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Sponged!
Cameron Copeland gets drenched as a sponge
bounces off his face at the Diamond Valley Boys' and Girls' Club's penny carnival
which was held Friday afternoon at the Black Diamond Arena.
photo by John Barlow
High enrolment affects new school
By Gillian Beckett
Staff Reporter
Before opening its doors for the first time to welcome new students, St. Mary's
Academy in Okotoks has had to look elsewhere for more classroom space.
Because of high enrollment numbers at the school, two portables have been borrowed
from Okotoks' Good Shepherd School.
According to Christ the Redeemer School Division's director of planning and facilities
James Poloso, the portables will be able to accommodate up to 150 additional students.
'We have 349 students who have already enrolled,' said Poloso. 'We expect 355 students
(in total) for this school year.'
Poloso explained that much of the increase comes from the fact that some students
in Kindergarten to Grade 6 have relocated to St. Mary's from Good Shepherd School.
'Some students live closer to St. Mary's. . . it's a matter of convenience,' said
Poloso.
While it will be highly convenient for St. Mary's to acquire the portables, Holy
Trinity Academy will also be experiencing some convenient changes within the school's
walls for the fall.
'Holy Trinity Academy will be undergoing some additional renovations,' said Poloso.
'The additions will house St. Paul's Academy virtual school and (will be used for)
homeschooling (purposes).'
Poloso said funding for the additions to Holy Trinity Academy was made possible through
a successful bid for an innovation grant from Alberta Education.
While the addition of the portables at St.Mary's and the development of the new classrooms
at Holy Trinity Academy are evident of growth within the Catholic school system in
Okotoks, Poloso explained that areas across southern Alberta are also experiencing
a similar amount of growth.
'We have also sent two portables to Holy Family Academy in Brooks,' said Poloso.
'It's an exciting time. . . we're growing everywhere.'
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Municipalities' firefighters have extended duties
to emergency medical responders
By Cindy Ballance
Editor
Due to the vast area that emergency medical responders cover in the MD of Foothills,
area firefighters have taken on more responsibility.
Following a pilot project with the Okotoks firefighters, the Foothills Regional Emergency
Medical Services Commission (FREMSC) which includes all municipalities within the
MD of Foothills, made a decision to include firefighters as secondary emergency medical
responders.
The purpose of the decision is to have available medical personnel to respond to
an emergency if the ambulance service is more than 10 minutes away.
'(The pilot) project went so well that the other fire departments and the MD offered
to do the same thing,' said Fred Stegmeier, manager of operations for FREMSC.
Stegmeier added that the fire departments and emergency crews work closely together
now, so this would simply enhance services to those in need.
'Our goal is to help people when they call 9-1-1 and ensure we get help to them as
quickly as we can,' said Stegmeier.
For example, if the ambulance is attending to a call in Eden Valley and there is
an emergency in Black Diamond, firefighters will be able to respond.
However, the firefighters will only be able to provide initial medical response until
the ambulance arrives.
In addition, firefighters will have to take basic emergency medical responders or
emergency medical technicians courses before they can attend to an ambulance call.
'They have to be certified and they have to be firefighters,' said Stegmeier of the
requirements for first medical responders.
The purpose of having firefighters assist the emergency crews is due to an increase
in the amount of time it takes to respond to a call.
'We are getting busier and we are finding crews are tied up for longer periods of
time,' said Stegmeier.
The idea of medical assistance from the fire departments has been worked on for a
number of years and now the guidelines have been formalized. Local fire departments
are now attending their local councils to update them on the program.
This caused some concern with Black Diamond councillors.
'I think we need some firefighters in this town and we need to concentrate on firefighting,'
said Mayor Rolly Magee.
However, Black Diamond fire chief Campbell explained that having firefighters respond
to emergency situations if the ambulance is unavailable would be a public service
to the community.
'We are not replacing the ambulance,' said Campbell, adding that they are simply
assisting them.
'I think it would be kind of nice if there was someone there if the ambulance isn't,'
said Councillor Greta Hogg.
Local firefighters are now able to assist the ambulance services in three areas:
lift assists, medical co-response and medical first response.
- Lift assists -- primary responsibility is to assist the EMS crew with lifting
or removing a patient from a scene. Members will also be expected to help with equipment
and scene control is requested. Fire crews will follow the direction of the senior
EMS crew members.
- Medical co-response -- primary responsibility is to assist EMS crews with patient
care as requested. This may include assisting with multiple patients, critical patients,
cardiac arrests, driving, etc. Members are also required to fill out a patient care
report for each patient attended to and reviewed by the medical director.
- Medical first response -- responding fire crews will not cancel EMS at any time,
but are expected to provide an information update as soon after arrival as possible.
Their primary responsibility will be to provide emergency care and treatment to the
level of their training and certification. All care will be documented.
Within three minutes of arriving on scene, the attendant will update dispatch as
to the type of the scene, patient status and number of patients.
The fire department will be called upon for medical first response when an EMS unit
is more than 10 minutes away.
At the discretion of dispatch or the EMS crew, response may be requested for rural
calls when firefighters will arrive on the scene more than 10 minutes before the
EMS.
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