FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION - During a medical emergency, sometimes minutes can mean the difference between life and death. A volunteer first response team on Fort William First Nation is hoping to reduce response times in the community and save lives.
“Starting critical interventions like CPR minutes before an ambulance arrives is very needed in the community and hopefully it will show once the first response team has started and we can respond to calls and limit the loss of life and the potential to save lives by assisting the response times of EMS,” said Mason Morriseau, team coordinator for Fort William First Nation First Response Team.
The Fort William First Nation First Response Team is similar to volunteer fire departments in rural municipalities around the city but only provides medical aid.
All volunteers are trained in medical first response and equipped with a pager and a radio. When there is a 911 call from the community and Thunder Bay Fire Rescue or Superior North EMS are dispatched, volunteer first responders will be notified and respond as well.
“Whenever there is a medical call within the area of Fort William First Nation, they will respond and provide life saving interventions if needed,” Morriseau said.
“They will still send out an ambulance and fire truck if needed. Those resources will still be on the way. The dispatch will come out to our pagers and we will let dispatch know we are responding and we will respond in tandem with the response from the city.”
According to Morriseau, the goal of the first response team is to cut down response times in order to begin medical interventions sooner.
“The first response team will be providing life saving measures that are normally not as rapid,” he said. “The response from Superior North EMS to certain parts of the reserve, say from in town into Squaw Bay, is about 15 to 20 minutes. That response time, if someone is in cardiac arrest, minutes count. Having first responders trained in the community can practically cut that in half.”
Morriseau added there has been a lot of interest from community members wanting to volunteer. Applications are still being accepted and a medical background is not required.
“We are available and open to train as many people as we can,” Morriseau said. “You don’t need a background in the medical field at all. We are giving people an opportunity to make this their first chance for getting into the medical field if they haven’t before.”
The service is expected to be up and running very soon after documentation from the Ministry of Health is signed. Funding is also being sought from government levels and donations to help cover the cost of equipment.
There are goals to expand the service in the future. Morriseau said he has a lot of high expectations and while volunteer first responders are using their own vehicles, he hopes to see a permanent base established in the community.
“Hopefully for a future plan, we are looking to get our own building or hall and hopefully a first response vehicle like an SUV and then expand from there,” he said.
For more information and to apply, visit the Fort William First Nation First Response Team website.
