16 PFDS DONATED TO BROOME COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES
On February 8, 2008, Contour Construction Company and the Broome County Firefighters' Association donated 16 new universal Rescuer PFDs (Personal Flotation Devices) to Broome County's Water Rescue Dive Response Team. Last year following the floods of 2006, the Broome County Firefighters Association was contacted by Contour Construction about making a donation. Contour Construction had held a golf tournament and wanted to donate the proceeds, $1500, to help out local fire companies who had worked so hard during the floods of June 2006 and the flash floods in November 2006. Since so many of the local fire companies were involved they decided to donate the money to the County Association and asked that it be used for something that would benefit all of the local fire departments.
The suggestion for the PFDs came from Harpursville Chief Jeff Buckler who advised that whenever there is any kind of water rescue call there never a sufficient number of personal floatation devices (PFDS) for all of the personnel involved. He noted that on several occasions fire departments had borrowed PFDs from the County Parks Department which were really not suitable for rescue personnel. Since every fire department has some body of water - creek, pond, river- where a water rescue might have to be made, it was felt the purchase of PFDs would benefit everyone.
Tim Doty, Captain of the Broome County Water Rescue Dive Response Team came to the Association' s July meeting to show us the PFDs used by the Team- the Universal Rescuer made by ExtraSport/Johnson Outdoor. These PFDs are designed for "white-water" or emergency situations, are more buoyant and have a number of safety features designed for rescuers. They are also extremely adjustable and can fit a very wide range of sizes. Tim pointed out that because they are so adjustable a rescuer can carry an additional PFD for a victim simply by wearing one over the other which keeps the rescuers hands free.
Since the PFDs were well over $100 each, the membership voted to use the money from the Contour Donation and spend additional money from the Association to purchase sixteen (16) of the Universal Rescuer PFDs. By then donating them to the Broome County Emergency Services and the Water Rescue Dive Response Team these PFDs are now available to any area fire company who needs them.
Our thanks to Contour for the donation and to Johnson Outdoor/Eureka Tent in Conklin for making this purchase possible.
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