THURSDAY
DECEMBER 7, 2017
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New response system Tiffany Lepack
tlepack@metroland.com
The Renfrew Fire Department will now respond to certain medical calls in the Town of Renfrew. On Nov. 28 Renfrew council approved a modified tiered response program, on a one-year trial basis. Coun. Kate Windle, who is also the chair of the fire and emergency management committee, said it was great pilot program to try. “The firefighters themselves have been the real push,” said Windle. “If they can save one life, it’s worth a shot.” Mayor Don Eady was in support of the trial but asked fire Chief Guy Longtin to submit quarterly reports. Longtin stressed they are not out to take paramedic jobs; they are just there to assist the people in the event there is a delay in the ambulance. “What we are looking at is more life-threatening calls. We are looking at calls that people have shortness of breath, where they have possibly a heart attack, where there is a possible drowning, that type of incident and only when the paramedics are not in town or not available to respond in town,” explained Longtin. The chief emphasized there is a very good paramedic service in the county and there are not too many times when they are not available. “But when they are not available, it’s nice for us to be able to go and assist,” said Longtin. The new program will see the Central Ambulance Communication Centre dispatch the fire department, which can be on scene in town limits within
four minutes of receiving a page, to all Code 4 medical emergencies where an ambulance is not immediately available within town limits. “The response time is one of the major things. From the time we get paged out, we’re pretty much anywhere in town within four minutes,” said Longtin. “If you have a situation where the paramedics are on standby in Glasgow, for instance, they will be 10 minutes getting to town. We would be there providing assistance for the person in distress and hopefully within a very short while the paramedics will come to back us up.” All Renfrew firefighters are trained in emergency first aid, including CPR, defibrillation and airway management. They also carry a defibrillation unit and oxygen on board the front run pumper/rescue unit. This type of response is not something entirely new to Renfrew. In early 2001 the fire department entered into an agreement with the Provincial Ambulance Service to assist in a modified tiered response to medical emergencies when an ambulance would be delayed and it was a life-threatening situation. Approximately three years ago, according to the report submitted to council, the agreement was terminated by the province as they were no longer responsible for ambulance services that had been downloaded to the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service. At that time, the Renfrew Fire Department was responding to roughly 100 medical calls per year. This new response should not be confused with the fire/medic program the province is trying to implement.
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Tiffany Lepack/Metroland
Waving in the night
Jaymee Bond and Tatum Joyce wave from the E.T.M. Industries float during the first-ever Under the Stars nighttime Santa Claus Parade on Saturday, Dec. 2 in downtown Renfrew. The event was very wellattended with thousands of young and old lining the parade route. For more photos see pages 2 and 4.