Top 10 List of reasons to Vote on Oct 27th...Number 9 Public Safety

Your local government is responsible for public safety.  From making sure your  Police,Fire and paramedics have adequate resources to protect your community, to emergency planning and protecting your neighbours.

We all know that local government is responsible for making sure our roads and parks are safe. But some people forget the role we play in our emergency services.  

It is mandated by the Province on how we provide the services, but with Fire and Police, very little money, if any ever flows from the Province to pay for them.  They are paid for by you, the local taxpayer.The Province covers some of the Paramedics costs but not enough.  You still pay the majority.

Our Regional Police Services are governed by a Police Services Board that is independent of Council, but does have Council representatives on it. Council approves the budget that is passed by the Board and the board works closely with the Chief to set it.

All our Emergency Services work hard to keep our communities safe.  They spend countless hours promoting things you can do to make your home and neighbourhood safer.

In Halton we are part of a group that literally has the highest survival rate for people having Heart attacks.  We also work to increase the number yearly who have CPR and can be part of the chain of survival.

When you need to call the Police, Fire or Paramedics, they arrive as quickly and safely as possible.  They are ana ctive part of your community.

When you vote in a Municipal election, the Mayor and Councillors you elect work with all the groups to set the budget.  They approve master Plans that set out how the service will operate and also how it will grow.

We live in one of the Safest Regions in the Country.  We need to make sure that those we elect will keep it that way!

Remember VOTE in the upcoming Municipal elections.

CPR Training in Halton

In 2009 Halton Region EMS (Emergency Medical Services) responded to close to 31,000 calls. Of those about 360 were VSA (Vital Signs Absent). Meaning they showed no signs of life. Not breathing, no heartbeat, technically dead, but if someone is there and can quickly asses your situation and start early CPR, your chance of survival goes up dramatically.
We have all heard about how CPR saves lives. But it is just one link in the chain of survival for people who go into cardiac arrest.
The other part is having a nearby PAD (Public Access Defibrillators) near by and people trained to use them.
This past week our EMS Staff trained the Councillors on how to use the machines and gave us a CPR course. It took 90 minutes for 15 more people to be trained.
We received the new kits that we can pass on and train more people on how to do this simple, life saving technique.
Long before I was Chair of Health and Social Services I have always believed in the CPR/PAD chain. I had my first CPR course in 1981 and it took 8 hours.
Now in 90 minutes we can have people trained to recognise the signs of Heart attack or stroke, how to administer CPR and use a PAD.

The new kits have a DVD, small dummy and step by step instructions on how to use it..

When there is almost 1 call a day for a situation where CPR or PAD may need to be used. Would you not want to know how to save your loved one, neighbour or someone who needs assistance?
I feel Halton Region should strive to get more of its population trained. Approximately 30,000 have some CPR/Pad training. I would love to see us get that number to 50,000.
We need to figure out how to get there.
That one person per day could be a 16 yr old girl, a 80 yr old Grandfather, a 47 yr old mother or your son, daughter, mother, father or neighbour