Grant provides Longboat Key Fire Rescue Department new carbon monoxide detectors

A Sarasota County EMS grant has provided the Longboat Key Fire Rescue Department six new carbon monoxide detectors for firefighters and paramedics to use when responding to emergency calls.

Each yellow BW Clip attaches to EMS airway bags in the department’s six vehicles.

“Its only function is to look for carbon monoxide in the air, nothing else,” Assistant Fire Chief John Curran said. “Like, some of the other meters we have will search for hundreds of different chemicals.”

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can cause sudden illness or death. It is measured in parts per million.

“If it’s above 35 parts per million, (the device) will go off,” Curran said. “At 100 parts per million, we have to bring everyone out of the house because it’s not safe.”

Curran, 55, filled out the application with Sarasota County EMS Grants to receive the devices, which cost $100 each.

“It took me longer to decide which meter to buy than to fill out the form,” Curran said.

Hired in December 2020, Curran said getting the carbon monoxide detectors was something he wanted to accomplish in his first year on the job.

Curran said he consulted with Fire Chief Paul Dezzi when deciding whether to pursue the grant. The assistant chief explained why he thinks the devices are “an excellent insurance policy.”

“This is kind of the morbid part, but a line of duty death for the fire department costs the municipality or the local government, the state government and the federal government about $1 million per employee,” Curran said. “It’s astronomical. It could bankrupt some departments, and to spend $100 of a grant on each meter, it was a very easy decision to make.”

The first reading of the town’s budget shows the town is due to spend about $17.83 million in the upcoming fiscal year.

“When you’re a young paramedic…and you save somebody, you felt like you were on top of the world,” Curran said. “As more of an administrator now, I don’t really get that.

“Nobody cares if I got my paperwork done correctly or my reports done (perfectly), but to know that I’m influencing the lives of the people that I’m supposed to protect, you don’t often get that opportunity to make a difference. So, yeah, it’s pretty awesome to know that even if I’m not here, I could be at home in Bradenton, and this thing could protect one of our guys.”