Local legislators are working to ensure first responders are not overworked due to being short staffed.

On Dec. 2, Sen Veronica Klinefelt (D-Eastpointe) rallied with Michigan firefighters on the steps of the state Capitol to discuss legislation she recently introduced that would allow firefighters to bring concerns on staffing levels to the negotiation table.

Senate Bill 1167 would require the inclusion of minimum staffing levels as a subject of collective bargaining between public employers and their employees. This measure would simply require a conversation to occur; it would not mandate a municipality to meet specific staffing levels if they lack the financial means to do so.

“Firefighters’ concerns about minimum manpower are legitimate, and they ought to be able to at least have the conversation during contract negotiations,” she said.

Klinefelt, Chair of the Senate Veterans and Emergency Services Committee, is looking to create dialogue.

“Firefighters are stretched thin, and this is just one tool to address the issue,” she said.

Klinefelt said Michigan lags behind other Midwest states with regard to the total number of full-time professional firefighters per resident with less than half that of Ohio, Illinois and Indiana.

Michigan Professional Firefighters Union President and 16-year veteran of the Harrison Township Fire Department Matt Sahr said state residents will ultimately benefit from this legislation.

“Local control will be maintained, and communities can have thoughtful conversation on this important issue,” Sahr said. “Being able to talk about our staffing, we can come up with creative ideas together and we can make things happen.”

Sahr said it has become increasingly more difficult to recruit people for firefighter and paramedic positions.

The inability to discuss staffing during contract negotiations has contributed to that shortage of firefighters, according to Klinefelt. Such shortages can put the residents at risk and in some cases has caused fire stations to close resulting in delayed response times.

Joe Schehr, President of Warren Professional Firefighters Local 1383, said it is vitally important to allow thoughtful conversations between firefighters and their local leaders with regard to staffing. He supports SB1167 and  HB4688 which both address this issue.

“Our firefighters are here to protect our residents and the community, and the most effective way of doing that is through proper staffing,” said Schehr. “Both of these bills will allow firefighters and their local leaders to work together to do just that.”

Schehr echoed Klinefelt’s concern about Michigan having half of the full-time firefighters as surrounding states and called that statistic “staggering.”

“In Warren, through collaboration with our fire administration, mayor, city council, and union, we are fortunate to have a very successful firefighter cadet program which has allowed our department to be fully staffed,” Schehr said. “Many communities are not as fortunate as ours and have staffing shortages.”

Schehr emphasized that an important component of both bills is that no specific staffing level is mandated. The goal is to open up conversation so that firefighters and community administrators can work together to find creative solutions to staffing issues that will ensure that residents, property, visitors to the community and firefighters themselves are protected.

“As quick as legislators are to take photos with first responders on the campaign trail, we should be just as quick to respond to their needs during the legislative session,” said Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores), Majority Vice Chair of the Senate Veterans and Emergency Services Committee. “Despite the threat of personal physical and mental harm, these individuals answer the call to serve day in and day out.”

Senate Bill 1167 builds on a series of actions taken by the Michigan Senate to support first responders including SB 249, which reduces time and financial barriers to becoming a paramedic. SB 834 doubles survivor benefits for public safety officers killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. There are items in the 2024 state budget that provide fire departments with funding to purchase additional sets of turnout gear.

Every first responder knows that life can change in an instant.

Warren police officer Nick Kott was off duty, hunting with his dad on their property in Gladwin on the afternoon of Nov. 16 when he slipped and fell out of a tree blind. When he did not return to his cabin at the expected time, his father walked to the area his son said he would be and found him conscious and motionless on the ground where he had been for more than an hour.

He was rushed to Midland Hospital, then airlifted to University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor where he is currently in critical condition in Neuro-ICU.

According to his wife, Holli, who spoke to the media during a press conference Thursday, Kott suffered a serious neck injury and is on a ventilator and has no feeling from his neck down. The doctors have told her it is too early to determine if he will regain movement of his limbs.

“He was able to mouth some words to me today which is the first time we’ve been able to communicate,” Holli said. “I’m asking for prayers and I’m asking specifically for prayers for Nick to regain use of his hands and arms so he can play with his son who is his best friend.

“I know this is going to be a very, very, very long road.”

Holli said she and her husband met when they were neighbors and their dogs took a liking to each other and liked to play together. They still live in that same Waterford Township neighborhood in a two-story house Holli said will need major renovations in order for her husband to be able to come home.

“My number one thing I want Nick to be able to do,” Holli said through tears, “is to tuck his best friend in at night and we have a two-story house.

“If we could just get Jack up the stairs to tuck in his baby boy, our 7-year-old son Jack, I need your help and support to do that.”

Holli praised the Gladwin firefighters and police who transported her husband to Midland Hospital, doctors and nurses at both Midland and University of Michigan hospitals, and Warren police for their help during this time of crisis.

“This has been an absolute nightmare that I can’t wake up out of,” said Holli. “I’m only getting through this because of the love and support from the Warren Police Department and the surrounding police departments.”

Holli said one police officer came and fixed a broken backyard swing for Jack while others are coming to clean gutters and do the fall cleanup tasks that Nick usually handles.

Kott joined the Warren Police Department in 2011.

“This department has been his life; they are his brothers and his sisters and they have proved that this week,” Holli said.

Kott’s family will need help paying for medical bills and making home renovations to accommodate Nick when he gets home. A GoFundMe has raised $29,585 toward a $40,000 goal. Donations can be made at gofund.me/6fa96708.

“As police officers, we are good at responding to other people’s emergencies, but it’s a gut check when it is one of your own,” said Warren Lt. John Gajewski.