Prince George Fire Rescue will soon be changing how it responds to medical calls.
It will utilize a specially equipped pickup truck carrying two firefighters, a dedicated medical unit serving as an alternative to dispatching a fire truck with four members on board to deliver first responders to medical emergencies.
City staff conducted a review of a plan first presented to council in February 2023 to create a smaller medical-specific equipped unit which would enhance the ambulance service provided BCEHS paramedics.
In a report Tuesday to the standing committee on public safety, Eric Depenau, the city’s director of administrative services, said council has already approved a staffing enhancement through the Alternate Approval Process to hire five additional firefighters this year.
In January, PGFR will ask council to approve hiring an additional supervising officer to cover each shift to staff the medical response truck, which will be deployed out of Fire Hall No. 1.
If approved, the supervisory officer position and the addition to the new firefighter positions created this year would bring PGFR closer to meeting response standards for structure fires suggested by the Fire Underwriters Association.
“Obviously a pickup truck has more manoeuverability and you can get to areas better,” said PGFR Chief Cliff Warner.
“The thing that has to be considered for us is we are under requirements through WorkSafe that require staff is supervised by a supervisor. What we’ve found from a security perspective was that when we have a rescue fire truck that holds equipment and pumps for water, it’s staffed with two people. We don’t send that truck into the downtown core for medicals because it requires both those individuals to conduct that medical (response), so both are focused on the patient and not focused on the greater picture.
“When we send a fire truck with four members, we have one person who drives and stays with the truck, an officer that stands back and looks at the greater picture, and two members that focus on the patient. We wouldn’t send that pickup truck into the downtown core because there’s only two people on it. And that supervisor can’t supervised, they’re part of that medical solution.”
Having the more nimble pickup truck would allow PGFR to get to a patient in areas where there are less security issue concerns areas and there’s a reduced likelihood of people interfering with the response team or potentially stealing equipment.
“The primary focus of it is going to be to take away the big-impact areas where our four-person fire trucks are going,” said Warner.
“We can get that truck out to Blackburn or the airport quicker, we can get it up to Cranbrook Hill quicker and use it as a backup for the rest of the community. That unit is going to create huge efficiencies for us while we’re maintaining safety.”
In 2025, the pickup now used for utility purposes is due to be replaced and the new truck will be outfitted with the medical equipment. On calls for fire or other hazard responses, the two members assigned to the medical truck will go out to assist the crew on the platform ladder truck.
“It’s going to have a two-person crew staffing a fire truck that’s right now only responding when it’s required,” said Warner. “These measures are not only going to support medical, but it will support our fire response. Instead of sending a fire truck to downtown up to College Heights we’ll send that two-person medical truck and now we’re keeping a truck in this (downtown) area for fires.”
