Cote Saint-Luc’s finest in orange: volunteer Citizens on Patrol
As Emergency Preparedness Week winds down across Canada I believe it’s important for everyone to take a moment to thank someone involved in emergency services and emergency preparedness, especially those who volunteer their time. It is because of these fine individuals and their sense of dedication that all of us are safer where we live, play and work each day.
Cote Saint-Luc’s long-serving EMS volunteers being congratulated by City Council
I salute everyone involved in Cote Saint-Luc’s Public Safety Department starting with our volunteers. These folks who give so much of themselves within EMS and vCOP are terrific in so many ways. Without salary, they show up for their shifts, rain or shine, heat wave or deep freeze. They do continuous training and provide extra coverage at special events, all to ensure our safety. They respond when called upon and are always at the ready. Thanks so much to all of you.
CSL launches eco-friendly COP Scooter Patrol
Our CSL Public Security agents patrol our streets 24/7. They are friendly and helpful professionals here to maintain order within our city, to educate our residents and visitors and to help when help is needed. They enforce our bylaws to ensure our neighbourhoods are clean and orderly. Merci a tous l’équipe pour vos efforts remarcable.
Cote Saint-Luc volunteer Emergency Medical Services honour guard
Our emergency communications staff, also known as dispatchers, must answer all the phone calls and send the right resources, quickly and professionally. They juggle phones, Urgences Santé and EMS radio systems, computer-aided dispatch screens and more. Thanks to them for keeping calm under pressure and for their polite and helpful interactions with residents.
Public Safety Director Jordy Reichson
Public Safety Chief Jerome Pontbriand
Our team is headed by Director Jordy Reichson and Chief Jerome Pontbriand. Jordy oversees the entire operation of 150 volunteers and some 20 staff members. He also plans for wide scale emergencies. Jordy deals with residents and partner agencies and plans strategically to keep our city safe.
Jerome works directly with our volunteers in vCOP and EMS. He helps to bring them ongoing training and improvement to help them meet the challenges of servicing our city. Jerome is a seasoned paramedic who makes sure you get a first responder fast when you need one.
Both Jordy and Jerome are committed emergency professionals, dedicated to the safety and security of all Cote Saint-Lucers as well as those working and visiting here. YOu may even bump into one of them on a 911 call.
EMS Chief Sheldon “Shloime” Goldberg and his team of skilled and dedicated medics are always close at hand, ready to spring into action
So please be sure to salute our emergency responders that are in and around Cote Saint-Luc (and all across our country). In addition to those solely in our city I mentioned above, there are also Montreal police officers and firefighters and CP Rail police. You’ll occasionally see the RCMP here as well. And of course there are the paramedics of Urgences Santé, responding to all of our medical 911 calls. Please thanks them for all they do to keep us safe and secure, for answering our calls, for being ready when we need them most.
Cote Saint-Luc Public Security officer Jean-Noel Champagne
L-R: CSL Public Security Chief Jerome Pontbriand, Montreal Fire Department Section Chief Gordon Routley, CSL Cllrs. Glenn J. Nashen and Ruth Kovac, FD Assistant Director Rick Liebman, CSL PS Director Jordy Reichson
As Emergency Preparedness Week is marked across Canada I took part in a site tour of the Montreal Agglomeration Emergency Preparedness Centre located at the Fire Department’s headquarters on Mount Royal. Housed in a stately, mansion-like structure on sprawling grounds rolling down to Park Ave, the centre is ready, 24/7 in case of a large scale crisis anywhere on the Island of Montreal.
The mission of the Emergency Preparedness Centre (Centre de sécurité Civile) is to ensure the prevention of major accidents and to prepare boroughs, suburban cities and central city services related to major risks and provide strategic support to the coordination of stakeholders in civil safety during disasters and disaster recovery.
While the website of the Emergency Preparedness Centre is full of information and resources, it is quite absurd that none of this information is available in English. I was sure to point this out to fire officials on the tour, as I have done in the past.
Another excellent feature launched some months ago by the centre is an emergency notification service, also known as Reverse 911. This service will make outbound calls to thousands of agglomeration residents’ landline phones to signal a large scale emergency, such as warnings to stay indoors in case of chemical explosion, or to evacuate, or to boil water. You can also manually register your cell phone for SMS and voice notifications.
Inexcusably, the registration page is not available in English however emergency centre officials assured me that the outbound calls are in French as well as in English.
I find it amazing that millions of dollars are well invested in emergency preparedness to save lives and property unless of course you cannot speak or read French, in which case does the city of Montreal really care about you at all?
I attended this otherwise excellent tour and information meeting with Cote Saint-Luc Councillor Ruth Kovac, Public Safety Director Jordy Reichson and Chief Jerome Pontbriand. Hats off to the personnel of the centre in doing fine work to try to keep us all safe.
Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week) is an annual event that takes place each year during the first full week of May. This national event is coordinated by Public Safety Canada, in close collaboration with the provinces and territories and partners.
Creating a personal emergency plan for you and your family is a crucial first step. All information on the Public Safety Canada website is bilingual and very informative.
I regularly report on the incredible, life-saving efforts of our Cote Saint-Luc Emergency Medical Services volunteers. We cannot thank these fine young women and men enough for their countless acts of bravery and dedication to our residents and visitors.
At this week’s EMS membership meeting I was pleased to join Mayor Anthony Housefather and City Manager Tanya Abramovitch in passing on the appreciation of all Cote Saint-Lucers.
A few members were singled out for saving lives including Anthony G, and Robert R, as mentioned on this blog a few weeks ago. Also recognized were Sergey A, Audrey M, Cassandre D for assisting in a birth at home.
EMS volunteers are trained in basic life support however some have climbed the ranks within the medical profession and continue to apply their skills. Even those working as Urgences Santé paramedics or those in medical school continue on as volunteer first responders.
For more information on CSL EMS or to join, please visit their site. And, when you see the EMS white trucks and crews passing by please give a friendly wave and let them know how much you appreciate them always being at the ready to respond to the next emergency.
Crews work to shut of valve to the water pipe on Kildare Road
A watermain break this afternoon on Kildare Road near Shalom Ave has kept crews from Fire, Police, Public Security, Public Works and Engineering departments along with water management firm Dessau busy on site.
The Fire Department quickly setup pumps to minimize any flooding at neighbouring homes.
Crews also must deal with cutting through the frozen ground to access the water shut off valves. No easy task in such cold weather.
Some temporary water shutdowns in the neighbourhood may be necessary and traffic has been reduced to one lane westbound on Kildare.
Emergency crews respond to assist at watermain break
The Montreal Fire Department offers persons living with a handicap or reduced mobility the possibility to be registered into a computerized data base that assists firefighters in locating and evacuating them in case of emergency. The information collected is reserved for fire department use only and is kept confidential. This is a free and efficient service offered by your fire department.
Le Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (SIM) offre aux personnes en situation de handicap ou de mobilité réduite la possibilité de s’inscrire à une base de données informatisée qui permet aux pompiers de les repérer et de les aider à évacuer en cas d’urgence. L’information recueillie est à l’usage exclusif du SIM et est tenue confidentielle. C’est un service efficace et gratuit!
Fire broke out just before sunrise on Tuesday morning in a top floor apartment on Sir Walter Scott Avenue. Cote Saint-Luc Director of Public Safety Jordy Reichson indicated that the call came in around 5:35AM and when the Montreal Fire Department arrived, smoke and flames were already visible from outside. They immediately called a first alarm with probability of spreading and at 5:55AM raised the alert to a second alarm.
Fire guts apartment in Cote Saint-Luc forcing tenants out into the cold
The blaze started in a fourth floor apartment due to an oil fire on the stove top. It caused extensive damage to the apartment, as well as three other units on the floor and the units directly below.
All residents were cared for by the Red Cross, which is standard Fire Department policy for displaced persons. The Red Cross officials helped residents with arrangements to stay with family or friends. The residents of the fire apartment were transported to hospital with smoke inhalation and minor injuries.
The fire started on the stove and quickly engulfed the entire apartment
The Montreal Fire Department intervention prevention teams, CSL Public Safety and CSL Urban Planning were on scene to work with the building owner on any required follow-up, including barricading broken windows and the roof (which was cut open for ventilation) and other matters. CSL Public Works was informed to clear the catch basins in the area to allow for drainage of water.
According to CTV News, one person tried to put out the flames but was unsuccessful. He ended up cutting himself. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within an hour, and were also able to contain the fire within the kitchen. Other residents of the building should be able to return home without any difficulty.
Three people, who are all believed to live in the apartment where the fire began, were all taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
CTV also reported that the apartment where the fire broke out had a heat detector, but was not equipped with a smoke detector
Members of Cote Saint-Luc volunteer Citizens on Patrol will have the chance to work side by side with the Montreal Fire Department this weekend in a blitz to get all residents to change their smoke detector batteries coinciding with the change to Daylight Savings Time.
vCOP will go door to door speaking to as many residents as possible to remind every one of the importance of keeping their detectors functional year round.
vCOP has assisted CSL Public Security and Montreal Police during its 6 1/2 years of service but this is the first time that it will have the opportunity to directly assist the Fire Department.
While our EMS volunteers used to work closely with our CSL Fire Department that all ended 10 years ago with the forced mergers and the transfer of fire services from CSL to Montreal.
I’m very proud that the services offered by vCOP continues to expand helping to make Cote Saint-Luc the safest community in the region.
When I launched the concept in 2006 I had a goal to recruit 100 volunteers and acquire several vehicles and bicycles to allow these patrollers to circulate at anytime of day or night. I am so pleased that we have been able to expand our offering in the areas of emergency preparedness, searching for missing persons, distribution of water during service interruption, protecting residents from downed power lines, cables, trees and branches and now with fire safety and prevention.
Hats off to our nearly 100 volunteers and to our team leaders and supervisors. Their efforts are making a difference in the lives of Cote Saint-Lucers on a daily basis.
If you’ve had any experiences with vCOP and would like to thank them too please click on ‘Leave a Comment’.
The Montreal Fire Department (Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal, SIM), in collaboration with the Department of Public Security (Ministère de la Sécurité publique), is organizing The Big Evacuation tonight, for residents of the Montreal Agglomeration. During this event, citizens and especially families will be asked to put into practice their fire escape plan, all on the same day and at the same time.
During the 2011 edition of The Big Evacuation, the SIM had organized supervised evacuation exercises in three boroughs and one municipality of the agglomeration of Montréal. The event was such a success that they are repeating the experience. You will see below the areas chosen this year. Please note that these sectors have been selected based on the number of fires that occurred.
Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough Place de Granby, between Pierre-De Coubertin and Hochelaga
Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough Avenue Champagneur, between d’Anvers and de Liège Ouest
Lachine borough Rue Louis-Paré, starting at 26e Avenue
Sud-Ouest borough Rue Jacques-Hertel, between Hadley and Eadie
Ville-Marie borough Rue Montcalm, between Sherbrooke Est and Ontario Est
Town of Kirkland Acres Street, between Oriole and Salaberry Boulevard
City of Dollard-des-Ormeaux Brunswick Boulevard, between Davignon and Deacon
The driver of this vehicle was lucky to walk away without serious injuries
An elderly Baily Avenue resident was lucky to escape injury last week when he accidentally pushed the accelerator rather than the brakes while backing out of his garage. His car hit the retaining wall and flipped violently onto its roof smashing the windows.
The motorist managed to crawl to safety while neighbours quickly called 911.
Cote Saint-Luc EMS, Public Security, Montreal Police and Fire responded. The man was treated by CSL EMS until the arrival of the Urgences Santé ambulance. He only suffered minor scrapes and bruises and was transported to hospital by ambulance for further evaluation as a precaution.
Luckily the car did not continue to accelerate into the street where local kids often play street hockey.
Former Cote Saint-Luc Fire Department Captain Howard Berry now in Karnak uniform
“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”
Cote Saint-Luc has seen a few heroes through the years. I was happy to bump into one such person last weekend while attending the Shriners Circus with my family.
Howard Berry served in the Cote Saint-Luc Fire Department for more than 30 years. He started off in the early 70s as a rookie firefighter and slowly worked his way up the ranks through the years.
For the past 17 years he has volunteered his time with the Karnak organization. Karnak is a fraternal order in Montreal dating back to 1899 and named after the ancient Temple of Karnak in Pharoah’s Egypt. Karnak has supported the Shriners Hospitals for Crippled Children as its main mission.
Howard has worked to fulfill this noble mission and for this I have named him as my Photo of the Week.
Miramichi, N.B. – James Samuel Sharkey, husband of Brenda Sharkey, of Air Force Crescent, Miramichi, passed away at his residence, on Thursday, September 6, 2012, following a lengthy illness, at the age of 73.
Born in Montreal, on July 3, 1939, he was the son of the late James and Eva (Rivard) Sharkey. He was former police officer, in Quebec and a retired firefighter, retiring with the position of Director of Public Safety for the community of Cote Saint-Luc, Quebec. He was an active participant in most activities at the Hermitage Community Center, in Miramichi. He attended the River of Life Church, Miramichi.
He is survived by his wife, the former Brenda Dunlop; one step brother, Robert Zamboni (Helen), of Montreal.
By his request there will be no visitation. A private graveside memorial service and interment will be held at a later time, in Miramichi.
As expressions of sympathy, donations to the Miramichi Chapter of the S.P.C.A., or any charity of the donors’ choice would be appreciated by the family. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Adams Funeral Home Ltd., 140 King St., Miramichi, telephone (506)773-3492, or messages of condolences may be sent online to http://www.adamsfh.ca
I remember “Chief Sharkey” all the way back in my early school years in the 70s when the Cote Saint-Luc Fire Department would roll up with their shining trucks to teach us about safety and prevention.
Years later, in the 80s and early 90s, Chief Sharkey would head up the Cote Saint-Luc Public Security Department in addition to the Fire Department and Emergency Preparedness. He would often patrol the city in his “unmarked” red chief’s car.
I can still picture him, standing at attention with his firefighters all lined up behind him during the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cote Saint-Luc cenotaph. When he saluted, they all saluted.
Chief Sharkey was well known throughout our community for a very long time. He served with distinction and we are grateful for his contribution in making Cote Saint-Luc and our mutual-aid neighbours very safe cities.
Linda Verreault served as Chief Sharkey’s secretary and had this to say: “Mr. James Sharkey served the City of Côte Saint-Luc for 36 1/2 years. He started as a policeman in the 60′s and eventually had to make a choice between the Police Department or the Fire Department. He chose the latter. He slowly went up the ranks serving as a firemen, then Lieutenant, Captain, Assistant Director and Director of the Fire Department. He also served as Director of Public Security for a few years before his retirement. He is remembered as a very jovial, generous boss, well organized, with strong administrative skills and dedication to his craft.”
Quebec’s new Move Over law takes effect today. Not abiding by this very important regulation will cost you, both in dollars and demerits. Rest assured that Police will be looking out for infractions as this law is aimed specifically at making them, and their fellow first responders, much safer on the road.
I first heard of this law a few months ago when I learned of a Montrealer who was nabbed in upstate New York and handed a hefty fine. I thought it had great merit and began blogging about it only to find out that a young paramedic from the Eastern Townships had started an online petition. Fast forward only a couple of months and this new law was created.
So drive carefully, especially when passing emergency vehicles.
Read more:
Quebec drivers will have to move over for emergency vehicles on the highway
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