Spring is finally here!

As you plan your Spring Cleaning To Do list, here’s some things to keep in mind:

Indoors
Check your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Replace the batteries if necessary and replace the entire detectors if close to expiry.
Clean debris from your clothes dryer trap and exhaust trap.
Don’t carry too much at once: Make sure you keep a hand free to hold onto the stair railing and always make sure you can see over the load you’re carrying so you don’t trip.
Follow cleaning product safety labels: Cleaning supplies can create nasty fumes so make sure you get some fresh air by opening windows, turning on the exhaust fan or placing a fan in the room.
Wear a mask when cleaning dusty areas: This may seem like overkill, but if you are at all allergic to dust this tip is important.
Review contents of emergency kits and refresh as necessary.

Outdoors
Be safe on ladders and step stools. Always have someone nearby to hold them steady during use.
Remove dead leaves and other debris around foundations, decks, porches and stairs. Make a note of boards that need to be replaced or repaired on stairs and decks.
Walk your property and note any FireSmart refreshing that needs to be done: tree branches that need to be trimmed that are close to the ground or touching your home need to be removed, winter wood piles that need to be moved away from your home and maintaining a clearing around your home free from trees and shrubs.
Clear your eavestroughs and roof of debris.
Check grills for rust, worn pieces, insects, grease and other debris before usage. Grills should only be used 3 metres (10 feet) away from your home or any building.
Get household hazardous waste materials out of your garage and to your local Household Hazardous Waste Transfer Site. Note: In the Bragg Creek area, this is the Waste Transfer station – not RMES.
Schedule annual maintenance appointments for vehicles and review emergency kit contents.

There are an estimated 3,200 fire departments in Canada, approximately 80% of these are staffed by volunteer firefighters. As a volunteer-driven organization, Redwood Meadows Emergency Services (RMES) responded to 458 calls for help last year.

Every year, Canadian firefighters are injured or killed in the line of duty. This month, we’re giving some tips to protect your volunteer firefighters as we do our work.

SLOW DOWN. AND THEN SLOW DOWN SOME MORE: One of the most dangerous parts of our job is doing traffic management at motor vehicle incidents. When you see emergency vehicles on the highway, slow down well in advance. The slower the better when we have team members on slippery highways and focused on quickly grabbing equipment from trucks! Resume speed only when you are well clear. Treat every firefighter you see working on the highway as a family member, neighbour or friend – because we are all of these to someone in the community.

FOLLOW FIRST RESPONDER DIRECTIONS: Follow the directions of the first responders. Don’t stop to take pictures (we aren’t that good looking!) and don’t ignore their instructions because you feel they’re meant for vehicles and you’re riding a bicycle or walking.

MOVE OUT OF THE WAY – IT’S THE LAW: When you see the big red trucks heading to someone else’s emergency with lights flashing, pull over to the right side of the road and STOP, until the emergency vehicle passes. Once the truck passes, check your mirrors to ensure more emergency vehicles aren’t following before resuming speed.

KEEP YOUR DRIVEWAYS AND PATHS CLEARED OF SNOW AND ICE: Sliding is fun on sleds and skates in the winter, but not down snowy driveways in firetrucks or while carrying emergency gear. If you know of a neighbor with mobility issues, be a snow angel and help them keep their paths and hydrant access points clear of snow and ice.

2024 saw RMES attend 458 calls - the highest number of calls in our history: 215 medical calls, 108 fire-related calls, 106 rescues and 29 hazmat/other calls. Top medical call types were: Traumatic injuries, Falls and Breathing problems. Top fire call types were Alarms, Structure fires and Wildfires.

Fun fact: Our busiest time of day for calls in 2024 was 3pm and the busiest day of the week for calls was Sunday.

RMES members invested 20,562 hours in the community in 2024, training fifty times together in addition to attending calls, doing administrative work, attending courses and community events. It would take ten full-time paid fire fighters to do the work that our mighty group of professional volunteers did!

Over the past 46-years, RMES has had almost 260 members “answer the call” to serve our community. Last year we welcomed eight probationary members and said ‘see you soon’ to several retiring members – they will forever be part of the RMES family. Thank you to our members (past, present and future) and their families for your service!

We take the trust our community places in us very seriously and look forward to serving Redwood Meadows and the greater Bragg Creek area in 2025!

Until next month, stay safe!

Our recruitment cycle for 2025 has now closed. Those candidates selected to attend one introductiory training night will be contacted in the coming weeks.

2024 was the busiest call year in Redwood Meadows Emergency Services’ history.

By the numbers:

• 458 calls (215 medical, 108 fire-related, 106 rescues and 29 other)
• 25 members
• 20,562 hours invested by our members
• Sunday was our busiest response day
• Top medical call types: Traumatic injuries, Falls and Breathing problems
• Top fire call types: Alarms, Structure fires and Wildfires
• Our Starlink unit was deployed 17 times
• We had 3 ‘near misses’ during calls in 2024 where member lives and/or safety was compromised by the public or a patient