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Lasting impression
- photo by Cindy Ballance
Black Diamond Suspicious male investigated
By
Editor
Turner Valley RCMP are currently searching for leads into the whereabouts of a suspicious person.
Cst. Clint Reynolds of the Turner Valley RCMP detachment explained that on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at about 4 pm a 12-year-old girl had just got off the school bus on 4th Avenue when she was approached by a male in a vehicle who offered her a ride home.
The girl refused and the male left.
'She is a pretty strong little lady. She needed no encouragement, she said no and walked away,' said Reynolds.
A similar incident occurred the day before in the Evergreen area of Calgary.
Reynolds said that RCMP are checking into leads.
The man has a white beard and was wearing a dark blue ball cap with a white thin line on the top. He was also wearing a dark blue jacket and appeared to be tall and skinny.
The vehicle is described as a rusty station wagon, dark blue and light blue in color and was last seen in Black Diamond.
Anyone with information can contact the Turner Valley RCMP at 933-7227.
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Opinion Editorial Paul's Place News Sports Entertainment Movies Classified Ads Real Estate  Priddis elk farmer predicts success See this week's Regional in the printed issue |
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Commission agrees to maintain Priddis EMS
By
Staff reporter
Around 50 Priddis residents packed Turner Valley's town hall last week to show support for maintaining the current level of ambulance service in the Priddis region.
Members of the Foothills Regional Emergency Medical Services Commission (FREMSC) voted unanimously to retain full ambulance service in the hamlet after hearing a number of passionate pleas from the audience.
Commission chairman Laurie Hodson applauded the residents for their informed, articulate opinions and commitment to the matter. 'I think what we saw was responsible representation,' he said during the meeting.
Foothills Regional Emergency Medical Services (FREMS), set up Advanced Life Support (ALS) service in Priddis in 1999 but decided in May to reduce the Priddis service due to low call volumes.
In Priddis call volumes have fallen from 112 in 2000 to 101 in 2001. As of Aug. 31 this year, the Priddis unit has responded to 57 calls.
FREMSC board member Tim Tanner pointed out that the Priddis EMS service has had to be subsidized by other communities which prompted the original decision to cut back ambulance response to medical calls in the Priddis area.
'(The FREMSC board) continually tasks our administration to find efficiencies within the system,' Tanner said. 'But as an elected board we must be sensitive to the needs of our ratepayers and users of our service.'
The rest of the committee agreed voting unanimously to maintain service in order to quell resident's concerns over the proposed change.
It was proposed last May that Priddis would respond with one, rather than two, paramedics to emergency calls within the Priddis area. If assistance was required a second ambulance would be dispatched from Black Diamond, Turner Valley or Okotoks.
Priddis residents disagreed immediately with the proposal prompting the FREMS board to delay any decision until now. In the meantime, discussions were held with several representatives from the hamlet.
Hodson said the board expected a large turnout for last week's meeting when the final decision was made.
Of the approximately 50 residents attending the meeting eight spoke out against decreasing the Priddis ambulance service.
Homeowner Garry Wright said he would not want his elderly mother to visit him if the proposal went through. He said he would not feel confident in the ambulance service if only one paramedic was arriving at his home for an emergency call. Others agreed, expressing concern over the delay that would be caused by not dispatching an additional ambulance immediately.
Jean Hollands, a Priddis homeowner, suggested residents were so passionate about keeping the hamlet's ambulance service at current levels that they might have considered paying a small surtax towards its maintenance.
A satisfied hum filled the town hall following the committee's decision.
Resident Wendy Williams said she was satisfied with the discussion at the meeting and happy with the outcome.
'There was not enough information given before (in May) but we've got what we wanted now,' she said.
