The county is buying a new trailer to carry enough supplies to handle a major accident or other emergency.
The trailer will carry enough equipment and supplies to treat 25 injured people at the same time. It can be used in fires, multi-car accidents, bus crashes, natural disasters or other events with a large number of injured people.
"It's basically a multiple casualty emergency response unit," said Deputy County Executive John Beaudoin. "It can be pulled by a small trailer."
The county paid $5,374 for the trailer. There already is one based in Pittstown, and another is jointly owned with the Castleton Volunteer Ambulance. The newest one will be based in Averill Park.
The trailer would not be used to transport or treat people, but it would carry backboards, blood-pressure monitors and other equipment for use in a large-scale emergency.
"Basically, it's a small trailer like a horse trailer, only enclosed," Beaudoin said.
Lifesavers honored: The county Legislature also honored five Rensselaer firefighters and a city resident for their efforts to rescue two people in separate incidents.
On June 29, firefighters Richard Slauson, Bob Fink and Richard Mollenkopf responded to a call for help. Slauson arrived first and found 18-month-old Ariana Solomon lying on the porch not breathing and without a pulse. Slauson administered CPR, and the girl began to breathe on her own. Fink and Mollenkopf applied suction and oxygen, helping stabilize the child until an ambulance arrived.
Four days later, members of the department were dispatched to the home of a 53-year-old man who was having a heart attack. Aneighbor, Margaret Mackey, was administering CPR as firefighters arrived.
Mollenkopf and Fink, along with Mike Mann, used a semiautomatic defibrillator donated by Brayton Construction to revive the man. Paramedic Kevin Diggs arrived and started work to stabilize the man, who was taken to Memorial Hospital and then St. Peter's Hospital.
