Winning a $12K grant to put life-saving CPR technology on an ambulance

The challenge

The Prince George County Emergency Crew was run entirely by volunteers. Its members responded to emergencies in their community, but at the time, the crew had no paid staff to research funders or write grant applications. It needed an AutoPulse, an automated CPR machine, and had no dedicated budget to buy one.

The approach

The crew hired Kady to write a grant application for the equipment. We built the case around what mattered most to funders: the community need, the crew's volunteer commitment, and the clinical difference automated CPR makes during a cardiac arrest call.

• A clear need statement showing why manual CPR is hard to sustain on a moving ambulance with a small volunteer crew

• Evidence-based impact drawing on published outcome data for the AutoPulse

• A focused, specific request tied to one piece of equipment and one measurable result

The results

• About $12K in grant funding awarded

• A ZOLL AutoPulse placed on the crew's ambulance, giving volunteers hands-free, consistent compressions during transport

• Proven life-saving technology for the community. Studies cited by ZOLL found:

  • AutoPulse use was 62% more likely to restore circulation (ROSC) than manual CPR, in a 2013 Critical Care Medicine meta-analysis of 12 studies and 6,538 patients (source)

  • In Richmond, Virginia, field ROSC rose from 21.6% to 37.5%, a 74% relative increase, after EMS switched to AutoPulse (source)

  • In San Francisco, 39% of AutoPulse patients arrived at the emergency department with a pulse, compared with 29% under standard CPR (source)

Why it matters for nonprofits

Small and volunteer-run nonprofits often have the strongest missions and the least time to fund them. A well-built grant application turns a clear need into a funded result, and gives your volunteers the tools to do more of the work they signed up for.

Have a need your budget can't cover? Let's find the funding.