More boots on the ground and funding are required in local Emergency Services within the next five years, according to two reports released this month.
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The 2023-2025 Strathcona County Emergency Services (SCES) Master Plan and 2023 Standard of Cover reports paint a picture that the municipality must pour more money into the department to reduce the risk to the community and to manage the county’s current and future growth.
Since the last 2013-2022 Master Plan, much has changed in the county and for the department such as the transition of ambulance dispatch to Alberta Health Services in May 2013, the addition of Station 6 in 2013, the introduction of new multi-story building types within Sherwood Park in 2019 (especially in the Emerald Hills area), the overall increase in population by eight per cent (shifting from 92,403 in 2012 to now 100,362), and a significant growth in fire and EMS call volumes.
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With crews overhauling hot spots, the smoke was still smouldering along Highway 21’s southern portion from the May 5 wildfire as SCES presented this reality to Strathcona County Council at the Tuesday, May 9 Priorities Committee meeting.
“This past weekend has shone a light on how thin our resources are,” noted Ward 5 Coun. Aaron Nelson.
Looking closer at call volumes, in 2022 alone, SCES responded to 11,620 calls — EMS events increased by 38 per cent, fire response increased by 32 per cent.
To put it in perspective, just five years prior in 2018, the county reported an annual call volume of 7,860. Looking ahead, the department predicted that by 2044, it will be fielding a call volume of 15,600.
More full-time positions required
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Just to close the gap over the next one to five years, SCES recommended that a staffing ratio for 24/7 operations and suppression needs to be increased from 1.25 to 1.5.
Within the next two years, the big ask is to boost staff by adding one new 24/7 squad, which means 24 full-time positions (four full-time fighter fighter-paramedics x 4 platoons x the 1.5 ratio).
While the recent addition of 12 to 16 firefighters have eased some pressure, the department said maintaining the 1.25 ratio has been challenging due to planned and unplanned leave by staff and having minimum or less staffing has led to surging overtime costs. Looking to the future, the 1.5 staffing ratio is also required leading up to the opening of Station 7, which SCES said is critical for achieving service targets.
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On top of that, the Alberta Integrated Fire Chiefs and Alberta Health have recognized that a 1.25 staffing ratio needs to be re-examined and increased, the reports said.
The Master Plan highlighted that the department needs to increase its current 12-member response to 17-members to deal with urban events. Currently, it’s typical that some of SCES’ cross trained firefighter-paramedics are being pulled into Edmonton for EMS responses, which is mandated by the province.
“That’s pushing it on a single-family dwelling and it’s actually very dangerous for a multi-family dwelling or high rises, God forbid, with only 12 firefighters. Having the ability to respond with 17 firefighters to structure fire is just part of the evolution of this community as you go from a single-family dwelling bedroom community to an urban centre in its own right,” said Darkhorse Analytics consultant Daniel Haight.
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Fire Chief Martin Paulson outlined that there the need for a full-time squad at Station 6 due to the high-density pressures in Emerald Hills as it has become home more apartment buildings and high-rise structures.
“We do have a bit of a gap in that area in terms of response… We’re talking about what we need to do during a fire in order to get to a fifth floor. Unfortunately, we need numbers, we need bodies. It takes people to get up there and equipment to get up there. That will make sure a critical difference as far of firefighter safety and making a difference at the fire if we can handle it easy, a quick knock down or if it will progressively become bigger,” the fire chief explained.
Required short-term investments
Within the next two years, the reports also outlined the need to:
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• Enhance data analytics and performance dashboards to drive viability of service,
• Complete a comprehensive Fire Underwriters Survey, and
• Add one to two permanent part-time positions to the local 911 dispatch.
Looking out three to five years, plans include creating a new training centre, implementing the 17-firefighter effective response force, and conducting a deployment modelling study, which will look into fire zones and response protocols for optimization.
While not within the five-year window, support of leadership and frontline capacity should also be supported through analytics, safety and training, the report outlined, and the county will have to be prepared to build another two stations — Stations 7 and 8, as more growth areas are built out.
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Ward 2 Coun. Dave Anderson thanked the department for the tangible targets and the clear, concise data.
“In the 10 years that I’ve been on council, I feel like this is the first time that we’ve had an honest and frank conversation in regarding to Emergency Services. I’m so happy that we finally have someone who is willing to sit up and tell us what you need versus giving us answers that will fit within a budget constraint,” Anderson said. “When it comes to Emergency Services, have those honest and open conversations with us because we want the protection of our community to be at the forefront of the work that we’re doing here.”
Ward 3 Coun. Lorne Harvey was shocked that adding more firefighters was address last year for the first time since 2013, and he said this should be addressed on an ongoing basis as the county grows.
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“We are a growing community. We are very unique where we have the urban, rural and industrial, but the one thing that we need to know going forward is having someone coming back to us to say what will all of this cost and how we can manage that, do we can phase it in, and plan for it over the next three to five years,” he said.
Ward 8 Coun. Kate Berghofer filed an information request looking into how many times SCES provided help to the City of Fort Saskatchewan, as per the mutual aid agreement, and what are the associated costs related to that help.
CAO Darrell Reid confirmed the department’s recommendations will be looked as Budget 2024 is formed. With more densification taking place in Sherwood Park in areas such as Emerald Hills and south of Wye Road, SCES cannot conduct operations safely in a high rise, apartment complex, or hospital, he said.
“I think getting your head around where we’re at since not growing (the department) since 2013 is a really important first step because these are big, big pieces,” Reid stated.
“Take away all of the high rises, all of the apartments, and the refineries, for just a regular single-family residential dwelling built with modern lightweight construction, the kind you see in Sherwood Park, when it’s on fire, it cannot be safely attended to by 12 firefighters — full stop,” the CAO told council.
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