Hearts beat a little faster in Westland last week with the announcement of a grant to fund the upgrade and replacement of 10 new cardiac monitor/defibrillators and 15 automated external defibrillators.
The $396,695 grant was awarded to the Westland Fire Department as part of an Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) program. The grant was awarded through a regional effort and inter-departmental collaboration and includes a city match funding portion of 10 percent or $36,066.03.
The new devices will replace and update the monitors Westland purchased several years ago, and will replace and update all the city building automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to new Wi-Fi capable devices where issues will be monitored from the Office of Fire Administration. The additional five monitors will be used to outfit Advanced Life Support engines, officials said.
“Westland currently has five monitors that have some trade-in value which will be used to offset maintenance agreements and upgrade some other equipment that is at end of life that qualifies under the grant,” commented Fire Chief Michael Stradtner. “This is a large improvement to our service levels and the costs associated with the monitors was the biggest barrier to Advanced Life Support engines.”
“The city depends on grants like these to continue to fund service enhancements for our residents,” remarked Mayor William R. Wild. “Every day we count on our firefighters to perform at their best, this is a tool which will help the fire fighters to improve their efficiency and better serve our residents in need.”
