The Rural Voice, 2002-10, Page 58BRUCE
Email: brute@ofa.on.ca
website: www.ofa.on.calbruce
County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9
519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551
- The Rural Voice is provided to Bruce
County Farmers by the BCFA.
Holes in 911 system can create problems
By Rick Robson
BCFA First Vice -President
The BCFA has some,concems about
the 911 system in Bruce County. These
apparent flaws in the system mainly
affect farmers although there are many
problems in the towns as well. No
system is perfect which is why it needs
to be examined.
The 911 signs for a farm property are
almost always at the entrance to the
farm residence. This is fine if the
emergency requiring response is at that
location. If the situation is on another
part of the property, i.e. the bush or the .
40 acres up the road where there is no
911 number sign, you have no effective
way to communicate with the 911
operator where you are.
For example if you were on the
combine and it caught fire, when you
grabbed your cell phone and dialed 911
the operator would ask for your 911
number.. You could give them the only
one you may know which is at your
residence perhaps a quarter mile or more
away. That is where the response team
will be sent. Somebody there would
have to direct these people assuming
there is somebody there to do that and
they know exactly where you are.
It is almost impossible to give
specific location directions to the 911
operator as they can only respond to 911
numbers. This can also be a problem if
there is a situation in a public park or
community centre as they do not have
911 number signs posted. So if someone
is having a heart attack and you try to
report it you probably at best only have
the name of the park, etc. to give the
operator. I personally discovered this
does not work. The operator kept
insisting I provide her with a 911
number or a telephone number neither
of which existed. This wastes time and
can be extremely frustrating. In my case
no lives were in danger which was
HAY WEST DONATIONS
Cash donations to support Western farmers
can be made at any Scotia Bank. Please make
your cheque payable to Hay West.
Credit card donations can also be made by
calling The Canadian Federation of Humane
Society at 1.888-678-2347.
All donations over $10 ,will receive a tax
receipt.
If you have any questions please call 1.866 -
HAY -WEST (429-9378).
54 THE RURAL VOICE
good.
When I told the operator to tell the
police the name of the park and they
would find it she said there was a good
chance they would not know it. As it
turned out there were police attending
another incident in a nearby parking lot
and when told about the park in fact
they did not know it by name.
BCFA has discussed our concerns
with municipal politicians and officials
as well as with OFA. We made several
suggestions as to how to solve some of
these problems.
One was to put 911 number signs at
parks and public spaces. Another was to
make farmers aware of the situation and
make signs available for them to post at
their farm entrances. Because there are
duplicate numbers in the Bruce system
perhaps we might consider going to a
unique number system as they have in
other jurisdictions.
Training dispatchers and emergency
responders on the geography of the
areas they are serving so that directions
could be given and understood might
help.
Unfortunately it would seem that this
FALL BUS TOUR
Bus tour of woodlot, dairy and organic egg farm
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2002
Bus departs Newman's Walkerton - 12:30 p.m.;
Reception at NeWman's Walkerton 5:00 p.m.
Agriculture Minister Helen Johns,
MP Paul Steckle, MPP Bill Murdoch, and
MP Ovid Jackson plan to attend
Please contact BCFA office for more information.
system was 'designed for an urban
setting and that the geography, culture,
nature of work, etc. of our community
has not been adequately taken into
account.
We would welcome any proposals,
especially from response officials that
would make this system better for all the
residents of Bruce County. The best
safeguard. we have is effective
communication. The other is a strong
community concerned about the welfare
of their neighbours which I feel Bruce
County is. Nothing and nobody is
perfect so let us keep trying to improve
what we have. I would like to thank all
the men a nd women who do their best
to protect and serve us. It is much
appreciated.0
BRUCE COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE
PLEASE NOTE: There will be no Board of
Directors' meeting in October because of the
Annual Meeting. Next Board Meeting will be
Monday, November 18, 2002
BRUCE COUNTY FEDERATION OF
AGRICULTURE
61 ST ANNUAL MEETING AND
BANQUET AND
OFA REGIONAL MEETING
Friday, October 25, 2002
Arran -Tara Community Centre
Guest Speaker: Steve Peters, MPP,
Liberal Ag Critic
Social: 6:30 p.m. Dinner: 7:00 p.m.
NOTE: OFA Regional Directors, Delegates
and Alternates for OFA Convention,
BCFA Presidents and Township Directors
will be elected at the meeting.
NOMINATION FOR THE BCFA AWARD OF MERIT
"For Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture"
Each year the Bruce County Federation of Agriculture presents an Award to a person in Bruce County who
has made a significant contribution to the agriculture industry. If you have someone you would like to
nominate, please complete this form and return to our office in Hanover. Nominations should be received at
our office by October 18, 2002. The Award will be presented at our Annual Meeting on Friday, October 25.
I nominate:
Reasons for nomination:
Signature:
Please return to:
Bruce County Federation of Agriculture, 446 10th Street, Hanover, ON N4N 1P9
Fax: 519-364-4119 E-mail: bruce@ofa.on.ca Or you may give your nomination to any Township Director
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