Penhold fire chief Sean Pendergast was recently appointed to the Alberta Emergency Medical Services Standing Committee.
Appointed on April 4, Pendergast represents the province’s Medical First Response (MFR) agencies on the committee.
Alberta has 311 MFR agencies, most of them are fire departments, but some search and rescue groups, Pendergast said.
"If you call 911 for an ambulance and the ambulance is either delayed, or the type of call stipulates that medical first response is required, these fire departments or agencies respond," said Pendergast about the members whose training range from standard first aid to primary care paramedic.
He said it was an honour to be appointed by Heath Minister Adriana LaGrange to the provincial committee which provides ground-level insight to Alberta's Emergency Medical Services system and looks to better the future of EMS in Alberta.
Pendergast, who became Penhold's fire chief about 18 months ago and has been with the town's fire service for 14 years, said last year some of Penhold's 35 volunteer firefighters participated in eight different operations to fight wildland elsewhere. A couple of things made that possible.
"We have a healthy compliment of volunteers who are also willing to take vacation time from their jobs to go on these wildfire campaigns when the province calls, and we have strong collaboration and mutual aid agreements with our neighbours so when an apparatus leaves we can provide coverage."
Additionally, he said Penhold's fire department has a really good workplace culture and benefits from ATCO's Future on Fire cadet program for Grade 10 to 12 students to earn their firefighting certification as well as school credits.
Students train along side the town's volunteer firefighters during their regular training sessions. Fourteen cadets are currently with the program and usually one to three will join Penhold's fire department each year once they turn 18, he said.
Pendergast, who is a member of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, was also pleased to announce that the Volunteer Fire Fighters Tax Credit in the 2024 Federal Budget has been doubled to recognize the countless volunteer hours that firefighters put into their communities to save lives and property.
"Thank you to our Federal government for acknowledging this valuable service."
He said last year Penhold broke its own record for vegetation fires in town, and he hopes residents remain mindful of drought conditions during the current hazard season. The fire department is trained and ready, but members would rather not see any fires threaten the community.