Woolwich EMS will hire a grant writer to help them pursue funding for a new ambulance.

At their June 18 meeting, the Woolwich Board of Selectmen approved the department using $995 from their contingency fund to pay for the grant writer's services for one year. The grant writer will help the department pursue an Assistance to Firefighters grant to pay for the ambulance, but will be available to help with future grant applications as well.

If awarded the grant, the department will use the funds to purchase one of two ambulances.

Emergency Management Services director Dana Lindsey recently returned from a trip to New Jersey, where he saw first-hand how the ambulances they wish to purchase are made.

Of the models department members are looking at, one (for $166,771) operates on diesel fuel and the other (for $154,185) runs on gas.

Lindsey said the town would be responsible for paying 5 percent of the total cost; for the gas-powered ambulance, the cost would be $7,907, and for the diesel-powered ambulance, the cost would be $8,338.

Lindsey quoted the grant writer as saying, "If you don't apply, you're never going to get anything." He said the grant writer has an 80 percent success rate among the grant applications he has submitted.

Last year, the department applied for and received a grant for a defibrillator valued at $41,000, but cost the town only $1,700.

"If we can get a $45,000 machine for $1,700, that's a pretty good deal," Selectman David King said. "We have to get these machines anyway."

This year, as in past years, the town voted in favor of setting aside $10,000 for grant applications.

"The pool is very big," Lindsey said, referring to many applicants for such a grant. "We want to have the best shot possible." He said the grant application deadline is Friday, July 6.