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Wheatland County is moving away from Wheatland & Adjacent Districts EMS Association (WADEMSA) and has selected Calgary 911 as its future provider for fire dispatch services.
A statement was released by the county, April 29, discussing the decision, citing it was based on cost, regional efficiency, operational performance, and the use of modern NextGen 911 technology – now mandated by the province for dispatch services.
“(WADEMSA) is a service that has been provided to the county area, was basically developed in house, but over the years it has always been trying to be competitive with other service providers, and it is just becoming not the case anymore,” said Reeve Scott Klassen. “We, the county, chose to do an RFP (request for proposal) approach which is why we went in camera, and we got current numbers and service levels. I truly wish that WADEMSA could keep going and provide the same level of service for the same cost, but it is simply not the case.”
Clarifying why the county discussed the change in camera instead of in public, the RFP process is noted to involve confidential and commercially sensitive information. Holding the discussion in closed session abides by Sections 19 and 29 of the Access to Information Act.
Klassen estimated the transition from WADEMSA to Calgary 911 will take approximately six months at maximum in order for it to take place as seamlessly as possible. In a statement, the county notes service levels are based on systems, training, and operational standards as opposed to geographic location.
“We did a comparative look at services and (WADEMSA) scored very low compared to the competitors. Anything like specific issues, I won’t get into that because it is a lot of hearsay. My concern is firefighter safety and the safety of the public,” said Klassen. “The volunteer or the paid on call firefighters or whoever goes out and uses the apparatuses needed within the county of Wheatland, I want to ensure they have the best that we can give them and cost is not always the first factor, but it is a factor as well in these hard times.”
The county noted specifically in a public statement this decision does not reflect poorly on the dedication of WADEMSA staff and local first responders. The review was to ensure the county meets procurement and contract standards set by the Province of Alberta.
Since the decision was made, concerns have been raised by those who are the effective boots on the ground within the county.
Veteran firefighter, Mark Lewandowski, who serves with Rosebud Fire, explained he and many of his fellow firefighters have significant doubts about the merits in outsourcing fire dispatch services to the city.
He explained that historically, lines of communication between fire chiefs and incident commanders have been very open and constructive with dispatch, helpfully in part due to the organization being within the local region.
“We have had situations where the dispatcher is able to help us understand something in terms of the geography and knowing what they know in the rural areas because they live in this area, they know how we are dealing with it,” said Lewandowski. “A number of us in our department particularly, and I know that the other associations are concerned about the move to Calgary because they don’t understand necessarily the process of fire fighting in a rural setting.”
Another amongst local concerns is the regularity of losing radio connections to dispatch and being occasionally reliant on cell service to communicate.
Lewandowski explained the potential loss of being able to speak with dispatchers via cell phones and having direct communication lines could be a massive blow to local services.
To date, local fire units have yet to apply to speak with the county during a council meeting as a delegation, or to present before the Public Presentation Committee.
Though Klassen did not have an exact timeline, he estimated that the county’s partnership with WADEMSA had been in place for nearly the last 20 years.
At the time of writing this article, the Town of Strathmore had yet to finalize its decision regarding whether they would cease their own local partnership with WADEMSA.
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