One South Georgia fire department and EMS now have 26 new bulletproof vests for its members.
The county spent about $10,000 on the vests.
According to the fire chief, the county got that money from selling surplus equipment.
Fire Chief David Forrester said last year, members of the department went into situations where bullet-proof vests could have been used. He said now, if they get one of those calls, his first responders will be ready.
“Well, if they get in that situation, it does give them that extra level of protection. Like I said, we’ve had several instances in the last year or so, where we’ve actually been involved and needed that and we didn’t have it. Now, we feel like we can better protect our personnel," said Forrester.