Locals who want to show off their prized chili recipe or just want to enjoy a hot bowl while benefitting first responders are invited to Parks Buick GMC, 900 Highway 66 South, on Saturday.
A chili cook-off will start at 10 a.m. and last until 4 p.m. with the proceeds going toward the purchase of a new mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation device for the Piney Grove Fire and Rescue Department. The winner will take home a trophy and bragging rights.
According to Fire Chief Carl Walker, donations will be accepted for cooks who are entering the contest as well as those who just want to support the cause.
“There will be some chili there that’s not the competition chili, so to speak, because the competitors are only going to make so much,” he told Scope News. “But there will be a large pot of chili that is made there.”
Organizers will also be offering hot dogs, drinks, and other goodies “for nominal donations,” he added.
As for the purpose of the fundraiser, Walker said that donations will help the agency purchase a LUCAS device, which has been proven more effective than human CPR techniques and will reduce the toll on local resources.
The current method of treating someone in cardiac arrest countywide involves the so-called “pit crew CPR,” he explained, which requires rotating personnel “giving chest compressions every two minutes, so it ties up a lot of resources because we have to have so many people on the scene — and it ties them up for about an hour.”
He said that a LUCAS device, on the other hand, “takes the place of a human to do the chest compressions” and can increase the likelihood of survival when used appropriately.
Scope News 