LIME CITY — The awarding of an American Heart Association award was the bulk of a short township trustees meeting.

A special presentation was given to the fire department by Elizabeth Lewis of the American Heart Association last month.

The Perrysburg Township Fire Department was recognized by the American Heart Association with their Mission: Lifeline Gold Plus performance achievement award as an EMS provider organization that has demonstrated continued success in using the Mission Lifeline program. The organization noted that the department has been applying “the most up-to-date evidence-based treatment guidelines to improve patient care and outcomes in the community you serve.”

The department had to receive at least a 75% compliance score for each quality measure in 24 consecutive months.

“We wanted to thank you all for the work that you all do. The work that you do is important and it saves lives,” Lake said. “Today we celebrate lives saved because of the hard work and dedication of the Perrysburg Township Fire Department and its hospital partners. The community served by the Perrysburg Township Fire Department should be very proud of the professional care that the community receives.”

Prior to the presentation of the award she told the department about her reason for working for the American Heart Association. It was because of the rapid and knowledgeable response by an EMS crew that her brother survived a massive stroke, at the age of 37.

Only 500 EMS agencies, nationwide, received the award.

“I have no idea how many EMS agencies there are in our country, but there are a heck of a lot,” Tom Brice, fire chief, said. “We need to be extremely appreciative of the care that is provided by the group that stands behind me, because this is just a small representation of the excellent job they are doing every day.”

In other business, trustees approved the fire department’s new hires, Jared Wright as a firefighter 2 and advanced EMT for $18.98 per hour and Chris Lechman as a firefighter 1 at $21.74 per hour. Both started on July 24.

The fire department’s new pickup truck, which was approved at the last meeting had the graphics and two accessory packages approved by trustees. The graphics will be done by Bad Brush for a total of $1,800. The Truck Shop will supply the Lear truck cap for $3,145. Buckeye Emergency Vehicle Products will provide what Brice described as “everything else,” including emergency lights, computer mounts, a slide-out command center and the rest of the accessories required for the department, for $20,685.

The department will attempt to have an open house on Oct. 8, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It has been canceled the last two years, because of COVID-19 issues.

The dispatchers will also be receiving a new refrigerator. The current one is having mechanical problems and is too small, at 14 cubic feet. The new one, from Lowes, was found at a 10% discount. It’s an LG at 20.2 cubic feet and will cost the department $780.

The police department hired Amanda Seelman as a new dispatcher, for $25.66 per hour.