment that provides more information about a patient's heart.
"It's so important to get patient diagnosis information quickly and accurately as possible," said Danielle Ketcham, Little Fork's public information officer. "This new equipment allows us to send more pertinent patient information to the hospital so they can be more prepared."
Little Fork also purchased a new stretcher that has a higher weight limit and doesn't have to be lowered to the ground and then lifted into the ambulance.
"It definitely improves patient safety as well as the safety of the EMT," Ketcham said.
Spotsylvania Fire and Rescue was awarded $25,000 to put toward its three-year project of replacing all the cardiac monitors with upgraded models.
According to Assistant Director Don Taylor, the older models are being phased out of use, so maintenance for that equipment won't be available much longer.
"Plus, it makes one piece of equipment standardized throughout the entire county," Taylor said.
The grants are collected through Four for Life, a program that adds a surcharge of $4 when motorists register their vehicles with the state Department of Motor Vehicles. A grant committee of the Virginia Department of Health decides which agencies have special needs and allocates the funds accordingly.
"The committee members are on the grassroots level, so they know what the agencies are like and what they need," Skinner said.
The grants usually are awarded at a 50-50 rate, where the state provides half the funding for a purchase and the local agency is responsible for the remaining half. This way, agencies are able to purchase equipment they need but couldn't afford at full price.
According to Skinner, equipment costs alone are so significant that many EMS organizations have trouble affording everything they need.
"EMS might be nonprofit, but it's quite a big business to run," Skinner said.
Taylor emphasized how important the grants are financially for Spotsylvania EMS and the community it serves.
"If we had to look at replacing all the Lifepaks at one time, you're looking at a third of a million dollars," Taylor said. "Through the fund's grants, we saved the taxpayers a lot of money."
The Rappahannock EMS Council itself also was awarded $11,083 to purchase training equipment.
This year, the council will be able to offer an infection-control class to area agencies at no cost, Skinner said.
"Offering the class for free is great because rural agencies operating on really tight budgets might not have the funds to send people to certain training classes," she said.
Other Fredericksburg-area localities that are receiving grants include Stafford County, $27,750; Caroline County, $14,177; Orange County, $1,428; and Fauquier County, $125,657.
To reach STEPHANIE TWINING: 540/374-5000, ext. 5558