The Streator Fire Department soon will add equipment that may save a cardiac arrest victim's life.
The fire department will buy two new cardiac monitor/defibrillators and two mechanical CPR devices, Streator Fire Chief Gary Bird told the City Council on Wednesday.
The fire department was approved to receive a $112,381 Assistance to Firefighter Grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The grant requires a 5 percent match of $5,619.
Streator firefighters respond to medical emergencies for assistance, and at times are the first to arrive on scene.
New to the department, the mechanical CPR devices are designed to provide nonstop, high-quality chest compressions, even during times when compressions are usually stopped to move the patient, or for defibrillation, Bird said.
The machines will be the same ones used by AMT Ambulance, which will make for smoother transfers.