East Bridgewater Fire Department Receives Donation of Personal Protective Equipment

EAST BRIDGEWATER — Chief Timothy Harhen would like to thank the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency for donating personal protective equipment to the East Bridgewater Fire Department on Monday.

The donation included:

• 200 medical coveralls
• 100 Level 1 face mask
• 1,800 latex gloves
• 20 bottles of hand santizer

The donation was brought to the East Bridgewater Fire Department on Monday by the Massachusetts National Guard.

In addition to this, the Department received 250 isolation gowns from the Southeastern Massachusetts EMS Council, which was distributed out of Berkley Fire-Rescue.

First responders will use the equipment to protect them from exposure to the virus as they respond to calls involving people who may be reporting symptoms in line with COVID-19 or may have been in contact with a positive COVID-19 case. As the virus continues to spread, the department aims to keep personnel healthy to continue to serve the community. 

“We are extremely grateful to have received this much needed equipment and now have a sufficient amount of personal protective equipment to get us through the next several weeks,” Chief Harhen. “During these uncertain times, supplies have become difficult to come by, so any donation goes a long way in ensuring our personnel have enough of this important protective gear.”

An order purchased by the department to refill this stock is expected to come in sometime in the next couple of weeks. Since the start of the pandemic, the Town of East Bridgewater has invested almost $31,000 into purchasing personal protective equipment, disinfectants, electric foggers and AeroClave decontamination systems to help sanitize equipment after each call.

The donation will be issued to fire personnel as needed as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop.

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