GREENE COUNTY – In case of emergency Greene county residents will soon be able to ride in a brand new ambulance.

The Greene County Ambulance Service in Eutaw recently received a grant for $118,750 to purchase a new emergency vehicle.

The grant is part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP), which funds the nation’s firefighters.

According to Bennie Abrams, the director of the Greene County Ambulance Service and chief of the local fire department, the service falls under the category although it is not a fire department.

“We are not affiliated with a fire department, but we still qualified for the grant,” Abrams said.

The grant is divided into two programs, the Operations and Firefighter Safety Program and the Firefighter Vehicles Acquisition Program. The Ambulance Service is taken care of by the latter, which includes pumpers, brush trucks, tankers/tenders, rescue vehicles, ambulances, quints, aerials, foam units and facilities.

Although the service has received grants in the past, most of its money came from collections, donations, memorials and contributors.

“About one-fourth of it come from the government’s ad valorem tax,” Abrams said. “And we’ve also gotten some from BINGO at Greentrack.”

Abrams said the department was up to it’s normal routine before Katrina hit but now, like most emergency response departments, is helping with disaster victims.

“We are taking care of the sick and injured people and some who have relocated since Katrina,” Abrams said.

The AFGP hope the new vehicle will improve the effectiveness of the departments operations.