Feb 21, 2020 2 min read

North Strabane Township supervisors are set to consider giving the township fire department the go-ahead to seek more than $100,000 in federal money for new lifesaving equipment.

The proposal is for the department to apply for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for $119,700 so it can buy new heart monitors and portable defibrillators. Separately, the department is also proposing to join counterparts in Cecil and Peters townships to apply for a FEMA grant to cover upgrades to radio equipment.

The applications are on the agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting.

Fire Chief Mark Grimm said during Tuesday’s nonvoting meeting that the first grant would pay for replacing the department’s two heart monitors and 17 defibrillators, known as AEDs. The monitors are about 10 years old. The AEDs date to six to eight years ago. He said the current ones aren’t compatible with the digital EMS system the department uses.

“And they’re getting older, tech’s changing, so we want to keep all our stuff to the newest technology,” Grimm said in an interview.

Grimm told supervisors that the grant would require a 5% match from the township. The required match would come to $5,985.

“We do have money in the budget this year if we’re awarded,” Grimm said.

Grimm said a “conservative amount” to seek in the second application would be about $350,000, which would be for upgrades to communication equipment used by departments in North Strabane and two neighbors, including all three fire departments in Cecil.

“We’re looking to upgrade all the mobile equipment and the infrastructures between the three municipalities,” Grimm said.

The 5% match – which would total $17,500 based on the estimate Grimm offered – would be shared by the departments.