Harmon Volunteer Fire Department First Responder John Pearson (center) displays some of the equipment the group was able to purchase with a $9,000 grant from the South Shore Foundation at Flippin. With Pearson are two of the trustees of the South Shore Foundation, Jodie Jeffrey-Sanders of Mountain Home (right) and Howard Evans of Yellville (left). The equipment includes an automatic external defibrillator for use with some who suffer cardiac arrest, additional radios and medical supplies.

FLIPPIN, Ark. - Harmon area Volunteer Fire Department First Responders have received a grant from the South Shore Foundation to purchase new lifesaving equipment for emergency use. The $9,000 grant was approved by South Shore Foundation trustees in late 1999 and used to purchase a new automatic external defibrillator, medical supplies and First Responder equipment.

Accepting the grant for the Harmon Volunteer Fire Department First Responders was John Pearson, fire chief at Harmon. Pearson said the defibrillator will become an important lifesaving tool for his department, which serves 450 households in Boone County. Use of the defibrillators is credited with increasing the survival rate of heart attack victims from less than 10 percent to 40 percent. The machine is used only after training by Dr. Barbara Ashe, medical director for the Boone County First Responders, and under strict guidelines, Pearson explained.

Additional equipment purchased with the grant included 10 radios, three headsets for vehicle drivers to use with the portable radios, two pagers, three oxygen regulators, assorted medical supplies and 10 tote bags.

The South Shore Foundation is the charitable foundation of Northern Arkansas Telephone Company at Flippin. Its governing board comprises 14 trustees from the fields of education, business, and government in Marion County and adjoining communities.

The South Shore Foundation awards grants to nonprofit agencies and communities to further the goals of educational advancement, environmental preservation, community betterment and economic development. NATCO President Steven G. Sanders also chairs the board of trustees of the foundation. For more information or to receive a grant application, call 870-453-3333.