MOORES MILL, Ala. (WHNT) — The Moores Mill area is safer now thanks to new equipment acquired by the local fire department.

The department is hoping a set of new defibrillators will help with rapid responses and getting people’s heartbeat back on track.

Moores Mill Volunteer Fire Department (MMVFD) Chief Zachary Trulson says the demand for defibrillators in the area has increased.

“We are seeing more cardiac arrests that I don’t think are really due to anything else other than how rapidly our area is expanding,” Trulson told News 19.

A $15,000 development block grant awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic made it possible for the department to get six new AEDs to go along with the department’s existing six. Fire officials say this is vital to staying ready as old devices can’t be fixed.

“The old Lifepacks that we have… actually are not able to be repaired anymore so if they were to stop functioning then we would have to buy these Lifepack 3000s,” he explained. “We already kind of knew going into last year we were going to need to buy new AEDs just to prepare for that.”

The department says having the new defibrillators allows the fire department’s medical vehicles to leave the scene and still ensure that there is an AED on scene with the fire trucks. It also leaves room for an AED back at the station.

People in the community say it’s a good thing.

“It’s better for the community, it’s something that they need,” said James Bibbs, a Madison County resident. “You never know when they come and you need to help a person having stress or may be sick and they may need mouth-to-mouth.”

The defibrillators have their own detection system built in, but people still fear the use of them. If anyone is looking to learn how to properly use an AED defibrillator, MMVFD says they’ll teach you free of charge.