Haywood Nawlin of Opportunity EMS in Opp recently donated Jaws of Life equipment to the Andalusia Fire Department.

The newest addition gives the fire department two sets of Jaws of Life equipment.

“These things aren’t easy to fix,” Andalusia Fire Chief Ethan Dorsey said. “My biggest fear since getting the first set was that we would bust a hose or something, and it would leave us without a working set until we could get it fixed. Now, we don’t have to worry about that.”

Mayor Earl Johnson was present at the firehouse when Nawlin presented the Jaws of Life to the fire department, and expressed his gratitude to Nawlin for his gift.

“This is a great example of the cities of Opp and Andalusia coming together to help each other out,” Johnson said. “We greatly appreciate the extremely kind gesture from out sister city.”

Nawlin said that because of recent changes he no longer needed the equipment, and wanted to donate it.

“I don’t need it anymore,” Nawlin said. “They (AFD) will do our extraction work when we need.”

Dorsey said that the AFD will respond outside the city limits if they are needed, but that their biggest responsibility will be in town.

Dorsey said that the AFD has had one set of Jaws of Life for about five months, and it was also donated.

“Michael Smith of Advanced EMS donated our first set about five months ago,” Dorsey said. “I just want to thank both Smith and Nawlin for their very generous donations. These things aren’t cheap.”

Dorsey said that everyone at the AFD has been trained and certified in how to use Jaws of Life properly without causing further injury to the victim.