Our local dispatchers union is asking Renfrew Town Council to think twice about outsourcing calls for fire services.
The town has agreed to a three-year deal to outsource dispatch services for the Renfrew Fire Department to Brockville in a bid to make responding to fire calls safer and more reliable.
Liam Vanderbraak, President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 449, tells myFM that dispatching goes deeper than just handling emergency services.
Renfrew Fire Chief Mike Guest explained to council at a meeting earlier this month that their current system uses the radio tower in Foymount to bounce instructions between dispatchers and firefighters and features many points where communication can fail during the dispatch.
Vanderbraak says that current service challenges are a product of aging infrastructure provided by the County of Renfrew and not the work of local OPSEU dispatchers.
OPSEU believes modernizing the current county-wide radio system would not only be fiscally responsible but would also be a significant investment in public safety and community well-being.
Vanderbraak adds that the union is disappointed to see local funds taken out of the community for a plan that will see the local cost of fire dispatch rise by a projected 450% by 2026 compared to current costs.
OPSEU Local 449 represents the Ambulance Communications Officers at the Central Ambulance Communications Centre located in Renfrew, who also have a longstanding history of serving the fire departments across 16 townships, the City of Pembroke, and the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation.
(written by Kasey Egan)