Ben Thompson with one of two hazardous materials trailers outfitted for the county by the Emergency Services Department. Each trailer carries $70,000 worth of equipment for emergency response to hazardous materials disasters, including treatments for chemical burns, four inflatable tents to be used as emergency treatment rooms, paper clothing for burn victims, and flood lights for night operations. One trailer is stationed at St. Ignace, the other at Naubinway. The trailers were purchased with Homeland Security grants.

Mr. Thompson developed the emergency services department, mandated by the state in 1988, while working for the Sheriff’s Department. He served as Mackinac County Sheriff for one term, from 1980 to 1984, declining to seek re-election because he preferred the role of undersheriff, which he held for 22 years. He has been the emergency services director since the department’s inception. During his career he has worked to bring 911 service to the county, developed the county’s first disaster plan, and vastly upgraded emergency response equipment and training.

Those who have worked and trained with him say his efforts have resulted in a top quality program.

“He has been a great asset to the emergency management service, not only in the county, but throughout the state,” said Lieutenant Don Brown, Emergency Management Coordinator for Michigan State Police in Marquette, who oversees work submitted by Mr. Thompson. “He does an excellent job. He is very well liked and respected in emergency management. He cares. That sums it up, he cares. It’s not just a job to him, and it shows in his work. He will be very much missed.”

Lawrence Leveille, who was Mackinac County Sheriff for 20 years, said the county was among the first to develop its department to state guidelines.

“For a long time, Ben had the responsibility of two positions, undersheriff and emergency services,” Mr. Leveille said. “He’s rated highly throughout the state for his knowledge of the field. He’s been very well respected.”

The department reaches out to a wide network of agencies, including fire and ambulance crews, Mackinac Straits Hospital, the Health Department, Michigan State Police, Coast Guard, Road Commission, Board of Commissioners, Human Services Department, Disaster Action Team, Mackinac Bridge Authority, utility companies, pipeline companies, schools, and Equalization Department, to train people for emergencies and disasters. Mr. Thompson and 17-year assistant coordinator Joan Therrian, working with a county-wide committee, develop plans and run training drills at sites throughout the area. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, federal rules have required disaster drills at least four times per year, instead of once each year, Mr. Thompson said. A drill is planned this month to simulate a railroad accident near Engadine School, to offer training to emergency crews and school staff.

Mr. Thompson is widely credited with his hard work nine years ago to make 911 emergency service a reality for people in Mackinac County. The department has had “very good success with that program,” he said. This year, the radio communication network for emergency responders was significantly upgraded with 800 megahertz radios.

“We’ve probably got one of the best radio systems in the state for a community our size,” Mr. Thompson said of the upgrade. “With a whole group of people working together, you can get a lot done. We were all proud to be a part of it. I have been fortunate to work with good, dedicated people.”

Pam Matelski, 911 coordinator, said Mr. Thompson has donated countless hours to improving services, always putting the well-being of the community first.

“Ben Thompson was the driving force in bringing 911 to Mackinac County,” Ms. Matelski said. “Without his determination and continued leadership, we would not have the service we have today.”

St. Ignace City Fire Department Chief John “Bucky” Robinson agreed.

“If it wasn’t for Ben,” he said, “I don’t think we’d have 911 yet. He’s done an awful lot for the county. His work has gotten a lot of equipment and grants.”

Mr. Thompson secured Homeland Security grants to purchase a new St. Ignace fire truck in 2003 and fire department safety gear in 2004, two hazardous materials trailers, a trailer stocked with equipment for treating mass casualties, and several grants for training exercises and security upgrades.

Those who work with him have praised Mr. Thompson’s ongoing efforts to update his knowledge of the emergency services field.

In the near future, Mr. Thompson said, the Homeland Security grants that have outfitted so many small fire and rescue departments may begin to dry up for rural communities, as urban areas, perhaps at higher risk for terrorist attacks, lobby for those funds. Another trend will be communities meeting “mitigation challenges,” he said, such as developing waste areas farther from lakes, and ruling out re-building in flood plains.

“New rules,” he said, “are coming out at the federal level about these mitigating challenges, that local planning groups will have to deal with.”

The department put its plans into practice, Mr. Thompson recalled, when about 500 homes in St. Ignace lost water service in a particularly harsh winter freeze in the mid-1990s, while homes in Cedarville lost sewer service, and in more recent power outages in Mackinac Island. He said his biggest worry as an emergency planner has been “a mass casualty incident that would overwhelm our emergency medical response. That is one of our weakest links, that we don’t have a lot of ambulances or a large hospital. But our people do a really great job of covering. When there is a bad accident, they do start putting ambulances on standby from other areas.”

The county’s biggest strength, he stressed, is easier to identify: its people.

“I have worked with a great group of people from one end of the county to the other,” Mr. Thompson said. “We have had a great backing from the county board and emergency response teams. My assistant, Joan Therrian, does a tremendous job. She makes my job look good. Just so many people have helped, and they have all been great.”

“This community, as a whole, pulls together,” he said. “When something does happen, people come out of the woodwork to help. That’s a big advantage in living here.”

Originally from Atlanta, Michigan, about 80 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge, Mr. Thompson and his wife, Helen, and son, Tim, have lived in Mackinac County for 31 years, in Cedarville and St. Ignace. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson look forward to relaxation and travel during his retirement, he said, with a trip to the Dakotas first on the itinerary.