An Alexandria couple is supporting the fire department there by offering rehab services. Their mission is to deliver re-hydration and nourishment to firefighters when they are called out on fires or other emergency incidents .
Steven and Diana Blair told WJLE Tuesday night that they are volunteering their time in providing this service as a way of helping the firefighters. “They are out there and doing a lot of work. In the summertime they get overheated. We’re trying to provide them with active cooling and make sure they stay hydrated. We give them water, nourishment. We basically help them with whatever we can do. We have a canopy so we can keep them out of the sun during the summer and in the winter time we can put sides on it and keep a heater in there to keep them warm when its freezing and they’re fighting fires,” said Diana Blair.
“We ran across an empty water bottle with a phone number. That’s what got us started. We gave them a call and they said what do you need. We started getting stuff that way. Now we don’t have to worry about ice because they give us ice in a freezer. We don’t have to worry about getting a lot of the perishables because they are automatically refilled through this company that does this for us called Pro Care. What that’s done for us is that they cut us a check and it’s allowed us to buy chairs. Now we have chairs for the firemen to sit down in with or without their airpacks on. We have big ice chests that we can carry ice in. We have plenty of water. Plenty of Gatorade. Plenty of food. They gave us a canopy. They have just blessed us with probably a thousand dollars worth of stuff. Now we’re looking for other things such as a van so they (firefighters) can see us coming. Our dream list goes on and on,” said Steven Blair.
“We’re trying to help out within the county. We’re not limiting to Alexandria. We went on a mutual aid call at Brush Creek about two weeks ago and we were able to support the different fire departments there also which is what we hope to do wherever the need is,” said Diana Blair.
“There’s hardly any rehab type services in DeKalb County. What we would like to do is go to every firehouse to let them know what we’re doing because all firemen need this. They do get overheated. They do get dehydrated. What we’re trying to do is keep them going for as long as they can. We want communities and fire houses to have this service. We’re willing to go practically anywhere to tell them and hook them up with people who can help them such as Pro Care,” said Steven Blair.
Alexandria Fire Chief Brian Partridge said he and his department are grateful for this service by the Blair’s.
If you would like to support the Blair’s or start up your own rehab unit in support of other fire departments and need more information call the Blair’s at 615-529-1334
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