Estero fire district creates safety outreach program to help emergency victims

The nonprofit Estero Community Safety Fund is the first of its kind among the area's three fire districts.

Fire officials created the program to fulfill what they see as the responsibility of the fire department to take care of the Estero community as it grows.

"The fire department is the hub of a community," Advanced Life Support Administrator Bill Clemens said. "As the area grows, it's just making this program a more important part of the community."

The district will use donations it receives from residents to buy food, car seats, smoke alarms, bike helmets and other supplies for victims until a relief agency is able to respond.

Fire Chief Dennis Merrifield said Estero Fire Rescue has a duty to provide for the needy because firefighters and emergency medical crews are often some of the first people to arrive on a scene.

"We are the first ones to see the need of victims," Merrifield said.

Fire Marshal Mike Cato reviewed incident logs to determine some of the areas where the program could focus.

The majority of calls in the district, as in the other two area fire districts, are medical-related.

Estero fire officials responded to 1,282 calls from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2003, according to records. Of those calls, 59 were fire-related and 881 were medical-related.

Cato said the high number of medical calls supports the need for the program.

The district has about 10 automatic external defibrillator sites in the Estero area, but officials want to get the machines on the district trucks, too.

The machines provide an electric shock to the heart to revive a stopped heart.

"We're trying to develop what we call an all-safe community," Clemens said.

The Community Safety Fund will not take the place of relief workers responding from organizations like the American Red Cross.

"We will continue to work closely with those agencies," Merrifield said.

The district is filing the program as a 501C3, the federal status for nonprofits. The designation will make the fund eligible to receive grants.

At a Thursday morning press conference, Merrifield told a group of fire officials and residents that the fund would not survive without the help of the community.

"We see ourselves in a leadership role," he said. "As a leader, you've got to have a follower. We must have donors."

Donations are tax-deductible and will go directly to the fund, Merrifield said.

"One hundred percent of their donation will go to provide services and not administrative costs," he said.

The move to organize the program now rather than later was prompted by some officials' eagerness to get ahead of the growth in the area.

"It's a lot easier to have everything in place while the community is growing," Clemens said.