another email to PRRD directors

I've sent this email to the directors this (Sunday) evening.  Their email addresses are at   http://lasqueti.ca/node/4872    if you want to send them an email.

Hello PRRD directors,

Thank you to chair Brabazon for calling me this morning. I very much appreciate the time and trouble that you are taking to try to understand our situation. It was very helpful for me to talk with him, and I hope for him also.

There has been a lack of communication about how our current emergency alarm and dispatch systems on Lasqueti work, and I think that this is needlessly making you feel like our system is not up to standard. I will briefly report to you how it works, and has worked well for over 20 years. Before I do that, I want to make clear a couple of things that I learned in my conversation with Patrick this morning.

I would be happy, and I think that most Lasqueti people would be happy, if the board budgeted money to institute 911 (and even house numbering) as long as the bylaws were not approved until after there has been consultation with the Lasqueti community. This would allow one or both systems to be implemented when we reach agreement on them -- when there has been consultation and full communication of facts, interests, options and opinions between the PRRD board and our community. Both parties want the most effective system available. (The motto of our Lasqueti email list is appropriate:  "Together we can talk and solve our problems." - translated from a Bengali poster

Second, both Patrick and Merrick have reported that communication and objection from Lasqueti about the lack of consultation on these proposals and bylaws has come from very few people, and that most of it has come from five people. I assure you that many more people than that are concerned, and want a delay and consultation before the bylaws are adopted. There were many people who signed the petition that Merrick brought to you. These people were actively making their views known to you. There has been an email poll, requesting input from Lasqueti people to see how many wanted a delay and consultation. After a few days when responses were received, fifty landowners were contacted by telephone to solicit their views. I don't know the total number of responses, but I understand it was something in the order of 100. I also understand that 95% or more requested a delay and consultation with the community before you adopt the bylaws. The delegation will report on this with more accuracy than I can give, but I want to let you know that there is huge demand for delay and consultation, and no need that we can see for you to proceed with adoption before consultation. Delaying the adoption for a few months will not cause any harm at all, and will be positive in many ways.

In talking with Patrick this morning, it became clear that the board was not fully and correctly aware of our current dispatch and call-out system. I have been living on Lasqueti, and an active community member, for over 40 years. I was a First Responder for six years, and a dispatcher for five of those years, so I am familiar with the system we use. Nearly all our calls are for First Responders. There are only one or two, occasionally three, fire calls each year. I am not fully aware of the number of ambulance/first responder calls, but it is the overwhelming majority of the emergency calls we get - I think well over 95% of all calls.

The Fire Department distributes cards to all residents with the emergency contact numbers. These numbers are also in the monthly Lasqueti newsletter and the printed local first-name phone book, and in the Telus phone book. When we need an ambulance, we call 250-248-3511, a local call that gets us straight through to the ambulance service dispatch centre, which I believe is in Victoria. They assess what is needed, and dispatch the Lasqueti First Responders by pager. This is the exact same service that 911 will provide, except that there is one fewer stage - we call the ambulance service directly, without having to go through E-comm in Vancouver to get there. The appropriate resources -- Lasqueti First Responders, and ambulance personnel as required sent by Coast Guard boat or helicopter -- are dispatched. I am sure that electronic records are kept at all stages for each call.

Only for fire calls do we use the automatic answering/dispatch number - 250-954-4432 - where the caller will hear directions to touch in their phone number and "555", and stay by the phone if it is safe to do so. This automatically pages all emergency personnel on Lasqueti. A dispather will call the number and ask where the fire is, and direct firefighters and first responders to the site. If the person is not able to stay by the phone, the dispatcher will consult our phone number database and determine where the call originated from, and will direct firefighters to that location.  Lasqueti dispatchers keep written records of the times of calls and responses, and I am sure that the pager service provider can access electronic records of calls and timings if it is ever needed.

I hope that you will realize that our call-out and dispatch service is not primitive and flaky. It works quite well and is "fit for purpose". Possibly it could be improved, and we are willing to consider this.

I want to say something about the delegation that is coming to present to you this week. The people are spending a large amount of time, energy and money to prepare their delegation on behalf of the community, to travel to Powell River, to present to you, asking you to not impose this change, which is irreversible, on our community without consultation with us. They are doing it out of their sense of what's right and what's wrong, because they want what is best for our community. The cost, as you are no doubt aware, are significant, as are the time commitments. They are not reimbursed for their costs, not remunerated for their time and energy. I want to, finally, say that it is truly unfortunate that we are in the position of asking you repeatedly to do what you should have done in the first place - inform us of the potential for change, and consult with us before instituting it.

Again, I thank you for your time and attention to this issue, and for doing what you can to make it right and fair.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, either by email or by telephone.

Peter Johnston
Lasqueti Island
250-333-8785