By Matt Cushman
The City of Belton, Missouri is a growing community in Cass County. It is a city with a rich history dating back to the post Civil War era. George W. Scott and William H. Colbern purchased about 80 acres of land on August 13, 1869, from Manzey Q. Ashby of Kentucky, who had received it a month earlier from the U.S. Government. Scott and Colbern filed a plat for the 80 acres in December 1871 and called the new town “Belton.” Belton was incorporated in 1872. It was named after one of Scott’s close friends, Captain Marcus Lindsey Belt, who helped Scott survey the land. The two had served in the Civil War together.
The history of the Belton Fire Department (BFD) goes back to its inception as a volunteer service in 1913. The service began operating as a fire-based EMS agency in the late 1980s and have seen their service grow and the demands for service increase ever since. Belton has an interstate running through its service area, as well other several state highways. They also have railroads that cross through their downtown area and extend to the rural areas of their run area.
BFD serves approximately 61.4 square miles of suburban and rural areas approximately 30 minutes south of Kansas City. It not only covers the city of Belton and its 25,500 people, but also serves the Mount Pleasant Township, which includes the Village of Loch Lloyd with a population of 5,000 people and western Cass County for which they provide EMS coverage for their 2,500 citizens.
Service Make Up and Call Volume
BFD serves its communities with two stations, one Battalion Chief per day, four ALS ambulances (three minimum), one truck company, and one engine company staffed by the department’s 54 total employees. The service is led by Chief John Sapp, a paramedic with more than 30 years of fire and EMS experience. Chief Sapp has been leading BFD as chief for the last six years.
The department is a fully ALS integrated fire-based service that staffs 16 crew members daily (13 minimum staffing). The crews are dispatched by the City of Belton’s Police Department. EMS Chief Steve Kratofil states that although the Dispatch Center is operated by the Belton Police Department, “They just upgraded to a new CAD system in the county. Additionally, our department recently promoted Captain Chad Wright to Assistant Chief of Support Services, who has worked awesome with our dispatch and made huge changes for the better.” Chief Sapp says that the collaborative work with police has forged quality results and improved safety. He points to upgrades to the CAD system and joint projects like having paramedics participating on the SWAT team as ways that the two services have “embraced the idea of partnerships at many levels.”
The City of Belton is a growing community and through the years, there has been an ever-increasing volume of EMS and fire-related calls. In 2024, BFD ran 6,667 calls. Estimates thus far through 2025 show the trend of increasing calls for service continuing.
COVID Challenges Result in Consequential Changes Moving Belton into Stability
During COVID, many departments were taxed and faced unprecedented staffing shortages as few paramedics were graduating and more paramedics were leaving the field. The result was stretching existing paramedics thin. BFD felt this problem like most throughout Missouri. Thinking outside of the box started with their staff. David Michael, the Department’s Assistant Chief of Training, observed a shift as staff began actively seeking solutions and exploring innovative ways to boost morale, reduce stress in an already demanding field, and transform the overall dynamic of the department. It started with finding a way to bring paramedics to Belton.
“The concept of hiring single-role paramedics came as a suggestion from our department’s captains. Our company officers began meeting regularly to address questions and concerns experienced at the company level. One of the pressing issues our department faced during the pandemic was a significant decrease in the number of attending paramedics on our ambulances. It was difficult to get firefighter/paramedics to apply and difficult to keep them once they were here,” Assistant Chief Michael said.
This innovative approach was not simply a whim, but a well thought-out and researched proposal. “One of the projects the captain’s group took on was to study the book, ‘The Functional Fire Company,’ written by J. Scott Thompson,” he said. In the book, Chief Thompson discusses a successful business model for the fire service, including the incorporation of single-role paramedics to provide ALS emergency medical care. Chief Thompson has successfully led the Colony, TX Fire Department using this model.
“Despite some initial administrative pushbacks and after robust debate between labor and management, it was approved, and the department continues to be open to adding more single-role paramedics to our staff,” said Michael.
For Paramedic Dani Black, the single role opportunity was intriguing. “I was drawn to Belton as a different environment. It was nice to change environments and an increase in pay helped too. It is definitely different working with four to five other people versus just one other person like I was used to.” Dani also enjoys the station life of the fire service. “It’s a big family environment with the crew, plus they include our actual families a lot, and they are always welcome to visit,” said Dani. Dani appreciates the single role for its influence on her desire to learn more and perhaps influencing her to get fire certifications in the future. She says, “I would have never chosen to do so had I not been exposed to that environment.” Despite being single role, she says it is nice to “not be treated any differently with not being fire certified.” Feeling like she belongs is a common feeling at BFD.
For Firefighter/Paramedic Rebecca Coussement, she sees the department’s commitment to paramedics and EMS as a major factor in staff stability. “Our retention has skyrocketed, and we are making sure to get top of the line equipment like LIFEPAK 35s and motorized Stryker stair chairs,” she said. She believes that the investment made by the eepartment is certainly paying dividends.
The trust the community has is equally noteworthy with the citizens overwhelmingly passing a permanent tax for the fire department by eliminating the sunset clause. Coussement, along with her peers, has taken note of that vote and believes it signifies unrelenting trust between the people they serve and those who do the work.
Chief Sapp said, “We are very grateful for the support this community shows year after year. Without this community support, we would not be able to provide the outstanding staff or reliable up-to-date equipment that is helping provide Belton with, what I would say, is one of the best services in the KC Metro area.”
Through the years, BFD has demonstrated that they are a valued partner in the region. When the region is in need, Belton Fire does not hesitate to answer the call, much like they have done during major events like the Super Bowl celebrations and recent line of duty deaths. Regarding the last Super Bowl parade, Coussement and her partner Justin Falls were awarded a Special Accommodation for being one of the first ambulances on the scene at the Super Bowl Parade shooting where the department was providing EMS coverage.
Training and Quality Care
The BFD Training Division is led by Assistant Chief Michael. He has been a member of the service since 1999. The training division ensures that members of the department maintain up-to-date on certifications and qualifications to provide quality service to the community. Training division personnel are certified as Fire Instructor 3, Fire Officer 3, Live Fire Instructor, and AHA CPR Instructors along with numerous other certifications. In 2024, they provided over 746 hours of EMS specific training and support their staff going to major conferences like EMSWorld Expo. The department pays overtime to their staff for attending training three times a year.
In addition to training, the department views the evolution of care and protocols as a team approach. Employing an EMS Committee that works in conjunction with the Medical Director and Administration to review care modalities, creates an opportunity to discuss new approaches and working together to create quality care.
EMS Chief Steve Kratofil is a believer in this approach as it creates ownership in not only the mission, but also in the delivery of care. “We have always pushed for our medics to be medics with liberal protocols allowing them to provide great care for our patients. We still intubate, we use nitrous oxide, CPAP with bilevel/bipap. We do critical care transfers out of Belton Regional Medical Center with our vents and multiple pumps. Our EMTs are allowed to attend on BLS related calls, which has helped build confidence and transition them into being paramedics,” he said. BFD also has enhanced its retention program by paying for their EMTs to go to paramedic school.
Dedication to Quality Service
BFD enjoys professional medical direction oversight from Dr. Stamper. EMS Chief Kratofil said, “Dr. Stamper attends EMS meetings and is always available for us. If we can prove what we are wanting, he doesn’t say no very often.” His openness and approachability help make the service better.
Through the years, BFD has made a significant commitment to both creating a stable workforce, but also creating an environment where quality care is supported with state-of-the-art equipment. Crews have the benefit of using on-board ventilators, the LUCAS device, new radios, the Stryker Xpedition mechanical stair chair, new MDTs in all vehicles aiding response and providing pre-arrival information to the responding personnel, and other tools that lead to a standard of care that exemplifies quality and responsiveness.
Working with Dr. Stamper and a peer-driven EMS committee that explores new ways to improve protocols and how they take care of patients is a major contributor in the consistency of the department’s operation.
Community Involvement
Like most services that have a great relationship with their community, BFD goes beyond just providing EMS and fire coverage for its citizens. They have continued to find new ways to address the needs of the community by offering services that enhance the community. Chief Michael says that the department “has an active Narcan leave behind program, and we maintain a group of CPR instructors who are available to provide classes to the community. We partner with the Belton Police Department in a yearly community school supply drive to help those who need a little assistance.”
Chief Sapp says one of the ways they support the community is by having built a solid foundational relationship with their local medical facility. “We have a good relationship with Belton Regional Medical Center. This was helped by Belton Regional adding their own EMS liaison, giving us that one connection point to streamline communications. Both Belton Fire and Belton Regional have been committed to working together when we can and have done so through assisting each other in training opportunities and assistance,” he said.
Another innovative program BFD provides is an initiative created from the Department’s Prevention Officer. It is the Home Knox Box Program for residents age 55 and older. This allows for responders to access people’s homes when they fall or cannot get to the door, reducing the need to damage the structure by forced entry. This is important, says Chief Sapp because “we are trying to make sure we are not prolonging the response times to the customers, but also want to be sensitive to the fact that forcing entry to a home can cause a lot of costly damage that many of these folks can’t afford to fix.” This program works in conjunction with the new CAD upgrades so crews have access to the Knox Box.
Future Challenges and Future Opportunities
Every department finds opportunities in the challenges that they face. Belton Fire certainly understands this. Assistant Chief Michael sees a department that will get increasingly younger in the near future. He said, “We have a large portion of our department due to retire in the next five to seven years. This will be a big adaptation for those members who step into leadership roles with the department. But with that transition comes new ideas, different approaches, and adaptable and flexible leadership philosophies. Our staff will adapt and continue to make this organization better than they found it. I am confident in their collective abilities to evolve the department as the mission evolves.”
Assistant Chief Michael and EMS Chief Kratofil see the community growing fast with both residents and businesses booming. “We are having to adapt to the higher call volume as every service has to year to year. The type of calls we respond to has changed over the decades as well. We respond to a significantly larger number of mental health emergencies and lift assists than we have in decades past. Both call types present their own potential hazard to our providers,” said Michael.
Chief Sapp acknowledges that mental health calls are “probably the next biggest area we are trying to figure out what the future looks like.” He says working with the police and their mental health co-responder is important but acknowledges that “we are quickly learning it is a problem area we need to expand in so that we can attempt to alleviate some of the volume for calls involving mental health issues.”
Like many services, an increasing number of requests and growth in population and industry makes it hard to forecast a service’s needs in the future.
EMS Chief Kratofil concurs stating, “Challenges in the future will be maintaining our current staffing levels with a growing city and a big call volume including interfacility transfers and a busy 911 system.”
Chief Sapp sees an aging population as a major challenge moving forward. “We are seeing multiple additions to our area’s managed care facilities as well as communities specifically designed for retirees,” he said.
Belton Fire’s Administration believes that despite the challenges, they are set up to be successful.
A Comfortable Place to Work
Coussement, who has been with at Belton Fire for five years believes in the department and what it offers anyone interested in starting a career in EMS. She said, “Belton is a great place to grow and hone your craft while feeling like you are with a second family. It’s a very comfortable place to work.”
Chris George, FAO/Paramedic, with 23 years at Belton Fire, agrees that comfort is a selling point for the department. “I have always felt comfortable, and I enjoy the fire station life here.” He also is very pleased with how management “leans on members who have experience and recognizes that experience.”
Both employees find that station life and their “second families” allow for people to grow into their careers and helps new employees find that they have all the resources they need to be successful. The mixture of young new upstart providers coupled with seasoned experienced professionals and an administration that seeks to build leaders from within, provides a solid foundation for not only a successful service in today’s evolving EMS landscape, but creates a hopeful future.