Emergency response crews face more challenges in rural areas

Emergency crews depend on each other to do their jobs.

Coaldale RCMP Staff Sgt. Glenn Henry says going to a call in rural areas presents significant challenges compared to municipalities.

Coaldale RCMP cover an area east of Lethbridge, but are also responsible for emergencies west of town, including Monarch.

Henry says responding to calls in “two larges population centres” like Coaldale and Coalhurst can make response times to collisions longer than what would be expected in town.

“We have a natural barrier between us – the city of Lethbridge,” says Henry. “When I say barrier we are talking railway tracks and rivers.”

To help cross those barriers, there are RCMP officers stationed at detachments in Lethbridge and Coaldale to aid in getting to emergencies faster.

In 2016,  Coaldale RCMP responded to 389 collisions, 290 of which were in rural areas. Five of those resulted in fatalities.

“We try to get to every collision as quick as we can, as safely as we can. We can’t and shouldn’t be putting the other public through our driving to get to these collisions,” says Henry.

Road conditions can mean emergency crews have to travel even slower to make it to the scene.

“Rural roads, gravel roads, some of our adverse weather conditions (where) we are facing snow drifts – we have to negotiate those just like the regular public,” Henry says.

The Coalhurst Fire Department faces similar challenges too, especially when it comes to fires.

“In town we can usually be on scene within 10 minutes, which will allow us to attack the fire a little sooner,” says Coalhurst Fire Chief Mat Conte. “When it comes to the rural areas there is a longer response time.”

Conte says it can take fire crews up to an additional 20 minutes to respond to rural emergency calls.

Another challenge for fire crews in rural areas is water supply.

“Obviously there is no municipal hydro systems out in the county, so we’re usually using dug outs or calling in (water tankers),” Conte says.

Both Conte and Henry recommend people living or traveling in rural areas to get 72-hour emergency preparedness kits for their cars and homes.

Officials also urge people to know exactly where they are when they call for help, to ensure emergency responders can get there as soon as possible.