Municipalities in Haliburton County will have a new emergency response agreement to sign soon. EMS Director Craig Jones says the Ministry of Health has made the change and now municipalities will be signing a response agreement with the county.
Jones says they’re taking this chance to reduce volunteer burnout. He says there are calls where the fire department is dispatched when they’re not needed.
Jones says fire departments will still be dispatched on the majority of calls, like cardiac arrest, or rescue. He says sometimes volunteers get dispatched to a call in the middle of the night, or from their job during the day, and the trucks just end up turning around. Jones says they’re trying to reduce that.
The agreement still has to be approved by the county before it goes to each municipality.