UPDATED: LBFD Receives $54K Federal Grant for Equipment
Funds to go toward purchasing cardiac devices.
Photos
The Long Beach Fire Department this week received $54,000 in federal funding to purchase new emergency care equipment for ambulances.
The LBFD applied for the funds last year and the money was allocated through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, according to the offices of Congressman Peter King and U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Long Beach City Council President Fran Adelson and LBFD Commissioner Scott Kemins said the fire department will use the funds exclusively to purchase three new Lifepak 15s that included heart monitors and defibrillators for three advanced ambulances that are manned by both career and volunteer firefighters.
"In difficult financial times, this grant is a tremendous help,” Adelson said in a statement. “The grant enables us to obtain new essential life-saving equipment without draining the city's finances.”
Kemins said the equipment will be used in ambulances to help heart attack victims. “These will be state of the art, top of the line equipment, which is greatly needed,” he added.
The LBFD applied for the grant in March 2011, Adelson said. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, established by FEMA within the Department of Homeland Security, is part of an effort to increase the nation’s emergency response preparation, and provides federal funding to first responder organizations for the acquisition of personal protective equipment, firefighting vehicles, emergency response equipment and emergency response trainings, according to a statement released jointly by King, Schumer and Gillibrand.
“I understand how critical this funding is for our firefighters,” Representative Peter King, Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and the Congressional Fire Services Caucus said in a statement. “These funds will ensure that the Long Beach Fire Department has the necessary equipment to keep them safe and protect Long Beach.”
Bill Piazza, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 287, worked on the application for the grant in a competitive program that includes departments around the country.
“There is a great level of personal satisfaction when you invest time and effort to set out and accomplish a goal,” said Piazza about what he called a time-consuming process. “I am very happy that I was able to make a contribution toward securing these funds for the department.”
* This story was updated at 5:17 on 2.19.12.
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Long Beach Fire Department
1 W Chester St, Long Beach, NY -
Long Beach City Council
1 W Chester St, Long Beach, NY
Brian McNamara
2:55 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
It should be noted that Long Beach Professional Firefighters Association President William Piazza is responsible for writing this grant application. While recognizing the department’s need for this Advanced Life Support equipment and taking into account the city’s present financial situation. Piazza was proactive in finding a solution for this very important issue. This is an example of our union’s willingness to be part of the process in getting the city back on track financially.
tired
3:29 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
Good news! I expect to see Torres writing a lot of grants this year.
laocoon
4:43 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
Please, please make sure the paid professionals get this equipment on their trucks and that it doesn't languish in the trunks of volunteers' cars!
Yea, didn't Torres say he writes lots of grant applications? How about a list of the grants he got for Long Beach!
EnsPulver
8:21 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
The article said (twice) the equipment would be in ambulances. Read the article before you spout off.
laocoon
8:51 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012
Read the article, but they said the same thing about the Jaws of Life, and it seems only the volunteers have access to that, which daily endagers lives by keeping needed equipment from professionals. Really don't believe what you read, do you? This is Long Beach.
TikcuS
5:37 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
whos car is it going to end up in? the article states it will be put on 3 ambulances'. I dont believe anyone, paid or volunteer, takes an ambulance home as a personal vehicle.....i could be wrong....
Misty
3:20 pm on Saturday, February 18, 2012
Nice work, Billy Piazza. We'll need those heart attack devices when our elected officals really give us the screw and raise our taxes until we are dead broke.
Barbara Piccione
8:12 pm on Saturday, February 18, 2012
Thank God we Have VOLUNTEERS!!!!!!
Jay Gusler
4:52 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Yes, we're all appreciative of our volunteers, but the fact is that the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of the work of the LBFD is done by the paid personnel. Probably about 3800 or so of the average 4500 runs a year are handled solely by the paid force with no volunteer involvement whatsoever. Just want the record to be clear.
Glenna King
7:50 am on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Thank you to ALL of Long Beach's Firefighters for always being there for our community, no matter what!!!! :) Special thanks to Billy Piazza for obtaining this grant in which all firefighters & citizens of the City of Long Beach will greatly benefit from!!!! :)
LB TAXPAYA
2:12 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Take the cash and party it away down west! Otherwise, the crap will just sit there like the police boat, jet ski's, deadbeat lifeguards, etc!
Eddie
4:03 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
You forgot all the LBPD Segways that were stolen and are in people's garages now.
Jay Gusler
5:05 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
I think you have a sound basis for your skepticism in how equipment has been used (or under-used) in other departments, but given the current staffing level in the paid ranks of the LBFD, the likelihood that this equipment will fall into disuse is practically nil. The professional force are now often able to staff the second due ambulance. That means that; a) the ambulance gets out out to calls more predictably then when it's staffed by volunteers, and; b) the personnel on board will be Advanced Life Support (ALS) Certified, and thus capable of actually employing the full range of capabilities of this equipment.
I hope this equipment never needs to be used in the first place, but if you're in the throes of a true cardiac emergency, this equipment - properly deployed - could spell the difference between your family planning your funeral and you planning your future. It's really that big of a deal.
Eddie
5:32 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Nice to see this happening, Jay. The professionalism of the operating departments in Long Beach is a great reason to live here and with support like this these departments will only get better.
Now if we can get the administration to invest more in these vital services and in the Long Beach infrastructure and less in politics and fluff like flowering cabbage, we'll be on the right track.
Thanks Jay, for your and your coworkers' dedication.
TikcuS
5:41 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Is the paid force the only part of the LBFD with Advanced Life Support (ALS) ?
oceanview
8:07 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Good job Mr. Piazza.
Tideline
7:44 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Billy piazza is an asset to the Dept and the city and should be promoted. Lb tax payable talks out of his third point of contact.
The biggest deadbeat on this island is the Allegra hotel who prides themselves in charging outrageous prices, but then paying not paying their financial obligations to anyone they owe.
Barbara DuBow Bernardino
10:58 am on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Good job Billy!!!!
It is my opinion that under the leadership of our City Council and Manager, a three year goal plan would be a step in the right direction; such a plan would function as a blueprint. In addition, each department head [director] and his/her team ought to be required to research and apply for grants within their departments which relate to the priorities as set out in the yearly goal plan.Department heads ought to be encouraged to attend staff development training in grant writing; when new positions open for directorships, grant writing ought to be a requirement for the job.
Bobby
12:29 pm on Thursday, February 23, 2012
Maybe Ms. Dubow should take some lessons on grant writing from the Long Beach Volunteer Fire Department. She worked for the city for a few years as a grant writer but from what I hear never secured a penny in funding---but she could collect a salary at a nice pace! The volunteers don't even get paid and she did and still came up with nothing!
Larry
9:42 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
Good work Billy!