Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) is for EMS too!

NDEMSA Board Member, Corey Johnson, will be conducting webinars to help agencies apply for the AFG information on this grant opportunity.  Each webinar will be offered on two different dates and times to hopefully accommodate both career and volunteer schedules:

Introduction to the AFG-

• September 7^th 12pm-1pm- Register Here

• September 14^th 6pm-7pm- Register Here

AFG Narrative writing workshop-

•  October 12^th 1pm-3pm- Register Here

• October 19^th 6pm-8pm- Register Here

Please email ndemsa.office@ndemsa.org if you have any questions.

The Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) is a federal grant program administered by FEMA since 2001.  This grant program has been a long-standing program that shows no signs of going away anytime soon, but did you know that this grant was open to certain EMS services to? 

Many federal grants have complicated processes of distributing funds.  Most are large grants that are awarded to state governments and left to them to distribute as they determine appropriate.  This grant program was designed from the beginning to be awarded directly to individual departments and eliminate the middleman.  This does two things; it delivers federal funds directly to the organization and makes the selection process extremely competitive.  The AFG grant has provisions to support EMS operations by specifically earmarking funds for certain EMS services.  The 2021 AFG grant had a minimum of $8.2 million designated for the operations and safety category and a minimum of $10 million for the purchase of new ambulances.  These funds are available to what are called “non-affiliated” EMS services.  These services are private nonprofit or government services that are NOT affiliated with a hospital system. 

The AFG grant requires an applicant to specifically request certain items.  Each year FEMA publishes the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) which highlights eligible products and where they rate on their priority scale.  Applicants can only requests items on their eligibility list and the highest priority is given to those items with the highest priority.  High priority items from the 2021 grant included:

•  EMT Training
•  AEMT Training
•        Paramedic training for those with AEMT certification
•  BLS/ALS Equipment
•  Training Aids
•  Powerlift cot systems
•  Rehab equipment
•         Diesel exhaust fume capture systems
•  New ambulance