Photo/courtesy Southborough Fire Department
Northborough – Six local fire departments recently announced the receipt of $54,000 in regional homeland security grant funds to purchase tactical personal protective gear and traumatic bleeding control equipment. The departments are Hopedale, Milford, Northborough, Shrewsbury, Southborough and Westborough.
The awarded funds have been allocated to purchase tactical vests (a.k.a. bulletproof vests), tactical helmets, eye protection, tourniquets and medical kits containing lifesaving bleeding control equipment. Five of the departments will be issued six full sets of tactical gear (the sixth department is already outfitted). All six departments will be issued one bleeding control kit, and a cache of consumable equipment for immediate replacement. The awarded gear and equipment are part of an ongoing regional effort to develop operational plans and provide the training and equipment necessary for emergency responders to safely and effectively respond to active shooter and violent/hostile incidents where firefighters and emergency medical personnel could be tasked with entering hazardous situations alongside law enforcement personnel to render care and evacuate victims. The key elements of the regional plan are focused on uniformity, consistency, coordination, and interoperability among fire departments, emergency medical services, law enforcement, and other important partners. The grant was awarded by the Central Region Homeland Security Council through federal homeland security funds allocated to the commonwealth of Massachusetts. The six fire departments represent the communities that are within both Massachusetts Fire District 14 and the Massachusetts Homeland Security Central Region.
