In this file photo Hanceville fire chief Ridger Green, left, and assistant chief Bart Absher make their case for a pair of new fire trucks at a specially-called meeting of the Hanceville City Council. At Thursday's meeting the council approved the purchase of equipment for the department's new truck.

The Hanceville City Council approved a few new equipment purchases during Thursday’s meeting that will allow Hanceville Fire & Rescue to equip a new truck that is soon to enter service.

Hanceville Fire Chief Rodger Green said the department recently purchased a new pickup to replace its old one that is sent out on medical calls, and Thursday’s approval will allow the purchase of a camper shell, a slideout cargo carrier and a slideout tray for a total of $6,588.79.

“We’re just replacing it and trying to get it better equipped for our needs on medical calls,” he said.

He said the department runs medical calls out of the pickup instead of a fire engine to save some of the costs and wear-and-tear that can come from sending out a fire engine.

Green also reported on the recent approval of a Alabama Health Care and Emergency Response Providers that the fire department had applied for, which awarded $15,000 in CARES Act funding to the department to purchase two new automated CPR devices.

The automated devices can free up a responder on the scene to perform other duties, and the consistent rhythm and depth of the compressions that the devices perform mean that they have a higher success rate than a person performing CPR, he said.

The department already had one automated CPR device, but if that meant the department would have to do without it if there was another emergency call that came in while that one was in use, Green said.

“By getting two more, we’ll be able to put them on other vehicles and have them as backups,” he said.