The firefighters at Cochrane Fire Services are concerned for public safety after noticing changes to the calls the department is being dispatched to attend.
The local department isn’t being dispatched as they previously were, particularly involving car crashes along Highway 1A, Highway 22 and Highway 1 — locations where Cochrane Fire would be the closest responder to the emergency.
As a result, firefighters are concerned the public isn’t receiving the best level of care, said Jared Wallace, president of Local 4819 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
Regardless of the type of call, he said a delayed response could be the difference between a positive and a negative outcome.
“… It is important to send the closest and most appropriate resource,” he said. “By forcing citizens to wait for a fire department that is further away puts people at risk by delaying their arrival.”
Since Jan. 1, Wallace said there have been at least four incidents where Cochrane Fire has been the closest available department to an emergency, but was not initially dispatched. In some cases, the hall wasn’t dispatched at all.
One such emergency call was a motor vehicle collision that occurred near Bearspaw Road and Burma Road at the beginning of January.
Rocky View County Fire Services’ Springbank hall received the dispatch, as the incident happened within the county. The volunteer firefighters at Redwood Meadows Emergency Services were called to help.
“I don’t think it is an appropriate use of resources to be sending fire trucks from as far away as Redwood Meadows, Elbow Valley and Balzac to attend call that are significantly closer to Cochrane,” said Wallace. “It certainly isn’t in the public’s best interest to be creating an artificial delay for a fire truck of up to 30 minutes.”
Although calls are dispatched through Calgary, service level agreements are dictated by jurisdiction, explained Erin Madden, a communications strategist with the City’s Public Safety Communications.
The incidents have occurred within Rocky View County boundaries — leaving service level agreements in their hands. However, as numbered highways are property of the province, service invoices for collision calls are sent to the provincial government and not billed to the county.
The issue has been brought up in meetings between the Cochrane Fire Fighters’ Association and the Town of Cochrane. But the problem persists, said Wallace.
“Our hands are tied at this point,” he said. “We are responsive to our employer and we follow their direction.”
While Mac deBeaudrap, emergency services chief and senior manager of protective services, said Cochrane Fire has a mutual aid agreement with Rocky View County, he said he was unable to comment on the terms of that agreement.
In August 2013, firefighters noticed a similar dispatching issue in regards to medical response within the town of Cochrane. Wallace said the issue was found to be a “miscommunication” between the Town of Cochrane and the City of Calgary’s Public Safety Communications.
The problem is thought to be resolved, although Wallace said there is still the odd instance when the fire department is not responding to high priority medical calls.
Rocky View County did not respond to this matter by the Cochrane Eagle’s press time, despite numerous attempts.
