By: Betty Lee
Clay County and Big Otter Volunteer Fire Department joined together this past week for some beneficial training in the usage of battery-operated HURST band extraction tools. These tools aid in rescues when lives are at stake, making recovery faster and more efficient. This training was held by Nicholas Burkholder, manager of Interstate Rescue Sales.
Big Otter was awarded the first of two grants being issued in Clay County, with Clay County Fire Department receiving theirs at a later date. These grants were awarded by the Gary Sinise Foundation and each were approximately $50,000 and were written by David Schoolcraft and Joyce Johnson.
The training was held to show proper usage in vehicle accidents with wrecked cars provided by King’s Wrecker and John Sears for the firefighters to use in training. A thank you to the generosity of the Gary Sinise Foundation and the local fire fighters who gave up their time to educate themselves on the usage of this life saving tool, and to all the ones that helped feed the firefighters before training, and to the community, neighbors, and volunteers.