Skip to main content

Grant Preparedness


Really, two days ago I am telling you about a potential shutdown in the federal government and in the next I am posting a picture of cash across the top with a title of grant preparedness.  But I promise I will make you understand why, or at least I hope. 

You know, when I think about emergency services I think about all the times that my brothers and sister are placed in the most unusual situations and they do it for the benefit of helping a member of their community.  Think about it, when somebody has something happen and they cannot immediately figure out what to do, they typically call 911.  The dispatchers are forced to think about who best to handle the situation and then they tones are activated and the crews start to respond.  I would ask about the most unusual call you have witness/responded to, but I want to make sure to keep my rating level down here. 

After the call is done, responders will typically ask themselves why they were even alerted to this response, but they will correct the situation before questioning their response.  We are their for the public.  But there is one thing that all of these responses come down to.  They come down to operating assets.  They come down to cash, and in today's political climate...well, funding isn't what it used to be.  I think if you took a survey of all fire, police and EMS departments across the country you will find that personnel per capita has decreased over the years.  I remember the stories of fire trucks leaving the station with 5-6 personnel on board while we were leaving the station with 3.  Law enforcement officers working 2-3 in a small downtown market "beat" and now you have 3-4 in a multiple square mile district.  System status ambulance services, and demand scheduling, swing shifts, you name it multiple ideas have been put into place to save money. 

How can you help your department get more money in the times of potential government shutdowns.  Well there are large amount of grant funds that remain available even in the current state of affairs.  At this point I speak about grants as a general term, but you have large amount of monies available from local state and federal grant programs, while you also have funding that is available from foundation projects etc.  Grants, unlike an emergency response cannot be responded to in a moments notice.

How can you start in the world of grants?  Well, just like any good response, you must develop a plan, and then implement it.  Before starting I would start with some background on grants and grant development.  This is a point where I can direct you to some friends.  www.firegrantshelp.com and www.emsgrantshelp.com are both excellent resources that are available to help you be successful in some of the various grant projects available. 

Look at enhancing your budget through grants. 

Take Care and Stay Safe!
The Combomedic

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ELPA 6872 -Educational Technology

Good Morning Everybody. It has been a long time since I have posted on this blog.  The reason I am is a great reason for my Fire and EMS Audience, as well as my academic colleagues. After a very eventful beginning of 2018, my application was selected to join the latest cohort of students obtaining their Doctor of Education.  As part of this program, we are completing a course that is dedicated to technology and implementation into the classroom.  The delivery of this program is through technology based platforms, in that it is an online program. Here are some questions that I have about technology, and online learning. 1)  To mimic some of the classroom interaction and discussion, online educators use the discussion board with each module to foster communication.  For those of you having completed online educational programs, what made the discussion board useful? 2)  Does the set-up of the online course material make a difference in the success o...
8 comments
Read more

Presidential Budget cuts 2.5M from vital grants!

I know that many of you are tired of hearing about the budget and the sequestration, fiscal cliffs and many many other things that are occurring in the federal budget.  Some of you don't care because it isn't currently affecting your department.  This is one budget update that you may want to pay attention to.  In the President's 2013 budget, the SAFER and Assistance to Firefighter grant programs are not being funded to previous years levels.  Now that cut currently sits at 2.5 million out of a total of 335m per program.  However, and this is where I caution you any cuts can be a dangerous sign to the future of this program.   As you know, emergency services (police, fire and ems) serves of America's first line of defense when it comes to dangerous situations.  These are the groups that are running towards the danger while others run out...i've always hated that quote, but it works.  Videos from the tragic events at the World Trade Ce...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Kid President - Going Beyond to Achieve Amazing

"THE KID PRESIDENT" Going Beyond to Achieve Amazing!!! Sometimes inspiration comes from some strange places...really I'm taking advice from "The Kid President." But I must say, we all should. Watch the clip above. I have watched and discussed this clip many times since I watched on my TED app. The story of this young individual is truly amazing. This video is even more amazing. If you watch the clip and take it at face value it is already something that we should be doing. The Kid President makes a great point. Aren't we all on the same team. The story of today, the story of Easter shows just how much we are on the same team. The captain that led the team has sacrificed more than any of use, but we commonly think that just because we wear a different uniform, or a different title we are truly competitors. If you are a career firefighter you better than those that aren't, when really we take the same classes, we respond to the same type ca...
Post a Comment
Read more