HAMLET — Police in the Seaboard City are now equipped to help cardiac arrest victims.
The Hamlet Police Department announced Thursday on Facebook that it had been awarded a $18,640 grant for updated lifesaving equipment from Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.
With that funding, the department was able to purchase 10 Lifepak CR2 automated external defibrillators — “allowing us to better serve our community.”
“As a result of continuous support from our local Firehouse Subs restaurant and Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation, the City of Hamlet is now a safer community for all,” the post concludes.
Firehouse Subs opened its Rockingham location at Richmond Plaza in June 2020.
According to the website, the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation accepts 600 grants on a quarterly basis. The portal for the third quarter will open April 6.
The foundation was started in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, according to the website.
Grant funds can be used for lifesaving equipment, prevention education, disaster relief, scholarships and continuing education for those pursuing a career in public safety.
Defibrillators, like the ones purchased by HPD, cost $1,500 each, according to the foundation website.
In 2022, foundation grants were used to purchase: 456 sets of bunker gear; 108 thermal imaging cameras; 411 automated external defibrillators; 27 all-terrain vehicles; 89 extrication tools; and seven boats.
Those are among the items listed in the foundation’s “Book of Giving.”
Equipment can range in price from several hundred dollars to more than $10,000.
“Thanks to donors opening their hearts … we’ve been able to continue our mission of putting lifesaving equipment in the hands of first responders who desperately need it. And we’re not done yet,” Robin Peters, executive director of the foundation says in a letter at the beginning of the “Book of Giving.”
“We look forward to continuing to be a resource to those who put their life on the line to protect others. With your support we can help save lives.”
