{"id":46351,"date":"2021-03-16T07:01:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T11:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=46351"},"modified":"2021-03-16T07:02:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T11:02:43","slug":"new-volunteers-training-fir-the-cortes-island-fire-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/new-volunteers-training-fir-the-cortes-island-fire-department\/","title":{"rendered":"New volunteers training for the Cortes Island Fire Department"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Roy L Hales<\/p>\n

Orientation for the new\u00a0Cortes Island Fire Department\u00a0<\/a>volunteers began last month.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Recruits<\/h2>\n

Chief Mac Diver<\/a>\u00a0explains, \u201cWe had eight people come to that. Of\u00a0 those eight we\u2019ve had four continue through as recruits, which is a really nice group to allow us to maintain social distancing in our training quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n

They have to go through another two training days before becoming \u201crookies\u201d and are given pagers to alert them when there are call-outs.<\/p>\n

Becoming Rookies<\/h2>\n

After that, they will start joining the regular firefighter training sessions on Tuesday evenings, from 7 to 9 PM.<\/p>\n

In the interim, Diver has been teaching the recruits the basics on Wednesday evenings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will be training all year, before they are fully certified through Playbook standards<\/a>. We do road rescues as well.\u00a0 There is medical training, which hasn\u2019t been happening since COVID began. That\u2019s another course.\u00a0 There is a CPR course which is a one day event, and we have been doing two week stints learning occupational first aid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cortes Island Fire Department<\/h2>\n

The fire fighters are currently called out about 60 times a year, roughly half of which are structure, beach or brush fires.<\/p>\n

Diver said the number of call-outs could reach 120 to 150 when the fire fighters become first responders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will likely happen after COVID hopefully gets under control. We can\u2019t do it under COVID conditions,\u201d said Diver.<\/p>\n

The main responsibility falls upon the duty officer, who has a mandate to respond to every emergency.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Mac Diver about 250 days of a typical year. When Diver is off duty, one of three fire officers stand in for him.<\/p>\n

About 98% volunteers<\/h2>\n

Cortes Island\u2019s fire department is about 98% volunteer driven. Most of the firefighters are paid $10 an hour to train, but receive no compensation for responding in times of need.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a really big personal commitment that the firefighters put into the community, just being there when people are in need and dealing with stressful situations. These fire fighters are just out there through dedication to their community members. They have a desire to help. I\u2019m sure they\u2019d be happy to be compensated, but our tax base doesn\u2019t account for that,\u201d said Diver.<\/p>\n

The Cortes Island Fire Department will most likely be doing another recruitment drive in late September or early October this year.<\/p>\n

Links of Interest<\/h2>\n