HELPING THE FIRST RESPONDERS WHO HELP US

If you had to call 911, would you expect the firefighters or paramedics to show up quickly and with all the equipment they would need to help you or a loved one--whether it was a fire, car accident, or a medical emergency? Would you assume that they're well-equipped to combat any dangers they encounter, and have the optimum resources to do their jobs safely? After all, if they're willing to risk their own lives, surely they have everything they need to protect themselves. Sadly, this simply isn't true.

Due to Los Angeles city budget cuts, Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters and paramedics increasingly have to buy much of their own equipment and supplies--things that directly affect their own and public safety. Whether it’s $45 to buy a brush helmet, or $6000 to buy an extractor machine, your support of the LAFD Foundation has a direct impact--and all donations are tax deductible.

LAFD firefighters work tirelessly every day to save lives, property, and the environment--but they need help in getting the right equipment to do their job safely and effectively. If your job was saving people's lives and to do that you needed certain equipment--but you'd have to pay for some of it yourself, would you? That's the decision LAFD firefighters and paramedics face and make every day--and that’s where the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation comes in. Our funding starts where the city budget stops.

DID YOU KNOW...

• that the Los Angeles Fire Department receives over 750,000 emergency calls per year--and 85% of them are medical?

• that due to Los Angeles city budget cuts, LAFD firefighters and paramedics increasingly have to buy much of their own equipment and supplies--things that directly affect their own and public safety?

• that LA firefighters wear their regular heavy plastic helmets when fighting brush fires--because there is no money in the budget to buy the ones they really need?

• that every day firefighters and paramedics are exposed to blood pathogens and carcinogens that are retained in their protective gear and most fire stations don’t have the extractor equipment to clean it--leaving these first responders vulnerable to skin infections and cancer?

• that the mission of the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation is to fill in the gaps created by these cuts to address these problems?

WHAT CAN I DO?

The LAFD Foundation needs your support to help the first responders who help us every day. Just last year the Foundation provided 3300 firefighters with new custom-designed flashlights--something they used to have to provide on their own and which were often not optimized for rescuing people in many situations.

Do you have $45 you can give to buy an LA firefighter a brush helmet for fighting wildfires? Watch our video to hear from the firefighters themselves and please give what you can, whether it's $5, $45 for a helmet, or more. Every penny goes directly helping the first responders who help us every day.

WE NEED: 

• 3300 Brush Helmets for fighting wildfires--enough for every firefighter

Brush helmets:

Fighting a brush fire is more than camping on steroids. Imagine fighting a fire in 90 degree heat wearing a heavy plastic helmet designed for fighting building fires? Firefighters carry equipment weighing 100 pounds, work in unbearably hot conditions on difficult terrain. The wildland brush helmet is lighter in weight than the helmets used in structure fires.  These brush helmets are lightweight, retain less heat, and have better sun protection--this reduces fatigue and heat-related injuries and equates to greater work capacity and reduced injury rates.

Keeping your firefighters injury-free and healthy is not only the right thing to do, but also saves the city and taxpayers money in reduced claims for treatment and time off work.

Be there for the ones who are there for us--and give what you can today for those who give so much every day. All donations have a direct impact and are tax-deductible. For more info please visit The Foundation website at www.supportlafd.org. Thank you!