Charlottesville Fire Department wants to buy ballistic protection for its crews

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Charlottesville Fire Department is getting a cut of the roughly $1.7 million that still hasn’t been allocated from the Federal American Rescue Plan.

The department says it wants to use some of those funds to buy protective gear.

“We’re trying to buy is some equipment that we could use in high-risk, high-violent scenarios,” Joe Phillips with CFD said.

CFD is expected to receive $90,000, about $60,000 of which will go to ballistic vests.

“We will have adequate ballistic protection when we’re going into a scene that may not be as stable as we would like because of violence in the area,” Phillips said.

Phillips says the new vests will add more protection for EMS workers and firefighters

“It’s just a small plate 10 by 12 inches in the front and in the back. And it just provides coverage right in that one area where the plate is, and they’re heavy. And they don’t secure in a one size fits all sort of environment. So they slide around,” Phillips said.

The rest of the money ($30,000) will to towards youth education materials and stop-the-bleed kits.

“People can bleed out in less than a minute, really, if it’s a severe laceration or a wound,” Phillips said. “Having the kit close by in places of business or in your vehicle, allows you to act as a first responder right then and put a tourniquet on someone before EMS even gets there.”

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