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SAANICHNEWS Friday, January 31, 2014
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Walk marks 6th anniversary of unsolved Buziak murder
Merv Dutchak, director of support services for Broadmead Care, looks through the glass door at a fire enunciator board that will indicate (with lights) the location within Broadmead of a fire, should one occur. Seniors’ residences in Saanich are ensuring staff are prepared in the event of an emergency, following a fatal fire last week at a seniors’ home in Quebec. Don Denton/News staff
In case of emergency... Fire safety top of mind at Saanich seniors’ homes following fatal Quebec fire Christine van Reeuwyk News staff
While residents themselves are rarely aware of it, fire drills are an ongoing and critical safety component at seniors’ residences in Saanich. With 225 beds, plus programs for mobilitychallenged individuals aged 19 to 55, staff at Broadmead Care regularly run through drills to ensure they’re well prepared in the event of a fire. “(Saanich Fire) come here on a pretty regular basis,” said Merv Dutchak, director of support services for Broadmead Care. “We make a point of ensuring that audible drills are conducted on
a minimum quarterly basis and an evacuation drill is conducted on a minimum annual basis. “Because we are long-term care, we have a lot of residents with dementia and (who are) nonambulant. Drills can be a scary experience for them, so we do what we call silent drills.” Staff carry out a scenario without ever sounding the alarm, but rehearse the response so it becomes routine. “You have to be well prepared to respond quickly and we’re well geared to be able to do that,” Dutchak said. Senior homes across the region are hearing from family members in the wake of a tragic seniors’ residence fire in Quebec last week that left 14 seniors dead, and another 18 missing and presumed dead. Only part of the three-storey wood building was equipped with sprinklers. “We’ve had a lot of questions asking if we’re sprinklered, and frankly I’d be asking it if my parents were in a home,” said Karen Johnson-
Lefsrud, executive director at Luther Court Society. “Thankfully we can say yes to that question. … People, once they hear that, they relax quite a bit.” The shock of suddenly waking to a dark, smoke-filled room heavily impacts how people react when woken by fire alarms and acrid smoke, said Capt. Jerry Tomljenovic, Saanich Fire Department’s public education officer. It’s critical for everyone to have an escape plan, and practise it, he said. “How you react is based entirely on how you prepare for it.” A home escape plan translates to a fire safety plan, one of many emergency plans in place at senior care homes. It governs the procedures followed in a fire, from alarms and handling of fire equipment, to drills and their frequency, Tomljenovic said. PleASe See: Health authority requires fire safety plan, Page A6
The annual memorial walk to honour the memory of murdered real estate agent Lindsay Buziak happens Sunday (Feb. 2). Buziak was 24 when she was stabbed to death on Feb. 2, 2008 while showing a luxury Gordon Head home. The Lindsay Buziak Walk for Justice begins at 10 a.m. at Royal Oak Burial Park (4673 Falaise Dr.). Participants will walk along Royal Oak Drive, through Mount Douglas Park and past the house where Buziak was killed. Walkers will continue on to Saanich municipal hall. While her murder remains unsolved, Saanich police Sgt. Steve Eassie says there are still five investigators who work “on this file, and this file only.” “The fact that we’re coming up on six years and it’s still a very active investigation leads me to believe that there is still a sense of optimism that this can be solved,” he said. “This case has been referred to as a cold case file because of the time that it’s taken for the investigation, however this is not a cold case file, nor has it ever been a cold case file. It has had a team of investigators assigned to it since the day this tragic incident took place.” editor@saanichnews.com
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