ISABELLA COUNTY — EMTs and firefighters in Isabella County are worried about what eliminating the road patrol would mean for their jobs.
Michelle Thompson is a firefighter, first responder, EMT and death investigator. She says she’s concerned that the Isabella County Sheriff’s Department will go away.
“One of the big concerns is a lot of times in EMS, the scene can be unsafe. If someone was to call that someone for, say, an accidental type of situation or, say, domestic violence, we could be dispatched to them, but we would be staged,” said Thompson.
“But we cannot enter the scene to render aid until a police officer has made entry and determined the scene to be safe. So that could delay care for somebody that needed it.”
She said that deputies keep them safe, even after they enter the scene, too.
“‘I’ve investigated overdose deaths and in that type of situation, tension can be really high. And I’ve been in situations where fights have broken out and law enforcement officers have literally stepped in between the people fighting,” said Thompson.
“I would be worried because they at that point, if the state police were to then pick up the call because we didn’t have a sheriff’s deputy available, then they could be coming from another county in sort of cases,” she added.
For someone who works to save lives and render aid daily, Thompson says that she is for keeping the department, because she knows if they don’t, that could mean more lives are lost.
“Someone’s life and how fast we can respond and render aid is dependent on somebody voting whether they want to spend more money or not,” she said. “I support the sheriff’s department 100%.”
Thompson reiterated that getting rid of deputies would be detrimental.
“I’ve had them help us carry a person who’s passed away down several flights of stairs because we don’t have enough manpower. And they do it without hesitation. And that’s just one more way they get back to our community and I feel like we should support them,” she said.
