By Blue Views Staff

Earlier this month, America paused to remember the twenty-fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.  We thought specifically about the people who were injured or killed, including the many first responders who ran toward the towers or the Pentagon. At the same time, we reflect on first responders in general, especially those who’ve died or been physically or mentally injured in the line of duty. It’s a week when nobody disputes that all first responders deserve our support.  They are at the frontline of our humanity – the commitment we make to each other about support, caring, and what it means to be an American.

That commitment shouldn’t have a political party attached to it. But too often, it does.

What Real Support Looks Like

Support for first responders isn’t an abstraction; it’s specific, and it’s achievable. It’s Chester County’s Active Volunteer Service Tax Rebate Program, which gives volunteer firefighters and EMTs a real-estate tax rebate for the hours they put in training, responding to calls, and keeping their companies running.

It’s the Pennsylvania Fire Company and Emergency Medical Service Grant Program, which has sent money to local departments for equipment and facilities every year since 2000.

It’s the state’s EMS Operating Fund, which has invested nearly 80 million dollars over four budget cycles into the equipment and training EMS agencies need to keep ambulances on the road.

It’s funding to train new state troopers and help small-town police departments recruit and retain officers.  In a state where more than half of all municipalities don’t have a police department of their own, this state support is invaluable. 

It’s also funding the people on the other end of the 911 call. In Chester County alone, more than 1,000 emergency calls are made to 911 on an average day[i]. They may not arrive at the scene with lights flashing, but they are part of the response from the moment someone calls for help.  Considering that roughly 20% of all 911 operator positions are unfilled across the state[ii], there is clearly still work to be done.

None of this is complicated. It’s money for people, equipment, and training; it’s public recognition that the job is dangerous and demanding. And it’s all achievable when we vote for people who will make it a priority.

When Politics Gets in the Way

The problem comes when support for first responders becomes entangled in larger budget and policy disputes; when first responder funding gets pulled into fights that have nothing to do with first responders at all. Ambulance companies across Pennsylvania are folding or shrinking their coverage areas right now, even as a bipartisan solution sits stalled in committee.

Earlier this year, a broader dispute over Department of Homeland Security funding shut down the U.S. Fire Administration and National Fire Academy, disrupted federal fire-service grants, and restricted fire departments’ ability to obtain reimbursement under existing awards.

This is politics affecting real people, and not in a good way.  It’s first responders, it’s everyone in the commonwealth.  We all suffer because our politicians can’t, or won’t, do their jobs.

Vote for the People Who Show Up

This is where voting matters – not as a partisan act, but as the most direct way any of us can support first responders. Vote for candidates who will fund the people, the equipment, the training our first responders need.  Vote for candidates who will say thank you honestly, not as a photo op. Vote for people who won’t turn first responders into a talking point or a bargaining chip.

Look past party labels and campaign rhetoric. Ask what candidates have actually supported: reliable funding, training, equipment, recruitment and retention, and policies that help emergency services remain viable.  Be wary of politicians more interested in their own power, ambitions, and donors than in the people who answer the call at 2 a.m.

First responders don’t check your party registration before they show up. They don’t check your bank balance.  They don’t check your citizenship status.  They show up because that’s the job. The least we can do is remember – and vote like it.

---

[i] https://www.chesco.org/3505/Emergency-Communications

[ii] https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pema/newsroom/2026/shapiro-administration-celebrates-national-public-safety-telecom