Crash response times good, say EHS, firefighters

By Lawrence Powell

The Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

Firefighters, paramedics, and RCMP say their response times to a fiery motorcycle crash in Wilmot May 12 were good and don’t reflect comments by an accident witness reported in the May 14 edition of The Chronicle Herald.

“We were there in nine minutes and the RCMP were right behind us,” said Middleton Fire Chief Chris Barker. He said Emergency Health Services was already on the scene when his crew arrived.

Paul Maynard, media relations officer for EHS, said Middleton paramedics received the call at 4:29.53 p.m. and were at the crash site at 4:35 p.m. – a response time of five minutes and seven seconds.

Barker said the distance from the Middleton Fire Department to the accident scene on Highway 1 is five kilometres. Firefighters received the call at 4:33 p.m. and were at the accident at 4:42 p.m. He said Middleton firefighters, all volunteers, were out the door and on their way within four minutes and at the scene in nine minutes.

24-year-old Mathieu Perron with 14 Wing Air Maintenance Squadron in Greenwood was killed when his motorcycle crashed into a van that was turning into a driveway. A witness described the efforts of civilians to save Perron who was engulfed in flames.

In the Herald story, the witness said it took 15 minutes for EHS to arrive, 20 minutes for firefighters to get there, and 25 for the RCMP.

Sgt. Rich Walkinshaw with the RCMP’s Annapolis Valley Traffic Services, said the first RCMP car arrived at the scene 14 minutes after receiving the call. He said for police, response times have a lot to do with where officers are on the road at any given minute, and what they may already be involved in. He said when the Wilmot accident call came in, he was dealing with a car accident in Cambridge.

He also said that fire and paramedics were called first and police were called several minutes later.

Walkinshaw, who has also reviewed EHS and firefighter response times, said he can’t see how they could have been any faster.

Maynard said he received about 10 calls from upset paramedics early Wednesday before he was even able to read the story. He has asked for a retraction, as has Barker.

Separate critical incident stress debriefings were planned for Wednesday evening for paramedics and firefighters.