06
COLUMNS
04 | Comment
18 | Psychological PPE
From Ford to the firehouse: How Mulally’s leadership style can transform fire services
20 | Front Seat
Structured response: The role of planning in fast-moving fire incidents
22 | From Hire to Retire
Transforming firefighter training with artificial intelligence
Understanding
By Brittani Schroeder
This summer, Canadian Firefighter is focusing on one of the most vital and ever-evolving aspects of the fire service industry: pre-hospital care. This is where fire services and emergency medical services overlap, and where a lot of your critical work occurs. Whether you’re the first on the scene stabilizing a patient or supporting paramedics in high-stakes situations, you understand that these moments require speed, accuracy, skill and teamwork.
The Great Canadian Fire Census 2024 results indicated that total call volume across the country increased from 1.9 million to 2.2 million. Despite this rise, the types of calls remained consistent year over year, with the largest percentage still falling within the emergency medical category. Many departments also reported that, for the most part, they are uncompensated for medical calls.
This information reflects what many of you are already experiencing: the future of emergency response depends on collaboration among first responder services, and pre-hospital care is not merely part of the job, it’s at the core of it.
As we delve deeper into this
subject in Canadian Firefighter now and in the future, I wanted to start with a story about two vastly different fire services that strive to exceed expectations in their medical care for the communities they serve. St. Albert Fire Services and Brookfield Fire & Emergency Services showcase numerous differences: Western Canada versus the East Coast, a city of over 70,000 compared to a town of fewer than 500, a career department versus a volunteer department, and so forth. However, where these services differ, they share many commonalities, the most significant being their commitment to delivering a high level of service to their communities and collaborating with local EMS teams to provide that service. You can read the full story, with insights from Chief Rod Nielson of Brookfield Fire & Emergency Services and Assistant Chief Stephen Underhay of St. Albert Fire Services on page 8.
Now, speaking of how fire services and emergency medical services work together, I had the chance to sit down with Oliver Burrows, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Paramedic Services, to discuss the challenges and successes that he and his colleagues are facing in Northern Ontario. How do
they collaborate with the local fire services? What challenges are the paramedics of Sault Ste. Marie encountering that are unique to the northern Ontario landscape? How can fire services and emergency medical services work more closely together in the future? You can find all those answers and more on page 12.
The future of emergency response depends on collaboration among services, and prehospital care is not merely part of the job, it’s at the core of it.
As always, I encourage you to reach out to me if there’s a topic you believe deserves attention, a new initiative your fire service has launched, or a member you think should be featured. Your input is invaluable in helping us cover the issues that matter most to the fire fighting community. You can contact me at bschroeder@annexbusinessmedia.com to continue the conversation.
Until next time, stay safe, happy reading and be well.
Summer 2025 Vol. 48, No. 2 cdnfirefighter.com
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After several years of negotiation, the list of cancers recognized as occupational diseases in Quebec firefighters is now significantly longer.
“In just a few years, the number of cancers recognized as occupational diseases has gradually risen from zero to nine, and now to 15, with the addition of brain cancer, colorectal cancer, leukemia, esophageal cancer, breast cancer and testicular cancer. This new state of affairs is a victory that, not so long ago, was considered almost impossible to achieve,” said Chris Ross, President of the Montreal Firefighters Association.
“Although we are still lagging behind some Canadian provinces, Quebec has made giant strides in this area in the name of justice and reason for all our firefighters, who risk their lives to save those of citizens,” said Ross, specifying that cancers of all kinds have become the silent killers in the firefighting community, whose profession has evolved at dizzying speed since the early 2000s, which have seen the emergence of construction technologies and techniques that are riskier than ever before, with the use of synthetic materials developing fumes and toxins that affect the health of firefighters.
The emergence of cancers with latency periods ranging from 5 to 15 years is leading to serious and fatal illnesses: 90 per cent of firefighter deaths attributable to occupational diseases in Quebec occur, incidentally, among Montreal firefighters. For the Montreal Firefighters Association, a shared vision remains the ultimate guarantee of success in this perpetual battle.
- Courtesy of Montreal Firefighters Association
Canada has over 30,000 paramedics who respond to more than 3 million emergency calls each year, according to the Paramedic Association of Canada. Medical and weather-related incidents now comprise 60 per cent of the calls that fire departments respond to (CAFC, 2023).
Alberta’s government is responding to growing wildfire threats by funding six local fire departments through the Wildland Urban Interface Program to boost wildfire preparedness and response capabilities. This will quadruple the number of existing wildland urban interface teams to ensure a stronger, more coordinated effort to protect communities from potential wildfire emergencies.
The Wildland Urban Interface Program targets areas where developments, such as homes, farms or industrial sites, border or mix with natural vegetation at risk from wildfires. It is a partnership between the provincial government and local fire services and includes funding from Natural Resources Canada. The expansion of this program will enhance the overall
deployment of specialized resources across the province and improve municipal fire service capacity through additional training and technical support.
Each new Wildland Urban Interface Team will receive $1.09 million over two to three years for personnel costs, administrative support, equipment, maintenance and travel expenses to aid in developing and expanding the program’s training and operational capacity.
The local authorities receiving funding include the towns of Strathmore, Hinton and Slave Lake, as well as Lac La Biche County, Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council and Kananaskis Improvement District. Two existing teams are based out of Clearwater County and the Town of High Level.
The MedicAlert Canada Foundation will soon deploy technology that connects its members’ electronic health records directly to 911 dispatchers.
When an operator receives an emergency call from a number, software developed by the foundation automatically sends a message to MedicAlert’s computers to check if the phone number is linked to a medical record in its database.
If it is, it pops up directly on the dispatcher’s computer screen.
“Before they even dispatch someone to respond to the emergency, they can actually see all of the medical conditions, all of
the information that’s available in that record, and what that does is help the first responder prepare before they even get to the scene,” said MedicAlert Canada President Leslie McGill.
The MedicAlert Canada Foundation is working with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and hopes to have the project up and running in roughly 200 911 centres across the country, with a timeline of three to five years.
The foundation tested the technology in Ottawa in 2024. During the trial period, the computer system accessed 8,000 individual records.
Canadian Firefighter’s annual Training Week is back for the fourth time. From July 7 to 11, 2025, we’ll be delivering hot topics, tactics and tips on training straight to your inbox. You’ll find our familiar columnists alongside new multimedia content for you to read, watch or listen to.
Our 2025 Training Week is proudly sponsored by the Ontario Fire Academy. Thank you for everything you do for the fire service industry! Join us as we cover trends, challenges, gear, leadership and more. Stay tuned to your inbox during July for this special delivery of Canadian Firefighter
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By Brittani Schroeder
Across Canada, firefighters and paramedics are working closely together, as medical emergencies are becoming an increasingly dominant type of call for fire departments. Firefighters’ roles are constantly evolving, and partnerships are deepening with fellow emergency medical services. Some departments, like St. Albert Fire Services (SAFS) in Alberta and Brookfield Fire & Emergency Services (BFES) in Nova Scotia, have taken steps to offer advanced medical care as first responders. Despite serving vastly different communities, both in terms of size and geography, they share a common goal and commitment to deliver high-quality pre-hospital care. Their approaches offer insight into how fire departments—both paid and volunteer—are adapting to the increasing demand for medical response.
Let’s consider the call volume in a city like St. Albert, Alta. With a population of approximately 72,000, SAFS responded to 4,119 calls for service in 2024. Of those, 2,902 were medical first response calls, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the department’s total call volume.
Now, let’s contrast that with Brookfield, N.S., a much smaller community of around 500 residents. Brookfield Fire & Emergency Services reported that 57 per cent of their total calls last year were for medical emergencies. These numbers make it clear that today’s fire services are called upon for more than just fire suppression. Effective partnerships with local paramedic services, as well as expanded medical training, are necessary to meet the needs of modern Canadian communities. However, the way fire departments across the country approach training and inter-agency collaboration can vary.
What doesn’t vary is the crew’s top priorities when they arrive on the scene of an emergency: protecting patient and responder safety, securing the environment and providing life-saving interventions.
In the case of SAFS, which operates as an Advanced Life Support Medical First Response service, members follow the same medical control protocols as paramedics working in ambulances. This means the department is equipped to provide the highest level of ground pre-hospital care currently offered in Alberta.
For BFES, the approach is tailored to its smaller team structure. Typically, a three-person team is deployed: one to attend to the patient, a second to support with equipment and supplies, and a third to complete the patient care report while offering support to family members or bystanders. Additional personnel assist with tasks such as scene management and preparing for patient transfer.
In Brookfield, the BFES team reports a strong working relationship with local paramedics, many of whom are current or former firefighters themselves. This shared background fosters mutual respect and enhances onscene coordination.
“This understanding and respect are the keys to a successful outcome,” said Fire Chief Rod Nielson.
In St. Albert, approximately 65 per cent of medical emergency calls are handled by SAFS members, with the remaining calls covered by Alberta Health Services (AHS) paramedics.
St. Albert Fire Services crews are trained to respond quickly to all emergencies within city limits, providing initial incident stabilization and conducting on-the-ground assessments to determine further needs. Their role can range from administering critical care to managing complex incidents to fire suppression.
St. Albert Fire Services is one of only seven integrated fire services in Alberta. The department operates two 24-hour Advanced Life Support ambulances that serve both the city and surrounding areas.
“Due to our continuous training, our SAFS crews can seamlessly integrate with any responding ambulance,” said Assistant Chief Stephen Underhay.
In a small community like Brookfield, one of the strengths of the BFES team is the close relationships they have with the people they serve. These first responders often know the individ-
uals they’re attending to, which helps them quickly assess the situation and provide meaningful comfort to patients and their families. That familiarity can build trust and ease tensions during an already stressful event. However, this same closeness can take a significant emotional toll, especially when responders are called to assist friends, neighbours or even family members.
One of the most persistent challenges for BFES is the ability to recruit and retain members. “We are all volunteers without monetary compensation. Our members incur the costs of fuel and wear and tear on their vehicles when they respond, and some actually lose wages to attend a call. This makes it hard to retain our trained members, which impacts the community we serve,” said Nielson.
In contrast, the larger city of St. Albert has a career fire service but still faces its own pressures. The department relies on strong mutual aid agreements with neighbouring municipalities to ensure adequate resources
can be deployed during high-demand events. Similarly, SAFS personnel are also called upon to support those neighbouring communities when needed, reinforcing a collaborative approach to regional emergency response.
While SAFS members are paid to fight fires, participation in the Alberta Medical First Response program is voluntary and requires a significant commitment beyond standard fire service duties. “With this commitment comes the required training and the challenge of balancing our regular duties of a fire service with the significant time and effort needed to complete the training to be part of the Alberta Medical First Response program,” said Underhay.
In Alberta, staffing an Advanced Life Support ambulance requires one advanced care paramedic and one primary care paramedic. Advanced care certification is obtained through a two-year diploma program, fol-
lowed by becoming licensed with the Alberta College of Paramedics. For SAFS, all first responders must also complete the Advanced Life Support Medical Control Protocol mandated by AHS.
To maintain their skills, members must also participate in ongoing professional development in courses such as Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), International Trauma Life Support (ITLS), and High Performance CPR. Annual Medical Control Protocols training from AHS is also mandatory. This is in addition to the internally developed training programs delivered by the SAFS training branch.
While BFES operates at a different scale, its commitment to training is no less critical. All members must be certified through the Emergency Health Services (EHS) to serve as Medical First Responders (MFRs), and they are required to complete an Advanced Medical First Responder course every three years. In addition, BFES conducts regular in-house training sessions when time and resources allow, focusing on key skills like CPR, patient handling and trauma response.
For volunteer services like BFES, maintaining certification while balancing work, family and community responsibilities can be a challenge. But their dedication ensures that even in smaller communities, residents receive timely and competent emergency medical care.
Under Nova Scotia’s EHS Medical First Responders program, BFES is equipped with the essential medical supplies and gear needed to respond to emergencies. These resources, including apparatus equipment and radios, are provided by the provincial government. The service also has access to the province’s Trunked Mobile Radio (TMR) system, which enables direct communication with the EHS Communications Centre and, when needed, allows for real-time consultation with the Centre’s on-site physician.
Continued on page 15
By Patrick Mathieu
Patrick Mathieu is a Captain Training Officer with Waterloo Fire Rescue in Ontario. He has appeared on Food Networks Chopped Canada and is the author of The FireHouse Chef Cookbook. Please email him at thefirehouse_chef@yahoo.ca and follow him on Instagram @stationhouse_
When it comes to cooking with your kids—and no, I don’t mean the probies—the benefits extend beyond learning how to prepare meals. Cooking with your kids is a great way to strengthen your relationship and teach them about healthy eating habits. My kids have always been involved with my wife and me in the kitchen. It does require a little extra patience and clean-up, but here are a few ways to make the most of cooking with your kids or grandkids when you’re away from the firehouse.
Having kids help in the kitchen
Kids can assist with prep work, cleanup, cooking and baking. They can also aid in menu planning. The key is to ensure they are safe and supervised. You can also allow them to assist with specific tasks such as washing dishes or setting the table. Consider giving them a simple task, like measuring ingredients, so they feel included, too. Here is an idea for incorporating their input:
• When preparing dishes like tacos, ask your child which toppings they believe would pair best. The idea is to present your child with options and allow them to choose which ones they want to try.
Cooking is a bonding experience
I still have vivid childhood memories of cooking with my parents and my Grandmama in Quebec City. It’s important to spend quality time with your kids when they’re young so that you can build a strong bond and teach them about healthy eating, nutrition and the importance of cooking.
Children
One of the most important benefits of cooking with your children is that they learn to appreciate the food they are eating. Children who cook with their parents are more likely to try new foods and enjoy them
because they know what goes into making these meals and understand how much time it takes to prepare a meal.
You can teach your children about healthy eating by incorporating vegetables and fruits into meals. Cooking can also introduce kids to various cultures, countries and seasons.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened
1 3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup ground flaxseed ½ cup cottage cheese
2 bananas 1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1. Place all ingredients, except eggs and coconut oil, into a blender. Blend until the oats are ground and everything is well combined. Add eggs and pulse until incorporated.
2. Heat a griddle over medium heat and melt a teaspoon or two of coconut oil or butter. Pour a 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Cook until browned on both sides (about 2 minutes per side).
3. Serve warm with warm maple syrup, fresh fruit and—our favourite—a side of bacon if desired. Enjoy!
When cooking with children, they might suggest new ideas for using ingredients or presenting their creations. They may also experiment with new ingredients and cooking techniques, which helps boost their confidence in the kitchen.
Kids become more independent
Children will gain a sense of accomplishment and pride as they master the art of cooking. Cooking also teaches kids how to follow directions, read recipes and take the initiative.
Children become less picky eaters
Cooking with your child is a perfect way to encourage them to try new foods. Depending on their age and abilities, they can assist in selecting new items at the grocery store or farmers’ market.
Deciding whether something is delicious or disgusting will teach children that flavour preferences are subjective and not everyone will like everything. This is a valuable lesson for children to learn early on.
Motor skill development refers to a child’s ability to use their body and limbs in a coordinated way. Cooking offers kids a chance to practice cooking motions, such as stirring ingredients with a spoon or straining liquid over the sink, while they learn how different foods interact during the cooking process.
Cooking with your children can be a fun and rewarding experience for the entire family to enjoy. It may be a bit challenging at first, but as long as you remain calm and patient, you’ll be successful! Weekends are my favourite time to get all the kids involved in the kitchen. Try our family favourite recipe for Banana Protein Pancakes, a Saturday tradition. Eat well and stay safe.
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By Brittani Schroeder
Firefighters and paramedics work alongside each other every day. Recently, we spoke with Oliver Burrows, a paramedic from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to discuss the partnership between emergency services, the challenges paramedics face, and how these first responders can work together seamlessly while effectively serving the community.
Q: Can you tell me about the relationship you and your fellow paramedics have with the fire service?
Oliver Burrows: Although the Sault Ste. Marie district is relatively small, it is surrounded by the much larger Algoma district, which has widely dispersed populations. As a result, we assist in many areas. Therefore, our service zone stretches an hour and a half to the north, an hour to the east, and covers all of the western peninsula outside our city limits. Consequently, we collaborate with several different firefighting organizations.
Our primary partner is Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services (SSMFS). We collaborate on a range of incident types, from rescues and motor vehicle collision calls to fires, as well as the less critical calls. Occasionally, we encounter patients who are too heavy for our two-man crew to manage, and at other times, we may be overwhelmed due to hospital offloads. In such situations, the fire department comes in to assist and handles calls that we cannot respond to immediately.
Then, when you look outside the city boundaries, we work with a few different volunteer departments, as well as others that have both volunteer and paid firefighters. They’re all wonderful to work with, as they bring a variety of skill sets together. It’s reassuring to know we can depend on those in more remote districts for assistance with lifts and motor vehicle collisions. They also have the necessary training for backcountry rescues, which paramedics typically lack in skills and equipment required for properly packaging a patient in a deep-woods situation.
In total, we work with seven fire services and three police services. All these interactions are positive, and I think that exemplifies a northern Ontario paramedic service that operates with limited resources. Unlike some southern services, which may report fractured relationships due to competition, here it’s a very symbiotic, collaborative environment because we recognize the need for additional personnel and support. We lack the manpower within the paramedic team alone.
Q: What works well between the paramedics and firefighters?
OB: We’re all very coordinated. Our dispatchers know when to send us resources, and we understand the basic limits of each resource and what they can do. For the most part, everyone stays in their lane and area of expertise.
Q: What challenges do you encounter with the fire service?
OB: The biggest challenge, in some instances, is the response time. There’s no issue in the inner city, but when working with the outer services, particularly the volunteer services, it can sometimes happen that no one can or wants to respond to the call, leading to a low turnout.
A challenge within the city is that SSMFS is our landlord. We work from their space, and sometimes friction occurs simply because we’re together all the time. We hope to one day operate from our own bases.
Every northern service faces a lack of funding to support continuous staffing. Additionally, it’s not the most desirable location for many people because they are reluctant to move so far away from everything else. As a result, it’s more challenging to recruit southerners, which shifts the focus back to the strong northern community to support the service.
Q: Just thinking of the paramedic service, what are the biggest challenges you face?
OB: The primary issue we encounter is offloading at the hospital. During offloads, the patient is still under the care of paramedics until they are officially handed over to a nurse. When the hospital lacks the capacity to admit a patient from us, it’s usually because they already have too many patients waiting for beds upstairs. This causes a ripple effect.
It becomes an issue because when the hospital can’t take the patients right away, there are fewer paramedics on the road and at least one less ambulance. It’s also mentally and physically draining at times for us to be with the same patient for hours, knowing that there are other calls in the community needing attention. And if that patient waiting to be offloaded experiences another medical emer-
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gency while under our care, it’s our responsibility to address it. The hospital is collaborating with us to develop a program to assist with offloads, known as the “Fit to Sit” program. There are assessment criteria that we can use to evaluate a patient and determine if they are of low acuity, and for whatever reason, they haven’t driven themselves to the hospital. Upon arrival at the ER, the patient will be treated as if they did not arrive via ambulance. They will be taken to the waiting room, checked in, given a number, just like other ER patients. Then paramedics are available to attend to other calls. In another entirely different challenge, we receive numerous bystander calls from individuals who fail to take the minor steps to assess whether a person needs emergency services. What do I mean by that? Someone driving by sees Bob lying by the side of the road in the bushes, his legs sticking out. The person in the car does not move closer to Bob to see if his legs are moving, which could be a safety issue, nor do they honk their horn to get his attention. However, by the time we arrive, Bob may already be gone, or he may still be there and tell us he doesn’t want or need our services. In getting there, we’ve activated lights and sirens, and we’ve been diverted from assisting someone who is actually experiencing a medical emergency. On days when we’re already overwhelmed, an additional
unknown bystander call complicates things and creates stress.
All communities across Canada are facing a significant population of unhoused individuals who need assistance, especially those struggling with mental health and substance abuse crises. Sault Ste. Marie and the surrounding area have an alarmingly high opioid overdose rate, and as a smaller service, we encounter many of the same “frequent flyers” who require help. Moreover, due to our rural nature, there is only one hospital where we can transport patients. We don’t have the option to redirect patients to other hospitals—Sudbury is three hours away. This situation creates various challenges.
Q: What’s been a recent success?
OB: Sault Ste. Marie launched a community paramedic program. Essentially, it involves a team of medics trained in various specialized tasks and assigned a roster of clients. The program specifically targets senior citizens living at home, enabling them to receive better care and prevent issues that may arise due to lack of access to a physician. Many of these individuals have increasingly complex medical needs; fundamentally, they wish to remain at home or may require assistance transitioning to a longterm care facility and need additional support beyond what is provided through PSWs or community care. This way, they can be monitored while at home, and if an issue arises, it can be brought to others’ attention before it escalates.
This program has been running for two years, and we’ve seen a decrease in the number of senior citizen calls for serious infections and other issues. It’s a valuable resource and is becoming increasingly important for Sault Ste. Marie in helping us manage some of our more at-risk communities.
Q: Have you ever done joint training for specific scenarios with the fire service?
OB: There are discussions about doing joint training, but it hasn’t happened yet. The biggest issue is scheduling. I’ll generalize and say that many paramedics don’t often like
All communities across Canada are facing a significant population of unhoused individuals who need assistance, especially those struggling with mental health and substance abuse crises.
coming into work once they’re off shift to participate in training. For many, work is work, and then you have your home life, and you don’t want the two to mesh. Doing it on shift is nearly impossible due to our high call volume. There’s no way for fire and EMS to say, “Hey, we’re doing a training today; no one in the community should call in for service.”
It would be great for everyone to be involved in MCI planning: mass casualty incidents. An MCI occurs whenever there are more patients than practitioners available, and for us, the most likely MCI would be a major motor vehicle collision involving multiple cars, a plane crash, or a large fire. We’re really hoping that if an MCI occurs, there will be senior personnel from EMS, fire and police who know what to do. We don’t know how we’ll make it work; we just know that we will. There’s no other option.
Q: What are the most important things to remember about pre-hospital care for first responders?
OB: So, first, it’s about taking any life-saving measures. Firefighters have access to Narcan and can administer it; they can also deliver shocks, convert rhythms and perform bleed control. Obviously, it’s crucial to address all imminent emergency procedures immediately.
Once those are under control, the next major task is to gather patient information, including locating the health card, compiling a list of medications, collecting any necessary belongings, and determining whether the patient wishes to go to the hospital.
The third aspect is the right of extrication. These can be straightforward questions: Do you want to go to the hospital? Can you walk yourself to the ambulance? If they can’t, it’s time to determine the easiest way for the paramedics to assist the patient. Let’s consider a house call. Firefighters excel at moving furniture out of the way, as well as loose clothing and shoes, to facilitate our entry into the house and to help the patient out. Honestly, sometimes the longest part of the call is the initial extrication of the patient from their situation. Therefore, having the fire department clear those obstacles is a tremendous help.
I’m pleased that we, as first responders, can collaborate to serve our communities.
Then, once EMS arrives, the fire department can hand off the information they’ve already gathered, and the call proceeds smoothly. Those are likely the best things firefighters can do for us in a situation where we’re tied up on another call and potentially facing a long drive time to the scene.
To conclude, I want to emphasize that our working relationship with the fire service is robust, and I’m pleased that we, as first responders, can collaborate to serve our communities.
Continued from page 9
Despite having the necessary tools, BFES faces ongoing infrastructure challenges. Unreliable cell and radio reception can disrupt communication during critical moments. In addition, the current dispatch process introduces delays: emergency calls first route through 911, then to EHS Communications, and finally to fire dispatch, making BFES the third point of contact. A more direct alerting method would enhance their ability to respond quickly.
Similarly, SAFS, operating as an Advanced Life Support provider, carries a full selection of life-saving equipment on their response units. This includes specialized tools like the LUCAS (Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System), which was designed to be used during cardiac arrest scenarios.
“The specific equipment we carry on our response apparatus mirrors the equipment required on Advanced Life Support ambu-
lances, meaning we can provide the full range of treatments for patients in our care,” stated Underhay.
While the resources and structures of departments like SAFS and BFES may differ, it’s clear that both are facing the same growing demands. Today, firefighters are expected to do far more than just fight fires. They are responding to an increasing number of medical emergencies and providing highlevel care that pushes the traditional boundaries of their role.
In St. Albert, the ability to deliver advanced life support care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is a point of pride for the SAFS team.
As one of only a dozen Medical First Response agencies in Alberta capable of this level of care, they strive to go well beyond their core emergency response mandate to
ensure residents have timely access to advanced pre-hospital treatment.
Similarly, in Brookfield, the success of the BFES team lies not just in their ability to provide care at the scene, but in the depth of support they offer to patients and the broader community. Their service doesn’t end when the ambulance departs—it continues in the form of follow-ups and community education. That support is mutual, with the town backing its volunteers through program participation, advocacy and engagement.
“It’s a challenge to break down the assumption that, to be a member of the fire service, you need to go into a burning building. There are so many roles in the fire service today, and we could use the talents of so many more,” said Nielson.
In communities of all sizes, it’s truly the partnerships that define the future of emergency response.
By Chad Roberts
Chad Roberts is an Acting Captain on a Heavy Rescue in Oakville, Ont. He is a member of the Oakville Extrication Team and Vice President of the North American Vehicle Rescue Association. He also instructs at various colleges throughout Ontario and is a current member of the Canadian Motorsports Response Team. Contact Chad at chadroberts12@gmail.com.
In fire and emergency services across the country, we prioritize safety in everything we do. Standards such as NFPA 1500 and 1670 address many different aspects on a grand scale, from fire department occupational safety to health and wellness programs’ minimum requirements for organizations involved in technical search and rescue operations. While covering many important issues within our service, I will focus on safety factors. If you have been or are currently in the tech rescue field, you may have heard this term before; for some, it may be new.
Searching through the cabinets of your department’s heavy rescue truck will reveal the impact of these safety factors on various pieces of equipment, including ropes, webbing, ratchet straps and struts. These ratios also relate to many other tools we encounter daily in the tech rescue environment. Therefore, understanding the concept of a safety factor, along with its calculation and varying application across disciplines, is crucial for our success and compliance in training and emergency calls.
So, what is a safety factor? In many different applications, equipment can be subjected to unexpected forces and dynamic loads. To account for these or other potential overloads, organizations such as the NFPA create these ratios based on calculations that consider the overall absolute strength or minimum breaking strength of a piece of equipment in relation to the load that will be applied to it. While many different applications use safety factors, for this article, we will relate them to the equipment we use.
To calculate these ratios, we can examine the minimum breaking strengths of the equipment to determine its absolute strength. The minimum breaking strengths are established by testing under specific conditions and applying a load until the
equipment fails, which results in the minimum breaking strength (MBS). To understand a piece of equipment’s MBS or absolute strength, divide that number by the anticipated load applied to it to determine your working load limit (WLL). To further clarify this, I will apply this to a couple of typical scenarios in the tech rescue world.
... understanding the concept of a safety factor, along with its calculation and varying application across disciplines, is crucial for our success and compliance in training and emergency calls.
First, let’s discuss rope rescue and the associated equipment and gear that accompany it. In a static environment, meaning the chance of any load shifting or becoming overloaded is minimal, the safety factor is generally 15:1 or 10:1. For example, if your department is using a 10:1 safety factor for
your rope systems, and your calculated load on the system is 600 lbs, you need to ensure that all of the equipment used in the system setup has an MBS of 6,000 lbs to achieve a safe WLL of 600 lbs.
Situations where this factor may be lower include dynamic rope environments. While this is generally uncommon in the fire service, these setups utilize equipment that anticipates sudden shifts or overloading. The ratio for these dynamic situations typically ranges from 5:1 to 7:1. Although this may seem counterintuitive, it can be achieved using equipment such as dynamic rope, which is designed to stretch when shock-loaded, thus reducing the overall impact of the shock applied to our patients or rescuers. The importance of understanding these factors and the WLL cannot be overstated. To put this in perspective, according to RopeRescueTraining.com, a 225-lb rescuer falling six feet can experience loads upwards of 1,800 lbs in their body.
Another example of safety factors applied in the tech rescue world is heavy lifting and stabilizing. While the calculation remains the same, these factors are presented in different ratios depending on the equipment or manufacturer used by your department. Ratchet straps, chains and even strut or lifting systems have specific safety factors or working load limits that must be adhered to. Heavy lifting is almost always in a static environment within the fire service and its potential application.
While lifting is a dynamic process, we must emphasize the importance of proper cribbing or stabilization to minimize load shifting, both laterally and vertically. Safety factors in heavy lifting typically range from 3:1 to 6:1. For example, if your load being lifted is 20,000 lbs and your safety factor is 3:1, you must ensure that your equipment can support loads of at least 60,000 lbs. The reason for respecting safety factors in heavy lifting is the potential for catastrophic failure and the sheer amount of different equipment manufactured and used for heavy lifting. In addition, consider how many different webbing and ratchet straps are present during some heavy rescues. Crews must be mindful of organizing these appropriately to ensure the working load limit remains consistent. Not all pieces of equipment are the same, so be sure to know your gear and what it is capable of withstanding.
I should also address the external factors that can affect a safety factor’s original projection. The type of material used, environmental conditions, equipment fatigue and cleanliness all play a role. Simply using rope in wet conditions, dirty chains, or corrosion can lower your overall safe WLL. Therefore, we must remain vigilant when inspecting our equipment at the beginning of every shift. Maintaining organization, cleanliness, proper storage and labelling of WLL or MBS is essential to avoid confusion. We cannot wait until we receive a call in the middle of the night to determine whether our equipment is adequate for operating in such high-risk situations.
Applying proper safety factors by departments to their equipment MBS is extremely important to ensure the appropriate WLL for their employees. Not only will this ensure NFPA and other standard compliance, but it will ultimately serve to protect our
members and the people they serve. More importantly, as responders, understanding these safety factors will allow us to trust our equipment more fully. This will ensure we can focus on the task when these calls occur and not second-guess our systems.
By James Rychard and J. Gordon Routley
In addition to being a firefighter and former R2MR instructor from the city of Burlington, Ont., James Rychard is an advocate for mental and behavioural health in the fire service. He can be reached at jaymzr007@hotmail.com.
If there is one resource that no fire service leader should be without, it is Bryce G. Hoffman’s book, American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company
Leaving Boeing was never something Mulally considered. However, like a fish taking bait, he would later share that the lure from Boeing to Ford was the opportunity to help yet another manufacturing icon succeed. Mulally believed that Boeing’s success was largely due to the management philosophy he developed at the MIT Sloan School of Management years ago, called Working Together. He believed the same could be replicated at Ford.
Soon after Mulally decided to take on the roles of President and CEO, he began devising a plan to rebuild the automaker. Mulally’s initial environmental scan revealed that Ford’s hierarchical organizational structure and reporting system were too rigid. There were too many reporting layers between the divisional/departmental leaders and the CEO himself, which prevented critical information from reaching the top tier. Such a structure and reporting system, popularized for compliance and management, hindered both transparency and accountability: two essential building blocks for success.
Riddled with too many global regions, brands, and a culture characterized by infighting,
Ford indirectly created silos. Mulally’s matrix would be different. For the first time in Ford’s history, both senior and divisional leaders were asked to work together to help solve their divisional problems and assist their colleagues with theirs.
By reorganizing Ford’s various global regions into three business units, Mulally streamlined Ford on a global scale. Mulally devised a structure that increased the number of people reporting to the top executive, providing exceptional transparency and accountability, as well as the much-needed recruitment of help to tackle Ford’s issues and problems.
To ensure continuity and succession planning, Mulally informally identified three to four individuals for each business unit, as well as in the functional areas. Should one of the VPs or divisional leaders become ill, take stress leaves, or leave Ford entirely, these individuals would help keep Ford on plan.
Similar to how Mulally came
to Ford from Boeing, fire service leaders can also be drawn to or recruited to assist struggling fire departments. Unlike the private sector, which focuses on shareholder value, the public sector has its own unique shareholders: taxpayers.
Most fire departments continually face a wide variety of challenges: tight budgets, high turnover rates, mental and behavioural health concerns, poor morale, and even leadership team members reluctant to collaborate. Choosing to restructure a fire service’s organizational chart is not an easy feat and certainly one that might not appeal to many fire administrators. Yet, when considering the possible benefits, it is worth exploring.
If the fire department is struggling to increase transparency, accountability and trust, this is where the fire service can consider Mulally’s matrix concept.
Too often, the rigid traditional hierarchy creates barriers and promotes competition among an organization’s components.
The key concept of the matrix is to encourage collaboration to solve issues across different functional areas. Individual managers remain responsible for getting things done within their assigned areas, but the management team collaborates to develop strategies and resolve problems.
Let us begin with the functional areas. In the fire service, these may include suppression, logistics, fire prevention and public education, training and professional development, communications, occupational health and safety, organizational well-being, administration, finance, human resources and labour relations. Typically, chief officers or administrators oversee each component listed above, along with those assigned to rotating shift work in operations; it is not much of a stretch to view them as part of a matrix. The business units would be somewhat more unconventional compared to traditional methods. Choosing, for example, to assign VPs of a fire department, aka deputy fire chiefs, to oversee specific platoons or districts, rather than the typical operations and administration portfolios, may seem unorthodox. However, as demonstrated by Mulally, this approach enables the heads of functional areas and division leaders to collaborate effectively with the business units to share valuable information.
Interestingly, the fire service has attempted something simi-
J. Gordon Routley previously served as assistant to the fire chief in Phoenix, Arizona; fire chief in Shreveport, Louisiana; and safety officer in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Routley recently retired from the position of assistant director of the Montreal Fire Department (SIM). He can be reached at jgroutley@aol.com.
lar. The late Fire Chief Alan Brunacini organized the Phoenix Fire Department (PFD) in a comparable way during the 1980s. I was eager to learn more from his former assistant, J. Gordon Routley, who recently retired from the Service de Sécurité Incendie Montréal (SIM) as an assistant chief.
“The organization structure of the PFD was significantly wider and flatter than most comparable fire departments at that time. The levels of hierarchy were limited, so the distance from the top of the organization to the level where ‘the rubber meets the road’ was not too far. This increased the number of participants around the management table, where there was a lot of discussion of issues and sharing of ideas. One of the fundamental beliefs was that we all succeed together, or we all fail together, so mutual support and cooperation were valued. Everyone was regularly updated on what each other was doing within their areas of responsibility, so the tendency to create ‘silos’ was resisted.
We were very successful within an organization of that size, but I would attribute most of the success to Bruno’s [Brunacini] leadership and vision, along with the calibre of the management team. We had a very capable group of individuals working together at the upper management level, with exceptional interpersonal dynamics and group cohesiveness,” said Routley.
What is interesting is that Routley’s comment on “working together” echoes Mulally’s management philosophy. Like Mulally, many of Brunacini’s
“management methods were unorthodox, but they were effective as a result of his unique combination of intuition and innovation.”
Routley stated that, “the PFD functioned effectively as a management team of eight to 10. The Ford-Mulally model was much larger in scale and involved huge business units.” If a similar matrix could be used as a model, scaling down to either using platoons or municipal districts, perhaps there is a silver lining in this big cloud. Utilizing Mulally’s decision to informally uncover three to four deep for the business units and functional areas provides the necessary depth for continuity and succession planning, which the fire service needs to ensure service excellence.
Hierarchical organizational structures usually work well during emergency incidents; however, it is during non-emergency times that strategies are planned, goals are identified and creativity and innovation are needed to solve problems.
Mulally achieved global success and returned two manufacturing companies to profitability; why can’t the fire service do the same, especially if they are struggling too?
If the PFD, led by Chief Brunacini and his fire leadership team, operated with overarching success so many years ago, employing a unique matrix somewhat similar to Mulally’s organizational structure, perhaps the fire service of today could take a page from manufacturing and the PFD to help make the fire service exceptional.
By Jason Clark
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Over the last few years, I’ve been deeply involved in training recruit firefighters. Serving as a lead instructor, safety officer, and assuming various other roles truly opens your eyes to how a fire scene can unfold when you participate in training.
In training, we obviously set up and develop the learning objectives and lesson plans. The training occurs in controlled situations where we should have a clear idea of what the outcome looks like. We teach our recruits the fire fighting skill set, but also include elements like Conditions, Actions, Needs (CAN) reports and Situational Reports (SITREPS) to integrate that practice early on.
But how does this appear and translate into real-world environments? We don’t have much control over actual situations before we arrive, as they are already established; hence the reason we are called during an emergency. We must remember to ask for help early and communicate where we need that assistance.
The initial Incident Action Plan (IAP) could be your responsibility to develop as a captain on the
first-arriving fire apparatus at any fire scene, and it encompasses the SITREP and CAN report. Think of the phrase “If we fail to plan, we plan to fail.” Jumping off a fire apparatus without a plan and direction for your crew is not an ideal way to start a call. This can lead to freelancing, with firefighters lacking a clear objective that should come from you as a captain or front-line officer. We also need to be able to adapt as the situation unfolds when we arrive on the scene.
Recently, I trained recruits in a different municipality. During a short break, I decided to sit inside their apparatus, and while I was answering some emails and using the dashboard of their engine as a makeshift desk for my laptop, I heard a call come in over the radio for a grass fire. Over the next few minutes, I had a front-seat opportunity to listen to the responding units and see how a department other than mine communicates over the radio and tackles a scene.
The first arriving unit reported visible smoke upon entering the long rural driveway. It was soon revealed that the grass fire had escalated into a car fire involving materials from a nearby storage pile and
them back, which are crucial.
I thought this call went really well because the first in officer did a SITREP and provided a CAN report. They provided clear directions, and help was called as the scene progressed from a grass fire and a car fire to a possible structure fire.
Be confident in your decisions as a new captain or officer, but also be open to asking for help and resources.
close to a shop. The officer then requested that the second truck, which was already en route, back down the lane and drop their water in case they needed to set up a relay pump operation and have that truck lay out their supply line. The second truck responded that they understood the request.
The first arriving officer noticed there was a possibility that this scene could go from “bad to worse” and requested a response from another station, asking dispatch to prioritize that the tanker from the second station first deliver water to the scene.
This officer had an IAP in place, telling the apparatus operator where he wanted them to position and informing his crew about his actions off the truck, such as doing a 360-degree survey and where he would meet
As first in officers, we must remember that we only have one truck and the resources on that truck. New officers should understand that we can’t do it all.
As firefighters, big scenes can become overwhelming as our ‘fix-it’ brains start to go into overdrive while we try to tackle many different objectives simultaneously.
I like to start with the resources available on my truck and then request additional trucks for support. If I don’t know what I have and can’t provide clear instructions to my other trucks, I may ask them to stage in a position where they can act or perhaps they can clear off and return.
Be confident in your decisions as a new captain or officer, but also be open to asking for help and resources. After all, the person who called us needed assistance, and sometimes we do too.
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This is a comprehensive resource tailored for current and aspiring Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) officers. This book explores the AFO’s critical role in managing aviation-specific hazards, incident planning, apparatus and equipment readiness, mutual aid coordination, and mass casualty response. It offers practical guidance aligned with standards from the FAA, NFPA, ICAO, and DoD, ensuring leaders are well-versed in the frameworks that govern both civilian and military aerodrome operations.
By Arjuna George
The role of a training officer can be overwhelming. You’re burdened with lesson plan development, paperwork, compliance and the ever-changing needs of your crews. You’re expected to plan, instruct, evaluate, innovate, motivate, document and possibly even respond to calls. The pressure to stay current, adapt to new technology and deliver engaging, practical training is becoming increasingly challenging.
Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t here to take your job. It’s here to support you and give you back more time for what matters: connecting with your crews and preparing them to be sharp, confident and ready for anything.
The fire service is constantly evolving. Departments across Canada are being asked to accomplish more with fewer resources. Training opportunities are diminishing. Burnout is increasing, and the next generation of firefighters learns in different ways.
Meanwhile, you are overwhelmed by spreadsheets, certification records, lesson plans, drills and policies. Some may view AI as a shortcut, but it can actually boost your productivity tenfold when used correctly.
1. Fast, custom scenario building Need a scenario? AI tools can create a first draft in seconds.
A prompt example could be: “Create a first responder scenario involving a mountain biker thrown over an embankment, unconscious, with ex-
tensive injuries. Include environment, hazards, and vivid scene details for training purposes.”
You’ll receive a complete scenario draft, objectives, conditions, injects, curveballs and discussion questions ready to approve. By tweaking the prompt, you can adjust for recruits or seasoned crews.
2. Hyper-realistic images for drills
You can also utilize AI tools to create custom fire scene visuals in seconds.
A prompt to try out could be: “Generate a street view image of a two-storey house fire, with black turbulent smoke pouring from a second-floor bedroom window and light white smoke billowing from first-floor windows. Include a child’s playground on the lawn and a car in the driveway. The scene is before the fire department’s arrival.”
Use these images for size-up drills, smoke reading exercises, hazmat scenarios or tactical decision-making discussions.
3. Lesson planning and SOP drafting
AI can assist in creating training outlines, simplifying technical language and helping with SOG writing.
Try this prompt: “Write a 90-minute NFPA-aligned training plan on highrise standpipe operations, including objectives, setup, hands-on drills and evaluation criteria.”
The important thing to remember is that you still bring the expertise, but AI saves you hours of time, allowing you to focus on refining and delivering the material.
4. Knowledge checks and quizzes
AI enhances the process of creating
personalized quizzes, making it not only quick and efficient but also free of charge. This technology allows you to craft tailored assessments, catering to a diverse range of learning needs for your team members.
A prompt example might be: “Generate 30 questions and answers to test recruits on modern fire behaviour and flow path management, using NFPA and current fire science.”
Utilize quizzes for pre-course evaluations or post-training reinforcement.
Some may view AI as a shortcut, but it can actually boost your productivity tenfold when used correctly.
5. Record-keeping and reporting AI tools can also summarize attendance records, generate evaluation reports and document your entire training year. All you need to do is simply upload a department training document and enter a prompt like the one below.
“Summarize this year’s auto extrication drills, including total hours trained, objectives achieved, and equipment used. Create a table and a text summary for a report to the fire chief.”
• Always review and verify any AI-generated content for accuracy and local standards.
• Protect private data and avoid uploading sensitive or identifiable information to AI tools.
• Use AI ethically; never utilize AI to substitute for human evaluation or judgment.
You don’t have to be a tech wizard to start using AI tools.
By using AI to reduce the clerical load, we safeguard the mental bandwidth of our fire service leaders, allowing them to be more creative and have a greater capacity for human connection.
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