Salisbury Fire Department Awarded $75,000 Grant Money

Salisbury Mayor Jake Day has announced the Salisbury Fire Department will receive 75,000 dollars in grant money from CareFirst. The funding is set to continue efforts of the Salisbury Wicomico Integrated First Care Team or SWIFT, and will be awarded over a two year period.

SWIFT is a partnership between the Wicomico County Health Department, Peninsula Regional Medical Center and the Salisbury Fire Department. Officials say it’s main goal is to reduce non-emergency 9-1-1 calls by targeting residents of the county who frequently utilize EMS for non-emergency services.

Salisbury City Fire Chief John Tull says “This is a tremendous program which has delivered significant results so far.” Mayor Jake Day said “This grant will allow us to continue driving down the reliance upon emergency responders for non-emergency concerns, which ultimately saves taxpayer dollars.”

Officials say those that contact EMS for non-emergency assistance five times in a six-month period are contact by the Swift team and asked to participate in the program.