After getting a large donation of bulletproof vests and helmets, St. Paul firefighters will start to wear them on some of their emergency calls. St. Paul Deputy Fire Chief of EMS Kenneth Adams said, “Twenty years ago we worried about having the best turnout gear and the best air packs, and nowadays we’re having to worry about, ‘Are we going to get shot?’”
Initially, the department began looking at having crews outfitted in body armor after the increase in active shooter situations that required fire and EMS response. After dealing with a summer of riots, the idea of body armor was nonnegotiable.
Adams said in an interview with KSTP, “Some of the situations, the crowds would become more agitated and they would take anger out on whomever. You never know who is out there, if they have a weapon and when they decide to use it.”
They were provided shields by a company founded by Minnesota native and former police officer, Jake Skifstad. The company, Shield616, is a non-profit based in Colorado that was started to help outfit police with tactical gear. He has now expanded to firefighters and EMS. St. Paul was able to outfit 33 of their 435 firefighters. The money to pay for the gear was raised entirely through community support and donations. To make a donation to help all the St. Paul firefighters receive vests and helmets, visit the Shield616 website and select “Minnesota-St. Paul Fire Department.”
Skifstad provides the public defenders with bulletproof gear called Angel Armor, a lightweight shield that will slide down inside of a Kevlar vest. The firefighters won’t be using them on every call, but now they have them for situations that might warrant more protection. According to KSTP Adams said, “We did over 40,000 EMS calls in the city of St. Paul last year and every one of those has potential because you don’t 100% know what you’re going into.”
– – –
Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | Star News Network and The College Fix. She graduated with a degree in Communications from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Send news tips to [email protected].
