New Hyde Park Fire District Gives Safety an Upgrade

There was a focus on safety at Tuesday evening's board of commissioners bi-monthly meeting at the 's headquarters.

Recently, the district applied for and received a $6,000 grant from Nassau County legislators for the purchase of new multi-gas detectors. In addition to each fire company being issued one, every chief now has one in their vehicle.  

Other grant requests have been made to cover the implementation of a paramedic school program, the purchase of a new rescue truck and the purchase of new bailout systems. The district is just waiting on the county’s approval.

According to Chief Brian Sherwood, “These grants were applied for to put safety measures in place that can better protect the residents in our district and the firefighters as well.”

The chiefs also proposed the purchase of 20 new harnesses, which will not be covered by the grants.

“These harnesses come with carabiners that firefighters use to clip themselves onto ladders so they don’t fall,” according to Chief John Willers.

The harnesses will serve as a crucial element to the aforementioned bailout systems, which Willers described as “a way for firefighters to jump out of a window and safely lower themselves to the ground via rope in emergencies when they are not able to get to a ladder.”

Once the chiefs were given a green light on the harnesses, the commissioners also affirmed the purchase of new rescue skids to evacuate injured parties and transport them to a hospital.

The skid, which Willers indicated “works on the principle of a stokes basket,” comes in two parts. One is a stretcher-like component that firefighters can “put two ropes on and use to drag the injured along the ground and out of harm’s way,” Sherwood said. The other part attaches to a vehicle and acts as a flatbed holder for the stretcher.

Future purchases for the district may include “stair chair” devices designed to evacuate immobile patients from the upper floors of multi-story residences. The stair chairs, which are currently in the test phase, come with tracks that allow firefighters to carefully slide the patient down flights of stairs without having to lift them, which they currently do.

These new equipment purchases are the result of mandatory requirements set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.