EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence Fire Department has applied for nearly $1 million in aid through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG) sponsored by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

EPFD Chief Oscar Elmasian said the potential monies, totaling $998,942, would be earmarked for use to replace several pieces of electronics frequently used by city firefighters. The program requires a 10-percent “match” from the municipality, meaning the city would have to provide $99,894.20. Acting City Manager/East Providence Police Chief Chris Parella has approved of the application and of providing the necessary match of funds, Chief Elmasian said.

Any grant received would provide for the replacement or purchase of the following equipment: 74 portable radios; three mobile radios; 13 heart monitor/defibrillators; 10 automatic external defibrillators; an accountability system for personnel accountability for emergency incidence; service contracts for newly procured equipment. Chief Elmasian explained the equipment sought to be replaced can no longer can be updated with software, parts or service contracts.

“We’ve always known we have a need for replacing these things, but it’s an expensive purchase and we’ve had other priorities with past purchases,” Chief Elmasian said. “Like the radios. They’re 12 years old and that at the end of their service lives. We’re can’t program them with any updates any longer. And they’re important because it assists us with interoperability with the rest of the state.”

Added Captain John Potvin, EPFD director of Emergency Medical Services, “Things like the heart monitors, we use them pretty much on every EMS call we make. And we use them not just as heart monitors. They’re also capable of giving us vital signs and read oxygen saturation. They’re more than just 12 lead and 4 lead ekgs (Electrocardiographys). Like the radios they’re also at the end of their service life. And as well we can only cover the service contracts one-year at a time. Regardless of the grant or not we’re going to have to make these purchases eventually.”

As written in the current application, the EPFD “has been very successful and awarded approximately $16 million of grants through the AFG grant program over the last 20 years.” Those monies have assisted the city with the most recent renovations to Stations 1 and 4 on Broadway and North Broadway, respectively. Previous grant funding has also been used for the outfitting of all personal protective firefighting gear as well as replacement of hoses and self-contained breathing apparatus.

The primary goal of the AFG program is to “enhance the safety of the public and firefighters with respect to fire-related hazards by providing direct financial assistance to eligible fire departments, nonaffiliated Emergency Medical Services organizations and State Fire Training Academies.” According to FEMA, the funding is for “critically needed resources to equip and train emergency personnel to recognized standards, enhance operations efficiencies, foster interoperability and support community resilience.”

Having submitted the application, Chief Elmasian said it now must go through a multi-stage review process by FEMA. The chief added the department could learn of a decision on approval by sometime in the spring of 2019 at the likely earliest.