Ray Beaty is pictured with Nevada Mayor Pro-Tem Sandy Ehrig with the $15,000 grant check at the September 9 Nevada City Council Meeting.
The Nevada Fire Department and EMS team has become quite adept at securing grant funds to help pay for the many devices and necessities it takes to keep this community safe.
At the July 22, 2024, City Council Meeting, Assistant Chief and Paramedic/Nurse Jeff Gilchrist told council members how a $15,000 grant from Prairie Meadows has allowed the department to secure new cardiac monitors, which are vital to helping a person in the midst of cardiac arrest.
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, nine out of 10 people who have cardiac arrest outside of a hospital die. Residents of Nevada, however, have a greater chance of surviving one of these episodes due to the paramedic-level personnel and equipment offered by our volunteer fire department.
“In 2018, I approached Chief Reynolds with the idea of getting an EKG monitor that offered a multi-view of the heart and would help identify heart attacks,” Gilchrist said. A gift from Mary Greeley Medical Center equipped the department with two monitors at that time. “Those monitors served us well,” Gilchrist said, “…but they aren’t being serviced anymore for parts, and we aren’t sure how much longer they will work for us.”
Department Lieutenant and Paramedic Ray Beaty saw that Prairie Meadows was taking applications for grants, but at the time he saw it, the department had only seven days to get an application in.
“I am now retired for the most part,” Beaty said, “so I have some time to work on grants.” He immediately went to work on the Prairie Meadows grant and was able to get it.
With the help of the grant award and a 50/50 percent partnership match from the City and the Nevada Fire Association*, the Nevada Fire Department now has two new LIFEPAK 15 Monitor/Defibrillators. Valued at $30,000 each, “these have a lot of capabilities,” Gilchrist noted.
One of the monitors will be kept in the vehicle of the Fire Chief, who is often first on scene during daytime emergencies. The other will be kept in the department’s EMS vehicle.
Beaty said there are some grants you get and some you don’t, but he’s very happy he was able to secure the Prairie Meadows grant. “Fire and EMS departments rely on grants to help fund fire and medical equipment as cities are facing budget restraints,” he said.
Fire Chief Ray Reynolds commended Beaty and Gilchrist for their continued work on behalf of the department. “The leadership in our EMS section is strong and you are directly responsible for our continued success.”
The department has already experienced the joy of saving lives with its paramedic-level staffing and equipment. Reynolds wondered, as he considered the department’s training and new equipment, “how many lives will be touched?”
*The Nevada Firefighters Inc. is the nonprofit 501c3 fundraising organization made up of fire department membership.
–Written by Marlys Barker, City of Nevada
