| * Please indicate which of these Target Capabilities your request outlined in this application will satisfy. Check all that apply: | |
| Responder Safety and Health Emergency Medical Services Communications |
|
| * Please provide your narrative statement in the space provided below. Include in your narrative, details regarding (1) your project’s description and budget, (2) your organization’s financial need, (3) the benefit to be derived from the cost of your project, and (4) how the activities requested in your application will help your organization’s daily operations and how this grant will protect life and property. | |
| -
- - XXXX is located approximately XX miles west of Minneapolis/St Paul Minnesota. Project Description and Budget: --------------------------------- After a risk assessment the XXXX Volunteer Ambulance is requesting assistance in two areas under the EMS Operations and Safety Program area. These two areas are under the EMS Equipment Acquisitions and EMS Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Acquisitions. Under the EMS equipment portion, we are requesting for assistance to purchase 10 portable radios and 1 mobile radio. The need for these radios is great because our current radio system is being changed over to the 800MHz system to keep up to date with surrounding areas. The current system is obsolete and needs to be updated. Under the EMS PPE portion, we are requesting assistance to purchase Infection Control EMS turnout gear. This will be a first time purchase for our department, and we are requesting for the 15 NFPA certified EMS turnout gear. This purchase will outfit 100 percent of our staff with blood and blood-borne pathogen safe gear. This will greatly add to the safety of our EMTs as well as the patients. The amount of funding we are requesting to purchase these items consists of: Emergency Medical Services-Equipment Portable Communications 10 units at $ 3,339 each totaling $ 33,390 Mobile Communications 1 unit at $ 4,423 each totaling $ 4,423 Personal Protective Equipment Infection Control clothing 15 units at $ 490 each totaling $7,350 Total amount needed…………………45,163 Applicant 95/5 funding……………2,258 Total Federal funding……………42,905 Financial Need: ------------------- XXXX Ambulance is funded by the City of XXXX and the revenue brought in by calls for service. The City of XXXX has been experiencing great financial costs with the unexpected need for an arsenic/water treatment plant to filter the water to create safe drinkable tap water. In addition, the city has experienced high cut backs from state and federal funding, which then creates a burden on local funds. Our revenue brought in by our calls for service “patient transports” has drastically dropped in the past years because of cutbacks in Medicare/Medicade, which is both a local and national problem. The city writes off “no pay” calls, and we take a loss on all the money used to care for those patients. This problem has also hurt our operating budget extensively. Operating costs including fuel, maintenance, and repairs on all facilities/vehicles have risen greatly with no addition to the operating budget. Along with all these circumstances, our budget will not be able to solely fund the need for our communication crisis and the need to keep our EMTs safe from blood and blood-borne pathogens. These two key items are essential for us as we are first response for all medical/assistance calls in our area. Our city has committed to the match fund of five percent of the total cost as well as annual repairs and maintenance to this equipment, so it will be used for many years to come. The following is an overview of our 2007 total budget. XXXX Ambulance Budget $101,800 Utilities= $2,450 Wages=$48,702 Insurance=$6,300 Training=$6,000 Depreciation & Repairs=$16,300 Equipment=$24,250 Total=$104,002 In The Red, A Total Of -2,202 Cost/Benefit: ------------------ Our first request is to update our outdated radio system. Currently, we have 10 portable radios for EMTs on call and 1 mobile radio for our only ambulance. These radios are now out of date because our county is changing over to become compliant with our surrounding counties. XXXX lies XX miles west of the Minneapolis/St. Paul; with the fast growth of the area we are now considered a metro county. These metro counties have switched to a new 800 MHz radio system, which is more advanced and more reliable. This new system is the beginning of the statewide interoperable communication plan. We are requesting to improve our communication to provide a better service to our community and to all neighboring communities. If we do not receive this funding, we will be forced to not be in compliance with our surrounding communities and counties. We rely on these radios to communicate EMT to EMT, EMT to dispatch, and EMT to hospital. Without these radios we will no longer be able to contact fellow EMTs to alert them of the severity of the call to which we are responding, call dispatch to let them know we received the page, or alert the incoming hospital to the status of the patient we are transporting to its facility. In EMS, communication is key for helping others; help us keep this true. If our department is awarded this grant for the PPE, it will greatly decrease the risks of sickness to our EMTs. The turnout gear we have requested meets NFPA 1999-2003 edition standards for infection control/protective clothing for EMS. This gear would be the first for XXXX Ambulance Service and is long overdue. We are asking for 15 sets of gear to protect our entire staff of EMTs for XXXX Ambulance. In the new era in which we live, there are many more diseases transmitted through blood and blood-borne pathogens. This turnout gear will also protect against five common accident scene chemicals, which are battery acid, motor oil, gasoline, hydraulic oil and swimming pool chlorine solutions. This gear has been certified and tested under ASTM F903 and is compliant for EMS turnout gear. If we do not receive this assistance to purchase this gear, we will be out of compliance with NFPA 1999-2003 edition for protective clothing for EMS. We are called upon in health care to help sick and injured people, which often requires skin-to-skin contact. Currently, all we have for protection is gloves and eyewear. There are great risks involved in helping sick and injured people, but with the new and never-ending risks of communicable diseases rising it is harder to find caregivers. We need to keep the EMTs we have healthy and safe; without this gear we are limited to do so. Statement of Effects: ------------------------ The communication equipment we are asking for will enable us to keep up with surrounding communities as well as area hospitals. This system will bring us in compliance with the statewide interoperable communication system and the state homeland security strategy. After 9/11 all emergency departments witnessed the need for better communication. These radios will help us meet this need and allow us to respond to mass causality incidents in or around our community more effectively. Our everyday calls in our primary service area will also benefit from improved communication. If good communication is not available, mutual aid is pointless, and this funding will solve our problems we are experiencing now. The turnout gear we are requesting for will protect 100 percent of our EMS staff. In XXXX our ambulance provides medical first response and Basic Life Support transport. We respond to multiple patient calls that involve triage of many patients. This process has great risks to health care providers with the risk of disease. This gear will protect our integrity to provide a great service to the people of the XXXX and surrounding areas. Safety is our number one priority. These jackets and pants will bring us in compliance with state and federal standards, including NFPA and OSHA. Our community will benefit by keeping our current EMTs healthy and safe. Assuring new recruits that they will be safe due to the use of protective gear might enhance recruiting new EMTs. EMTs provide care to the public, and with this grant, the public will be caring for EMTs. Both of these requests will greatly help our service. The area we are located in is growing extensively, and our EMS system has been lacking. XXXX and our service area is located in Wright County, Wright County is third in the state for population growth. According to the recent report from the US Census Bureau, XXXCounty is the 73rd fastest growing county in the nation, as of July 1, 2006. We feel it is time to catch up with the growth of the population we serve, and this request with significantly help us meet our goal. Thank you for your consideration, XXXX Volunteer Ambulance Service |
|