Letter to the Editor: Proud to Serve

Marco Island Fire Rescue Department is our hometown Fire-Rescue agency. The employees of the department put their lives on the line everyday to serve you and like the military, they have taken an oath to protect you. Over the past few months, I have been sad to see individuals attack their professionalism and capabilities without walking in their shoes.

The lack of a City Manager has been used as an excuse, but the City Manager does not put out fires or provide medical care when you dial 911. This is the mission of the Fire Rescue Department – a department with a proven track record of 53 years. They are highly-trained and dedicated in their service; they have saved thousands of lives. Our paramedics have also been staffing the County ambulance for over 15 years. With a COPCN, ambulance transport fees will be in your hands. The City even has the ability to create a local ordinance writing off a portion of Marco taxpayers’ ambulance copay.

There is no new bureaucracy being created. The proposed Fitch Study places the budget and the Medical Director under the Fire Rescue Department’s purview with a dedicated account. Our door is always open for questions and concerns. Your Fire-Rescue Department will be there for you to do the job – as we were during Irma, and as we have been fighting fires, responding to medical emergencies, and teaching CPR in the community.

Mike Murphy, Proud Fire Rescue Chief

Marco Island

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this communication are personal to me, Michael Murphy, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the City, the City Manager or your City Counsel.