A life jacket loaner program at the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District was in need of rescuing, so a law firm and a local family threw in some life-saving devices to keep the program afloat.
As summer approached a soft close, staff at the SHFAD found themselves pulling their remaining spare life jackets from storage to stock the jacket stand for any recreationists who needed to borrow them.
Noting that a large majority of their stock was not being returned, staff posted a call to action, hoping that borrowers would return the jackets. In response, the Corson and Johnson Law Firm in Eugene, Larry and Melody Shobe, and other community members donated a total of 30 jackets to beef up the supply.
The life jacket program began in the summer of 2022 through funding by an award from the Sea Tow Foundation for a life jacket kiosk and 48 life jackets including six infant, 12 child, 12 youth, 12 adult and six adult XL jackets.
“We set the kiosk up in front of the office at the main fire station each summer with an assortment of each size of life jacket,” said Battalion Chief/Paramedic Shannon Pettner. “Citizens are then able to borrow the life jackets and are asked to return them after each use, utilizing an ‘on your honor’ type of system.”
Although the jackets are marked to remind users to return them, they don’t always come back. According to Pettner, all but one of the original life jackets have disappeared and staff used a backstock of donated jackets to fill the empty spaces.
“We have had donations from community members of new and lightly used jackets, which we have not tracked, but have certainly lost many of those as well,” she said.
With the recent donations, SHFAD’s stock is back up to 43 jackets.
“We are always particularly in need of infant, child and youth sizes,” Partner said. “We do require them to be in good condition and they must have USCG ratings.”