The South Boundary Fire Protection District has received a grant from the Northern Idaho Healthcare Coalition to purchase three automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, totaling approximately $4,300. 

In a Jan. 3 press release , fire district officials said the AEDs will be placed on two apparatuses and in a community space. 

“One AED will be placed on Engine 652, housed at Station 2 on Deep Creek Loop,” the statement said. “Prior to this grant, there were no AEDs available at this station or on any apparatus assigned there.” 

“Another will be placed on Brush 661, our first-out wildland apparatus. Until now, none of our wildland units carried AEDs. While AEDs are often thought of as tools for public emergencies, this placement is especially critical for firefighter safety. During wildland incidents, crews frequently operate far from immediate medical resources, and cardiac events remain one of the most significant risks in the fire service.” 

“The third AED will be placed in our community room, which is used for meetings and community events.” 

For Cori Vandecoevering, a volunteer with South Boundary Fire, writing grants is a new experience. 

“We are very new to this,” Vandecoevering said. “That was actually the first grant that I had done. I had just taken a grant-writing class online for first responders.” 

“I was really pleased that we were awarded it. It was a fair amount of work,” she said. 

Vandecoevering said she is in the process of applying for additional grants. 

Fire Chief Mike Vandecoevering said he hopes the department will be able to add more AEDs in the future. 

“Eventually, I would like to get them on our other two brush trucks and possibly on our water tenders, because we don't know which apparatus is going out to calls at any given time or if they're going to be separated from the other apparatuses that have it on there,” Vandecoevering said. 

He said the new apparatuses equipped with AEDs will be used often and will likely be among the first units to respond to calls. While AEDs are not used frequently, he said, having them available is critical. 

In July, the department was awarded three self-contained breathing apparatus bottles from the Gary Sinise Foundation, equipment that would have cost the department approximately $24,000. SCBAs provide breathable air in hazardous environments, such as fires. 

Nick Mechikoff, emergency management coordinator with the Northern Idaho Healthcare Coalition, said 75% of applications submitted this year were successful. 

“The NIHCC received 32 applications and we were able to fund 24,” Mechikoff said in a statement. “The selection process involved the NIHCC’s executive committee — which is made up of representatives from hospitals, EMS, local emergency management, public health and the tribes — reviewing and ranking the applications.” 

“This year, we awarded $160,000 to organizations in our region, which includes the northern 10 counties of Idaho,” he said.