The Suffield Fire Department is excited to announce that on October 1, 2025 the department began to respond to EMS calls. This is the first time in the history of the fire department that they have had that distinction. By being certified by the State of Connecticut as Supplemental First Responders, the Suffield Fire Department will now be able to respond to certain EMS calls along with the Suffield Police Department and Suffield Volunteer Ambulance Association.
Fire Chief Scott Cunningham stands with the EMS equipment that will be placed on the fire apparatus so his firefighters can respond to EMS calls.
The long process to become Supplemental First Responders started approximately six years ago when the Fire Commission decided that having the fire department respond to EMS calls would be a tremendous benefit to the people of Suffield. The initiative was first spearheaded by Fire Commissioner Vic Mathieu, who had multiple years of experience as an EMT. Fire Commissioners Peter Yeskey and Jack Bucior quickly bought in and vociferously supported the idea. They reasoned that patient care would be dramatically improved if the fire department, who have paid, on-duty personnel could rapidly respond when needed to assist our first responder partners, who had already provided outstanding EMS intervention. It was through the vision of the Suffield Fire Commission and Chairman Paul Christian that Fire Chief Scott Cunningham was able to roll out this program on October 1. Commissioner Christian said “this is a tremendous milestone in the history of our great department and this achievement helps bring the department into the 21st century”. The Chairman went on to thank those Commissioners and the Chief for their efforts in all that they have done to get this accomplished. When contacted, Fire Commissioner Mathieu stated that “although it was a long road to get through the State of Connecticut’s demanding application process, the benefit of now having the fire department as EMS providers shows that the Fire Commission has the best interests of the Town in mind and they will always strive to make sure that the fire department will always be there, in any capacity, ready to serve and provide top quality service to the people of Suffield.”
When contacted, Fire Chief Scott Cunningham refused to take credit for his department’s accomplishment, saying “those that came before me have done the lions share of the work to get this initiative in place, I was just the fortunate one who was here to push it past the goal line.” Cunningham went on to say “my department will always work hard to be in a position to deliver the best possible customer service to our citizens, regardless of whether it’s Fire, Rescue or EMS. Being able to now respond to EMS calls could significantly affect the successful outcome in patient care of someone who is sick or injured. That is something that we take very seriously and are extremely proud to be responsible for”.