Photo: The Town of Bashaw council received an answer to their question asked at a previous meeting: how is emergency dispatch service for the municipality defined? The report was made to council at their Feb. 18 regular meeting. Rural Alberta Report/S.Salkeld

The Town of Bashaw council received an answer to a question asked at a previous meeting: how is emergency dispatch service for the municipality defined? The report was made to council at its Feb. 18 regular meeting.

Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Theresa Fuller presented councillors with a report on the “definition of dispatch services” for council review. Her report noted that councillors had previously approved an emergency dispatch services agreement with the Camrose Police Service, with councillors later requesting a detailed revision to the dispatch definition in the agreement.

Fuller’s report began, “Dispatch services means the emergency dispatch services for fire-related calls, including emergency medical services (EMS) assistance, within the service area. When a request for fire services is required, emergency dispatchers shall notify the responsible fire department as soon as possible once the necessary information has been obtained.

“The responding fire department is required to confirm receipt of the call and indicate their response status within four minutes of the initial page from dispatch. If dispatch does not receive confirmation within four minutes, dispatch will initiate a phone call to ensure a response is underway.

“Should confirmation not be received within a reasonable amount of time, mutual aid will be initiated for public safety reasons.”

The CAO’s report noted that dispatch will also provide other assistance, such as relaying information it has received, but does not act in any management capacity. “For clarity, dispatch services will carry out requests made by responding fire agencies but will not make operational, tactical or response-related decisions on behalf of the fire department,” stated the CAO’s report.

Coun. Kyle McIntosh asked about the ability to pull cellphone data related to call-outs and about billing for the Bashaw Fire Department responding to motor vehicle collision (MVC) call-outs.

Mayor Cindy Orom observed that council had requested a definition and that the definition was provided.

Coun. McIntosh responded that the definition, in his opinion, met some of his requests but wondered whether it answered all his questions, polling his peers on whether it clearly addressed all concerns.

The CAO noted that the definition had not been circulated to any other agencies, including the fire department, and was only presented to councillors.

Mayor Orom stated that a definition was requested so each party to the agreement clearly understands what is required and expected of them.

Coun. McIntosh moved that a decision on the definition be tabled to a future council meeting so town staff can gather more input. Coun. Reina Masyk responded that she did not think the item needed to be tabled but understood that some councillors might want more information.

Councillors agreed to table the discussion to a future meeting pending additional information.