Trenton's firefighters will soon begin wearing bulletproof vests to protect themselves on the job when they double as medics.
The vests were approved as part of the fire union's new contract.
The Trenton Emergency Medical Services have been wearing vests for years, but the firefighters have been the only first responders without them — even though they're often the first to arrive on the scene of a medical call, union president Wayne Wolk said.
The fire department has been responding to emergency medical calls as first responders since June 2008.
"It's a benefit for the residents, but we also need to be protected," Wolk said. "You never know the situation you're going into. It's better to be safe than run into a problem so it's an extra level of protection for our men and women when they're going into unknown calls."