Chris Wolfe, chief of the North Queens Fire Association, speaks at a public meeting on Monday evening. (Rick Conrad)

When Mya Uhlman’s father needed medical help last August, her mother called 911 and expected her local fire department to respond.

They were still waiting 20 minutes later, so Uhlman’s mother called again. The 911 dispatcher told her the North Queens Fire Department was on its way. Uhlman’s parents live less than 10 minutes from the fire hall in West Caledonia.

“And they never, ever showed up,” Uhlman told QCCR. “She ended up calling a relative that lived close by to be with her because she was by herself.  … So when I inquired about it, I was told (North Queens) were never paged.

“The ambulance did arrive eventually. It was around 40 minutes before the ambulance did arrive. My father is OK, but it was serious at the time. 

“When my mother explicity asked for the North Queens Fire Department, they should have automatically been dispatched with no questions asked.”

Uhlman’s story and others were why Chief Chris Wolfe called a public meeting at the North Queens fire hall in Caledonia on Monday night.

About 100 residents, firefighters and other first responders from as far away as Yarmouth met to air their concerns about their local fire departments not being called to medical emergencies.

Chief Wolfe sounded the alarm on Facebook in February after another resident called 911 and the dispatcher didn’t notify Wolfe’s department. Instead, that person was still waiting for an ambulance when Wolfe’s deputy chief found out about it and had 911 page the fire department.

Volunteer firefighters around Nova Scotia take medical first responder training. The type of call they can respond to depends on the level their department signs up for. North Queens has 18 people trained to respond to almost any level of medical call.

Wolfe said that 111 of 198 of their calls last year were medical emergencies.

“My mandate is not to give up until we find a solution to this problem of not being paged for certain calls within our communities, because North Queens residents depend on us.”

He contacted Queens MLA Kim Masland to help organize the meeting with officials from the Department of Health and Wellness, Emergency Health Services, and Emergency Medical Care, which has the contract to operate ambulance and 911 service in Nova Scotia.

Masland, who is also the minister of emergency management, told those at the meeting to be frank with their concerns. And she also told people to continue to contact her and other MLAs. 

“I want to make sure that we land where we need to land because what has been happening is not acceptable.”

Representatives from EHS and Emergency Medical Care explained how the system works and the challenges in deploying the right resources in a timely way.

But people like Mya Uhlman wanted to know why their local fire departments wouldn’t be told about a call, especially if the person in distress requested it. A first responder with North Queens also demanded to know why dispatchers would deny that request.

Before officials could answer his question, first responders from the Liverpool, Pubnico and Woods Harbour fire departments also spoke up and said the same thing is happening in their areas.

Jeff Fraser, senior executive director of the emergency health services branch with Nova Scotia’s Department of Health and Wellness, said dispatchers have to follow certain models.

“I’m not so sure we should be denying that. I actually didn’t realize that was happening in that manner.”

Gordon Peckham, who is the vice-president of operations with EMC, said he didn’t know why that’s happening, but that it shouldn’t.

After the meeting, Uhlman said she hopes officials change how and when they notify local fire departments.

“In a way it made me feel a little better to know it wasn’t only us. But at the same time, it really made me feel awful  that this is happening in so many places and so many particularly rural community members are not getting the services they need in a timely fashion.”

Masland said she believes some progress was made at the meeting.

“There were things that were said here tonight that I could see they were raising the eyebrows of people here from EHS. And I think it’s important whenever you have communication that’s when you can start to resolve issues, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Chief Wolfe told QCCR that provincial officials promised to work on some of the issues raised and return in six to eight weeks for another public meeting. 

“The community did well supporting us, showing up. They voiced their concerns. Most of the concerns voiced we were aware of. I’m hoping that EMC will take it seriously and we’ll get things resolved.

“You could see the reactions with some of the public talking there that there were things going on that they weren’t even aware of. And I believe that within the next day or two, they’ll be taking those things into consideration and addressing them right away.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The North Queens Fire Association bought a new rescue truck in December 2023 to respond to medical emergencies and other calls. (North Queens Fire Association Facebook page)

The fire chief in North Queens wants answers about why his department isn’t being called to more medical emergencies in the community.

Chris Wolfe, who leads the volunteer-run North Queens Fire Association in Caledonia, says he’s worried that residents aren’t getting the help they need and someone could die because of it.

“We’re supposed to get called for pretty well anything that the ambulance will come out to North Queens for and that hasn’t been the case here lately,” he told QCCR.

“My concern is that the community’s not getting the help that they need when they need help the most. You take an ambulance takes an hour basically get to North Queens and even longer if you’re in a storm, so potentially somebody could be lying there for an hour without medical help.”

That’s why Wolfe has organized a public meeting on March 3 at 7 p.m. at the North Queens Fire Hall in Caledonia at 9793 Highway 8.

He’s invited officials from Emergency Medical Care and Emergency Health Services, as well as Queens MLA Kim Masland, who is also the minister of emergency management, and Health Minister Michelle Thompson. Wolfe is also encouraging residents to attend.

Wolfe expressed his frustration in a recent Facebook post. He also posted last August asking residents to contact him if they’ve called 911 in the past expecting the fire department to respond.

A post on the North Queens Fire Association Facebook page from Chief Chris Wolfe.

“I’ve previously had meetings with EMC and EHS and we’ve talked about it and I thought things were going to get straightened out but obviously they didn’t and we did have one particular call there the night before I posted that and the individual was lying outside in the snow and they weren’t going to page the fire department for it.

“We ended up going over on our own terms and dealing with it till EHS arrived so that was my pet peeve that sent me to put the post on Facebook.”

Emergency Health Services contracts out ambulance and paramedic service in Nova Scotia to Emergency Medical Care, which is owned by Medavie Blue Cross. EMC also operates the province’s 911 call centre.

EMC officials declined an interview request. A spokesman said in an emailed statement that they “are committed to continuing the conversation to address” the fire department’s concerns.

Wolfe said 18 of the first responders at his department are certified under the Medical First Response Program, which trains people to care for someone who is injured. He said they responded to 111 medical calls last year, which account for between 65 and 75 per cent of what they do.

But he said they could potentially respond to more calls and more quickly than EHS, if only they knew about them.

It’s a situation that rural fire departments are dealing with around the province, he says. 

“When you become an MFR agency you choose what level of response you want to be and where we’re so far from a hospital or anything like that we choose to be non-urgent and that means that we give anybody the help that needs it for any type of scenario.”

He says he’s not looking for a quick fix, but he hopes the meeting helps.

“I don’t expect everybody to come (to the meeting) with answers. It’s not going to be fixed overnight.

“The purpose of the March 3rd meeting would be to get everybody there, address what the problems are, take everybody’s concerns from the public, put that all together and then go back to the drawing board and say, ‘Look we know this is what’s wrong, what options do we have to fix this, how can the volunteer fire service and MFRs help us out,’ and then maybe have another public meeting maybe three to four weeks later and come back to the drawing board and tell people what was found out and how things are going to be addressed.

“The more people that show up, the better it will be. And hopefully we can get things addressed and make things better for all of Nova Scotia.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Glen Parlee demonstrates his company’s new line of Versatile Integrated Packs. Photo Ed Halverson

A Brooklyn based manufacturer is hoping to conquer Canada and beyond with a new product line and a fresh approach to their business.

Parlee Manufacturing launched their Versatile Integrated Packs (VIP) as a customizable, off-the-shelf solution that can be tailored for any situation.

Glen Parlee, president of Parlee Manufacturing says the product was born from the close relationships with first responder agencies in Nova Scotia.

“Actually seeing how the product is used and talking to the people on the frontlines, not a purchasing agent but the person on the front lines that’s using it and asking the question, what would make your job easier? What would work better for your particular application? That’s the information that we need to make a product that’s always up-to-date and ready to go,” said Parlee.

Members from EHS Lifeflight and the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables were on hand at the product launch to demonstrate how the modular system has been adapted to their particular uses.

Even before the pandemic hit in 2020, Parlee Manufacturing was looking for ways to better connect to the customers.

With the help of Nova Scotia Business Inc and Digital Nova Scotia the company has rebranded and refreshed their websites and will be selling the new products direct to customers, online.

Parlee says by cutting out the middleman they can not only reduce costs and stay competitive against offshore producers but give the customer what they want.

“Maybe the set up that they see online, one of our sample ones that maybe a local organization is using doesn’t fit with their needs,” said Parlee. “We can help them decide, okay, if we change some of these, with these accessories, this might work for you. Then we can customize a pack without making a custom pack.”

Parlee and his wife Kathi started selling adventure products in 1985 and rebranded the business to Parlee Manufacturing in 2003.

With a full-time workforce of nine people, they still produce everything in their shop in Brooklyn, just outside Liverpool.

Parlee says when dealing with a larger order the family business can bring in up to 15 people.

Despite issues in other sector, he doesn’t see his company having an issue finding labour.

“Our average employee is not the average employee,” said Parlee. “Most of our seamstresses are folks that, their kids have gone back to school or they may be folks that have kids in school, so we’re very flexible.”

Parlee says their products are already in use across Nova Scotia and with the new product, new business model and new online presence, the goal is to have Parlee products in the hands of first responders across Canada in short order.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Dahl Dispatch founder Evan Dahl. Photo contributed by Evan Dahl

Thousands of people up and down the South Shore now benefit from what began as one man’s hobby.

Close to ten years ago Evan Dahl began posting the location and types of emergencies first responders were being called out to support on his Dahl Dispatch Facebook page.

Since then, it has built a following of 28,000 people. Dahl said he feels like he’s performing a community service.

“I enjoy giving the community the basic info of what’s going on. I can’t always give too much info at the time but I try to give them enough so that when they hear sirens they at least have an idea of what’s going on,” said Dahl.

He focuses his efforts on reporting fire calls from across Queens and Lunenburg counties.

Dahl began the page while he was still in high school and since then he has taken a deeper dive into the world of first responders.

Following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and uncles, Dahl is currently a volunteer firefighter with the *Dayspring fire service.

His day job is spent answering fire calls for Lunenburg and Shelburne counties at Scotia Business Centre.

Keeping the public informed and staying focused at work can be a tricky balance to strike sometimes.

“If it’s busy at work, my hobby has to wait until I get off, I get home,” said Dahl. “I try to balance it and as much as it’s related, I try to keep it separate.”

Many of Dahl’s followers are people in the media who rely on his updates to tip them off to events as they are happening.

“I really like that and usually if there’s a big call on the go they will turn to me for info or that kind of thing. So it’s nice to be able to help them out as well,” said Dahl.

He invests a great deal of time into keeping his page up to date. and recently launched a campaign to try and offset some of his costs.

He set up a “buy me a pizza” fundraiser where anyone who felt like contributing to his work could send him a suggested five-dollar donation. Dahl got the idea from a similar site being run out of metro.

‘There’s a page for Halifax fire calls and he posted this, buy me a coffee site. Basically, you go on and you donate, I think his amount was three or four dollars, enough to buy him a coffee,” said Dahl. “I don’t drink coffee so I put my little spin on it so I put buy me a pizza.”

Dahl raised around $160 but he is not out to make money on the page. He said he does need to update his equipment every few years as technology changes, and may look at doing a yearly fundraising drive.

To follow Dahl’s work go to Dahl Dispatch on Facebook.

*An earlier version of this story indicated Evan Dahl was a volunteer with the Hebbville fire service. It has been corrected to reflect he is a volunteer with Dayspring.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

Trucks outside North Queens station. Photo Credit: North Queens Fire Department

Medical first responders in North Queens are being told not to respond to calls because of COVID-19.

The MFRs are volunteer firefighters trained to attend to someone in medical distress until paramedics arrive on scene.

Queens-Shelburne MLA Kim Masland says when someone is having a medical emergency, waiting 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive from the nearest EHS base in Liverpool is too long.

“If you’re living in Caledonia and you’re in cardiac arrest, the local MFRs can no longer come to you, who actually have an AED on site, there’s no way someone’s going to get to you in time,” said Masland.

In March, the EHS/MFR coordinator told MFRs across the province they could respond only to motor vehicle accidents and to leave emergency calls to EHS paramedics because at the time, there wasn’t enough personal protective equipment to go around.

A spokesperson for Emergency Health Services says since COVID-19 restrictions have started to ease up, they have been bringing MFRs back online in 21 areas with high incidents of cardiac arrests.

Already, 11 have received the training around proper use of the new personal protective equipment and are currently operating.

The other ten are slated to return to service in the coming weeks but unfortunately, none of those are in the Western Zone servicing North Queens.

The EHS spokesperson says the North Queens MFR agency is one of the more remote agencies in the province and is also scheduled to receive training in the coming weeks.

Masland is concerned about what could happen if an ambulance can’t get to the area in time.

“We’re so rural, we’re so geographically isolated and if I’m getting text messages saying on a Saturday morning at 11:55 there’s not an ambulance to be seen from Barrington to Halifax, that’s very, very frightening,” said Masland.

North Queens Fire Chief Chris Wolfe says the community has always relied on the department as medical responders and as fire fighters.

He’s frustrated they’re being left in the dark as to why the department is no longer being dispatched for medical emergencies.

“Every time I see somebody in Caledonia they’re saying, why aren’t you guys answering medical calls?So and so had this problem the other night and you guys weren’t there,” said Wolfe. “To me, if EHS is not going to allow us to do this they should be making it more publicly aware and giving briefings to the public on what’s taking place, why we’re not responding.”

Wolfe is well aware of the strain on the province’s ambulance system.

He has been writing to government officials for the past three years to explain the dire situation residents in North Queens can face when looking for emergency medical help.

“It’s an ongoing problem and the province doesn’t seem to see that there is a problem. I’m to the point myself, that I can’t write no more or talk no more to change anything so, where do you go, right? It’s one of them things that a little town fire chief like me isn’t going to be able to fix ‘cause there’s too many people above me that make the decisions,” said Wolfe.

The president of Local 727 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, the union representing paramedics in Nova Scotia, says the EHS system in Nova Scotia is in chaos as it struggles to fill shifts and reduce offloading time for patients at hospitals.

Michael Nickerson says it’s helpful to have MFRs to service remote areas before his members arrive.

“They can provide oxygen therapy and get vital signs and treat fractures, like, splint fractures and dress wounds, bandage and whatnot,” said Niickerson. “So, they are a great, great asset.”

Nickerson says his members have been warning the province since before the COVID-19 outbreak that the pre-hospital system in Nova Scotia is not working.

The health department took those concerns to heart when they commissioned a $145,000 report by Fitch and Associates in October 2018 to review the ambulance system across the province.

The province received the report in December of that year, but Nickerson says despite repeated requests by IUOE 727, they still have not released the results.

“I don’t understand why they’re not putting it out there. They’re saying because, you know, negotiations and whatnot. Our contract’s settled, so they can’t use that as an excuse. They need to put that report out and let us see what’s in it. I’m sure there’s recommendations in there to make the system better than it is right now,” said Nickerson.

Health department spokesperson Marla MacInnis said they are currently in negotiations with Emergency Medical Care Incorporated, the company contracted by the province to provide paramedic services.

She says while the paramedics working under EMCI have a contract in place, the contract with the supplier (ECMI) is still being negotiated and releasing the Fitch report could put the province at a disadvantage.

Back in Queens, Kim Masland says now that the province has the personal protective equipment in place the focus should be on getting the medical first responders trained, and back in action.

“So let’s get our agencies back in the saddle,” said Masland. “Let’s get them doing what they do best in our communities.”

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson