MONROE — The City of Monroe Fire Department was one of 442 recipients to be awarded funds through the state Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Flex Grant, which is funded with American Rescue Plan/Covid 19 grant money. 

The money will allow the department to complete several upgrades to its capabilities, including the purchase of an automatic CPR device that does the compressions to a cardiac patients’ chest, freeing up EMS workers for other tasks. 

A goal of the grant program, organizers say, is “to stabilize EMS providers and ensure they could continue to respond to emergencies across Wisconsin, the American Rescue Plan Act — Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery funds awarded a total of $32 million to eligible, certified EMS Services.”

Of that, the city was awarded a total of $142,500 and has until October 24, 2023, to use the money. The Department has started using its funds to upgrade some equipment, such as purchasing the new CPR device, a Stryker Lucas 3.

According to the department, more than 60% of the Monroe department’s calls are EMS related. And if a local ambulance is not available to respond, the backup ambulance for the community is more than 20 minutes away. As such, the Stryker Lucas 3, officials said, is like an “extra set of hands” that allows the Department to manage other aspects of cardiac emergencies, while it delivers “high-quality, extended”chest compressions to a patient.

In addition to the equipment, the grant has helped the department recruit new employees. According to a social media post, the extra funding is helping the department “ignite and update its recruitment efforts by allowing them to work with a professional marketing agency to develop a website, recruitment videos for social media and television, digital ads for distribution, and print products for distribution at recruitment events without increasing its normal operating budget.”

Fire departments nationwide, particularly volunteer departments, have struggled mightily to recruit new staff and to maintain their existing numbers of EMS workers and firefighters.