CENTRE WELLINGTON – Following a surge in medical-related calls last year that saw Centre Wellington Fire and Rescue covering for unavailable ambulances, fire chief Tom Mulvey says things have fallen to regular levels.
This was one of several updates provided by Mulvey to Centre Wellington Council Monday as part of an update on the fire master plan.
Mulvey believes the large number of calls to the fire department was “dependant” on ambulance staff members not being able to unload patients at ERs in a timely manner, also known as off-loading delays.
“EMS will be 20 minutes away from a call, which means that the fire department gets called,” said Mulvey. “I’m not trying to jump to conclusions…we’re currently trying to find out what caused (the surge) but right now we’re happy to announce we’ve responded less.”
Coun. Barbara Lustgarten-Evoy asked when council should consider including those EMS-related calls in their long-term plan.
“There are communities taking off some of the medical professional's burden by actually doing house calls,” said Lustgarten-Evoy. “As we grow and we get a third station … I’m wondering what appetite there is for us to take that on.”
However, Mulvey wasn’t sure about the feasibility of this option for Centre Wellington, noting that the Guelph-Wellington EMS teams currently doing house calls.
“The fact that we're already asking our volunteers to come two times a day for emergency calls, one night a week to train, and every fifth Saturday… it would be hard to ask them to go out and do more,” said Mulvey. “That being said, we're always here to help and we’re willing to help.”
Coun. Lisa McDonald took the time to thank volunteer firefighters for their service before asking about their mental health.
According to Mulvey, every firefighter has access to a Critical Stress Management Team, which is responsible for debriefing members about dealing with traumatic situations, after every call.
“A big part of our game now is PTSD and relieving stress,” said Mulvey. “We want to provide as much support to our firefighters that may have seen some terrible things.”
Council also revisited the issue of aging fleets, discussing the benefits of replacing Pump 41, an aging fire truck, and making it a backup pumper until it’s properly serviced.
“The big concern with an aging fleet is obviously the cost of maintenance, you know getting parts that are over 20 years old,” said Mulvey. “We do all the maintenance that we can, we assure that it's safe to drive…but (it is) aging and wearing out.”
The purchase of the $950,000 truck was approved by council in January 2023.
However, the station currently has nothing to take its place, which creates “the burden” of responding to a call and not making it due to a smaller fleet.
