Cole County EMS to get new bulletproof vests

COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County emergency medical personnel have been approved for new bulletproof vests.

In a meeting Tuesday, the Cole County Commission unanimously approved a grant to Cole County EMS of $22,852 from the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation.

A news release says Cole County EMS received the grant from the FSPSF to help increase security and ensure that the community is better prepared for emergencies.

The money will be used to purchase 40 ballistic plate carriers, 40 ballistic plate kits and 80 ID place cards through Titan Armor Solutions.

Cole County EMS Chief Eric Hoy said that protective equipment is used several times a month during calls that involve violence. This includes cases that have suspected shots fired as well as cases where a suspect may have a knife or other hand held weapon.

"We've learned from from those events in the past that in order to save lives and deliver care effectively, that our folks need to operate in hazardous environments to deliver care more quickly," Hoy said. "We know that waiting outside and waiting for the scene to be secured often leads to leads to greater mortality and poor outcomes for the patients."

According to the National Institutes of Health, EMS personnel have a rate of occupational violence injuries about 22 times higher than the average for all workers. The agency will receive the new equipment next month.

"Our folks are already trained on how to use the previous equipment, so there shouldn't need to be any training time or lead up," Hoy said.

Different from the current equipment, the new vests will be stab proof and feature protective side panels. The vests will also have a ten-year service life instead of a five-year one, doubling the use of grant money.

FSPSF offers grants quarterly to agencies who apply throughout the year. After a grant is awarded, there is a two year dead period where grant recipients have to wait to apply again.

Cole County EMS's current equipment was actually supplied by the FSPSF in 2018.

"Firehouse Subs Foundation did grant our initial ballistic vest purchases back in 2018," Hoy said. "We were fortunate enough to partner with them again to deliver upgraded protection this year."