City Receives Grant For Nine Additional Firefighters
Published on October 02, 2025
LFR announces firefighter health initiatives, updates cardiac care survival rates
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and Lincoln Fire and Rescue (LFR) Chief Dave Engler today announced that the City of Lincoln has been awarded a federal grant to help pay for nine additional firefighters. The three-year, $2.3 million Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant is provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“This new SAFER award is an important step in making Lincoln an even safer community. By adding nine firefighters to our team at LFR, we fortify our commitment to public safety and enhance our efforts to ensure the well-being of our entire community,” Mayor Gaylor Baird said.
SAFER grants provide funding to fire departments to help them increase or maintain the number of trained firefighters available in their communities. The grant covers a portion of salaries and benefits for the new personnel. The nine firefighters are expected to be hired in spring 2026 and begin service that summer. LFR last received a $5.9 million SAFER grant in 2023 to help pay for 18 additional firefighters/paramedics.
“These nine new staff members will allow LFR to be better positioned to respond to increasing service demands in the coming years,” Engler said. “Lincoln Fire and Rescue is committed to operational excellence, and this grant accelerates our mission to safeguard lives and property at the highest level of service.”
Engler also announced two new initiatives designed to support the health and safety of first responders:
- LFR received a $291,909 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Programs grant to fund enhanced firefighter physicals that will start in early January 2026. The physicals focus on enhancing firefighter health, early detection of cancer and heart disease, and improving firefighters’ physical performance.
- LFR launched a new partnership with Ready Rebound, which is a navigation-based care system that accelerates access to orthopedic specialists, diagnostics, and treatment for first responders. Ready Rebound helps first responders return to duty an average of nine to 12 weeks faster than traditional recovery processes.
Jamie Pospisil, LFR Battalion Chief of Emergency Medical Services, also attended the news conference to announce that LFR’s cardiac arrest survival rates improved in 2024. That year, LFR treated 132 cardiac patients who suffered from a nontraumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, and the survival rate for these emergencies increased from 22.4% in 2023 to 25.8% in 2024. Those rates are more than double the national average of 10.4%.
“Thanks to the quick thinking, expert skills, and seamless coordination between our first responders, 911 emergency communications team, law enforcement partners, and local hospitals, we ensure our community members receive the best possible care when they need it most,” Pospisil said.
Pospisil also noted that in 2024, Lincoln residents performed bystander CPR 69.5% of the time prior to LFR arrival, which significantly surpasses the national average of 41.4%. She urged residents to continue to download the PulsePoint application, which alerts residents to local emergencies and requests CPR help from nearby residents.
She also encouraged community members to attend a free hands-only CPR instructional event 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., October 28, at “F” Street Community Center, 1225 “F” St. Participants will learn how to perform CPR and use the PulsePoint application.
Lincoln Fire and Rescue is a combined fire and emergency services department, which responds to all 911 calls in Lincoln and in nearby communities that contract with LFR. LFR has received the Mission Lifeline Award from the American Heart Association for 10 consecutive years and has received the Resuscitation Academy’s prestigious Lighthouse Community designation, awarded to only 10 communities in the U.S.
More information on LFR is available at fire.lincoln.ne.gov.