Efforts are underway to bring Texada Island’s road rescue service in line with changes in provincial policy.
Powell River Regional District’s rural services committee, at its December 11 meeting, discussed converting the Texada Island emergency program’s extended service to a local contribution service to support the delivery of a road rescue service by the Van Anda Fire Department.
According to Ryan Thoms, manager of emergency services for the Powell River Regional Emergency Program, the existing service established in 1994 does not conform to Emergency Management BC’s (EMBC) new road and medical rescue policy. Without EMBC recognition, the local service provider will be solely responsible for costs and associated liabilities with delivery of the service. This is a significant risk exposure for the regional district.
Thoms said the bylaw regulating the service has been amended twice, is out of date and vague. The regional district has looked at a model in the Cariboo region of BC for a search and rescue group where the regional district doesn’t run it but recognizes there is a cost associated with it and a great community benefit.
“It simply has the service in place to tax the people the appropriate amount and give that to the service provider,” Thoms said. “That’s what this conversion bylaw allows us to do.”
Sandy McCormick, Electoral Area D director from Texada, asked if adoption of a conversion bylaw would be a case of the regional district taking over the service.
Thoms said it would be the opposite because Texada Rescue is a regional district Electoral Area D service.
“This would convert that Electoral Area D service into a service that collects the same requisition amount, which is $15,000 maximum, and has an understanding with the Van Anda Fire Department,” Thoms said. “As long as you keep delivering this service to all of Electoral Area D, we will contribute the $15,000 and transfer the equipment.
“It keeps a fairness in place. It was considered unfair to either [Texada Island] improvement district to offer this service all around the island. Motor vehicle incidents can happen anywhere. There are lots of places that are nowhere near either of these fire protection areas. It adds an element of complication to their lives.”
Thoms said the big pushing factor was EMBC updating its policy.
“As soon as they did that it put us right out of sync with their policy,” he said.
Thoms said under the current format, for a fire service to leave its fire protection area, or, for this road rescue to roll at all, they have to operate under a provincial task number.
“With the province, if we don’t fit their policy, they are not going to offer the task number,” Thoms said. “Our service is running without WorkSafeBC compensation for our workers, our volunteers, and is also losing the ability to claim back any costs associated with that response. Adopting a new bylaw would put the service back in sync.”
Thoms said the Malaspina and Northside Volunteer Fire Departments, as part of their service, run a road rescue contingent.
“They train for it, they meet the standards and if they are called to a road rescue outside their fire jurisdiction, if it’s beyond their boundaries, they ask for a task number and that allows them to go outside of the boundary with the backing of the province,” Thoms said.
“The important thing is Van Anda has a bylaw that allows its fire department to leave and do motor vehicle incidents. They are already in place and could offer this service.”
Thoms said the road rescue chief is also the Van Anda fire chief.
“He’s wearing two hats,” he said. “This would allow him to wear one.”
McCormick said the fire departments on Texada Island are a sensitive issue and the two departments have very different ideas.
Thoms said the initiative being considered would contribute the regional district’s financial requisition to the Van Anda Fire Department to deliver the service. He added that both fire chiefs on the island have been working with him, they agree this is the right answer for them and it simplifies their lives.
Stan Gisborne, Electoral Area B director, asked what rural rescue entails. Thoms said it involves motor vehicle incidents requiring extrication. “It’s a jaws of life service,” he said.
The rural services committee will recommend the regional board convert the service and donate all Texada Rescue capital assets to the Van Anda Improvement District.
