The Wallaceburg Central Ambulance Communications Centre is celebrating National Telecommunicators Week this week at their Wallaceburg base.
“We dispatch all the way from Tilbury, Chatham, Ridgetown, Wallaceburg, Thamesville and all the way through to Grand Bend… Sarnia, Watford, Brigden, Corunna and all those little places in between,” said Kelly Young, operations manager at the facility.
Young said on average they answer about 100 calls per 12-hour shift.
“We have quite a big area that we service. People think that we are in Wallaceburg, so we only serve the town of Wallaceburg, but that is not true. We have 18 ambulance units we are dispatching at a time. If you’re calling in Grand Bend, yes we’re answering in Wallaceburg but we are sending a Grand Bend ambulance to you.”
An open house was held today at the facility to recognize National Telecommunicators Week. Visitors included Mayor Randy Hope, Wallaceburg Coun. Carmen McGregor, Al DeVillaer, coordinator for EMS in Chatham-Kent, media and others, Young said.
“A couple people from the public stopped in, which is great. That is who we serve so we wanted them to come in and see what we do.”
Young said it is a coordinated, team approach to ensure the community gets proper service.
“If a Wallaceburg ambulance goes out, we’re automatically back-filling that ambulance with say a Chatham ambulance or a Thamesville ambulance. It’s a bit like a chess game I guess. Yes, you’re taking a unit out to serve somebody, but we’re trying to bring resources in to back-fill that area.”
Young said they have been working a lot in the last year to prepare for a major emergency.
“What to do if we need to evacuate, what we need to do if we have a big MCI (multiple casualty incident.) So if we have a big incident we have a lot of steps in place to help minimize the effect and to ensure our ambulance communication officers are prepared if something like that happens.”
Young said the recognition is important for the 30-plus staff in Wallaceburg, as they are often behind the scenes.
“It’s a chance to recognize what we often call the first, first-responders. When you are calling 911 and asking for an ambulance, we are the people who are answering the phones and dispatching out the ambulance. We’re trying to calm the caller and provide them with instructions before EMS gets there.”
EMS are not the only first responders they do. They also page fire, we are first responders too, when EMS are to far away or when they are busy.
It’s paramedics. Not just EMS.
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You all do a great job and we are lucky to have this level of service available!