Partnership for Public Safety


Imagine coming home from work one night after a day of busy schedules and exhausting work expecting to get home and put your feet up and relax. As you drive you turn the radio on and listen to some good music to settle your mind from a long day of meetings, people, and customers.

Imagine getting off the highway at the exit you have taken for years and heading toward your subdivision and finally home for a night of watching your favorite show or sports team.

Imagine as you drive down your street and the darkness of the night turns into a rich bright, glow as you get closer to your home. Then you notice the lights from emergency vehicles sitting in front of your home with water shooting into the family home from fire hoses, gurneys with EMT’s standing by, and the police keeping spectators away. Then you realize your house is burning to the ground and a relative has been injured…

At this point you really don’t care about the workings of Public Safety Department in your town. You don’t care what political party worked out the details. You don’t really care who is doing what and who got there first. All you care about is that your house is collapsing under the heat and someone you love may be fighting for his or her life.

In the town of Enfield we are blessed with a group of people that you may only meet when an emergency arises. They are the Personnel of the Fire Departments, Police Department, and Enfield EMS. You will not remember everyone’s name, but you will remember what they do.

“Public Safety” is the unifying term for those who work to protect us and come to our aid when life hits a problem.

Recently, the Enfield Town Council met with Town Manager Matt Coppler, Public Safety Director Christopher Bromson, Acting Chief of the Thompsonville Fire Department Frank Alaimo, and Enfield EMS Director Art Groux, to discuss a plan to have the Thompsonville Fire Department partner with Enfield EMS to do one basic thing and that is to provide the citizens of Enfield the best emergency care around.

The proposal, although having some small details to work out, was praised by all who make decisions in town. The theme for the evening was not about who gets the credit or who is more important; it was about what is best for Enfield and the publics’ welfare. Public Safety Director Chris Bromson use the term “seamless” to describe how it can work and that term was repeated by others in the course of the meeting. Seamless describes how you as citizens will not notice the how things work…you will just be given great care when an emergency strikes your family.

I asked Republican Council Leader Scott Kaupin to share with me his thoughts on this new arrangement to be implemented in the coming weeks. Here is some of what he had to say:


“For some time the Town Council has been asking the Town Manager and the Director of Public Safety to begin involving the fire departments with staffing the Enfield EMS (EEMS). Concerns had been raised about proper staffing levels during some shifts. Discussions had been held with the fire departments as a whole, but consistent staffing commitments continued to be an issue. I had been urging the Town Manager and Director of Public Safety to consider approaching the Thompsonville Fire Department (TFD), because it has full time firefighters working around the clock. In late November or early December the Town Manager approached Town Council Leadership with a plan to approach the TFD to see if they were interested in working with the town to draft an agreement for staffing EEMS. Negotiations began between the TFD and the town and a proposed agreement was reached late last week.”

Scott went on to say:
I have always felt that the fire departments could play a significant role. The original plan first adopted by the Town Council in October 2003, which I supported, had the fire departments staffing the ambulances. I referred to the plan as the "Hybrid Plan" because the town managed the service and the fire departments staffed the service. Circumstances changed due to the election in November 2003 and the rest is history not worth repeating. It appears though that we are now developing a "hybrid of the hybrid plan" that finally gets firefighters involved with the staffing of EEMS. I hope our efforts are successful and that all departments will soon be assisting EEMS so that we can continue to provide excellent patient care around the clock.”


Going back to my opening scenario. When emergency comes to your home you may not notice the name of each person saving your property or even saving your life. You may not remember what uniform the person giving you oxygen or putting a dressing on a wound was wearing.

You will just be thankful the leaders in town, the public safety department, the fire fighters and EMS came together to make your safety and welfare number one. Great job to all involved.
Greg Stokes