Spicewood VFD purchasing new first-responder vehicle with grant
The Lower Colorado River Authority and the Pedernales Electric Cooperative presented an $18,500 grant to the Spicewood Volunteer Fire Department to purchase a new first-responder vehicle. The grant is part of the LCRA’s Community Development Partnership Program. Pictured are Victoria Miller, LCRA representative (left); Celeste Mikeska, PEC representative; Donna Wall, Spicewood VFD secretary/treasurer; Patsy Lester, Spicewood EMS director; and Lori Berger, LCRA board member. Courtesy photo
FROM STAFF REPORT
SPICEWOOD — A combined grant from the Lower Colorado River Authority and the Pedernales Electric Cooperative is paving the way for the Spicewood Volunteer Fire Department and EMS to buy a new first-responder vehicle.
LCRA and PEC representatives presented an $18,500 community grant to the department Jan. 13.
“We are extremely appreciative of the grant that LCRA is awarding Spicewood emergency responders,” said Patsy Lester, Spicewood EMS director. “We are thankful to finally have a vehicle capable of transporting all our necessary equipment that was made possible by this grant.”
The new first-responder vehicle will allow the department to transport equipment and supplies to emergency scenes. The Spicewood VFD-EMS is replacing two aging ambulances with a more dependable vehicle.
With a new first-responder vehicle, Spicewood VFD-EMS crews can better access and stabilize patients until an EMS transport service arrives to take the patient to the nearest emergency facility.
The grant and new vehicle allows the Spicewood department to move funds previously used for the upkeep of the older ambulances to training and other needs.
Spicewood VFD-EMS is a volunteer department that serves a 55-square mile section of southwest Burnet County.
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