The SouthtownStar has an article about the Oak Lawn Fire Department receiving a federal grant:
Firefighter/paramedics in Oak Lawn, along with patients getting CPR, should be safer thanks to a federal grant received Friday.
A $206,428 grant from the Department of Homeland Security will be used to buy four hydraulic lifts to move gurneys in and out of ambulances, and one automated CPR machine, Fire Chief George Sheets said.
Sheets said the lifts should help prevent firefighter/paramedics getting leg and back injuries while moving patients on gurneys in and out of ambulances. The lifts will be installed on the village’s three front-line ambulances and one of two backup ambulances.
The automated CPR machine will compress a patient’s chest, much like a firefighter/paramedic does with his or her hands, in efforts to get the heart beating again, Sheets said. Using the machine will free up firefighter/paramedics to conduct other tests and monitor patients en route to a hospital.
Oak Lawn Fire Deptartment Bureau Chief Gary Bettenhausen said the automated CPR machine “is more efficient and safer for the guys.”
