Since the pandemic began, firefighters have learned that people don’t think much about face masks when they’re fleeing burning homes or have just been knocked about in a car crash.
That’s why the Meriden Fire Department carries extra disposable masks in every vehicle it has, and why the 10,000 masks a Meriden company donated on Tuesday will come in handy, Fire Chief Ken Morgan said.
Besides the masks, Medline Industries Inc. gave firefighters 2,500 small hand sanitizer kits. Firefighters will use both items themselves, give them to people at calls, or make them available to other city workers, if necessary, Morgan said.
The donation was Medline’s first large-scale “good neighbor” initiative in Meriden, said Russ Blakeslee, director of manufacturing at the Medline facility that is the primary tenant at 550 Research Parkway.