Since the water-based Bayfield-Nares community does NOT have an ambulance or fire service, a group of volunteers has worked with the 911 system to develop a First Response program that has been in place over the last two decades. The team consists of local contractors and cottagers who are supported by the BNIA with basic first aid training and medical supplies.
For MEDICAL EMERGENCIES, their role is to reach the cottager, assess their injury, and safely transport them to one of the marinas, where municipal paramedics can take over. They respond to between 15 and 25 calls per season, on average.
In the case of a FIRE EMERGENCY, the First Responders are part of a BNIA phone tree who will do their best to respond with fire pumps and work with cottagers and neighbours to extinguish a cottage fire (if possible) and/or to prevent it from spreading to surrounding trees or buildings.
Note: the BNIA First Responders are not a fire department. The onus is on cottagers to prepare their own fire response plan, due to how rapidly a cottage fire spreads. See here for some guidelines.
For a medical emergency, call 911 and give your island / property number. In case of fire, DON’T call 911. Call your neighbours plus a First Response team leader.
More details about Medical and Fire emergencies here.
Here’s how the First Response Team works now for medical emergencies:
Once on site, the first responders stabilize the victim and take them to the mainland to meet the ambulance. In all cases so far, this has been accomplished in less than an hour.
Here’s the most important thing all islanders can do to prepare for a medical emergency:
Keep your cottage or island identification number and your emergency phone chart in a prominent place where any cottage user can find and use it in an instant! Program key numbers into your cell phone contact list. And call 911 — that’s the only number needed to get help within minutes.