Hats off to Century Mayor Henry Hawkins and members of the town council for voting Monday night to spend $1,103 to purchase an Automated Defibrillator for the Flomaton Fire Department.
Our bet is Hawkins and some members of the council are catching grief over the fact that they bought something for Flomaton. It's some of the same flack the Century Council caught about 13 years ago when they purchased an AED for the Flomaton Fire Department.
The state line does not have a wall. From our view, Flomaton and Century are one community working together for the betterment of both communities. Escambia County, Fla., caught some flack when it shelled out $1 million toward the four-laning of Highway 113 in Escambia County, Ala. They did it for the same reason the Century council purchased the AED – it may save a life and it makes both communities safer.
Both towns provide great mutual aid to each other, whether it's a Flomaton police car heading to Century or an Escambia County, Fla., sheriff's deputy heading to Flomaton. Century fire trucks roll into Flomaton to help and Flomaton fire trucks roll into Century to help.
There are instances where the closest help may be stationed on the other side of the line. First responders don't worry about the state line, they worry about getting help to people in the quickest way possible. Sometimes those seconds mean the difference between life and death.
We hope the Flomaton Town Council follows suit Monday night and votes to purchase another AED for the Flomaton Fire Department. We'd like to see every police car, utility truck and fire truck armed with an AED and have people trained to used them.
We understand the concept that Century should spend money in Century and Flomaton should spend money in Flomaton. But that concept is narrow-minded in this instance. If you or someone you love is having a heart attack in the parking lot of Food Giant, does it really matter whether someone from Century or Flomaton saves your life?
We'd still like to see more people step up to the plate and help replenish the aging AEDs being used by the Flomaton Fire Department. It's a small price to pay for the safety of citizens on both sides of the state line.
