Cottonwood AZ (December 10, 2020) – Verde Valley Fire District was recently awarded a grant in the amount of $23,739 from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) for extrication equipment. Along with $9,445 in District funds, this grant will provide a set of battery-operated extrication tools, including a spreader, cutter and ram. This battery-operated equipment replaces hydraulic extrication tools (e.g. jaws of life). The new equipment is capable of handling the much stronger hybrid materials being used in modern vehicle manufacture.
Did you know that not wearing a seat belt was associated with higher deaths, major trauma and a longer hospital stay? Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death during the first 30 years of American lives (GOHS). Verde Valley Fire District and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety urges you to reduce the risk of serious injury and death! Please wear your seatbelt, make sure your children are properly buckled-up and that you use child car/booster seats for children as appropriate. Additionally, distracted driving is a serious problem. In 2012, there were 742 fatal car crashes on Arizona roads. Of those, 134 were related to distracted driving and resulted in 60 deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Please drive safety and buckle-up. Although we are excited to have this new extrication equipment, it would be great if we never have to use it!
For more information on highway safety, please go to https://gohs.az.gov/highway-safety-programs
