MacKinnon Family of Funeral Homes : Hanson, Massachusetts (MA)

Copeland-MacKinnon Funeral Home,Easton 508-238-6641

Leighton-MacKinnon Funeral Home,
South Shore Cremation Service
Hanson 781 447-2344

Sampson-Hickey-Grenier Funeral & Cremation Service, Brockton 508-586-0399

MacKinnon Funeral & Cremation Service (South Coast Chapel) 158 Middleboro Rd. (Rte. 18) E. Freetown, MA 508-763-0000

Two firefighters join Local Assistance State Team
Written by Dave Palana

The last thing firefighting families want to think of is a death in the line of duty, but two Whitman firefighters are now prepared to help families deal with the worst.
Whitman Firefighter Rich MacKinnon Jr. and call firefighter Thomas Burnett will join the Massachusetts L.A.S.T. (Local Assistance State Team), a team formed to assist communities

and families after the death of a firefighter in the line of duty.

L.A.S.T. is the first of its kind in Massachusetts on a state level, but MacKinnon has worked with a similar organization in Boston and was asked to join the team because of his background in funeral services.

“At the time [of a death], there are a lot of things that need to be done in a short amount of time, and we know exactly what’s available and what we need to get,” MacKinnon said. “It’s training I hope I never have to use.”

Both MacKinnon and Burnett recently completed the Connecticut State Fire Academy of L.A.S.T. training. The program had specialized training classes in proper notification of death and funeral protocols as well and behavioral and grief counseling and benefits for survivors.

“I thought it was very well done,” MacKinnon said. “The people who taught us were all L.A.S.T. members. This is the first time we’ve had one in Massachusetts, and they have all been through it before.”

Burnett volunteered to take the training and said the program is an important tool to help families who have to deal with a sudden death and don’t know where to start.

“The Public Safety Benefits Program has been lagging because people don’t get all the paperwork done and that is one of the things this team does,” he said. “There were a lot of things [in the training] that I did not know about, like all the blood work they need for an autopsy so many hours after a death. There are a lot of little things.”

MacKinnon and Burnett will now be on call for L.A.S.T. support when a fire chief requests their team’s services. If there are multiple deaths in a department, the team may also have to respond in other states to assist their local L.A.S.T. team.

“I think this program is an absolute necessity,” Fire Chief Tim Grenno said. “Its something you never want to implement, but you have to have somebody trained in what to do in these situations.”