As the chart shows, 2022 records the highest number of incidents, with 2020 (COVID year) the lowest. First responder calls far outweigh all other types, although anecdotal information suggests that many motor vehicle incidents are unreported.

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While 46 incidents in 12 month shows dedicated service and commitment to the community, further analysis of the data is revealing. The total duration of incidents was 111 hours, at an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes, with a range from 25 minutes to 5 hours and 25 minutes. The total number of personnel responding was 254, which rounds up to an average of 6 per incident. Taking the number of responders and duration, the total personnel count for the year rounds up to 646 hours.

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It may come as a surprise that attendance at incidents represents slightly less than half of the real time commitment of volunteers. First Responders and Fire Fighters are required to maintain their accreditation and attend monthly practices. WorkSafe B.C. mandates monthly Health & Safety meetings and fire hall inspections. Various other training sessions and administrative meetings take place on a regular basis. For 2022, this other total was 764 hours and 30 minutes. Taken together, incident hours, training and meeting time amounted to 1,410 hours in 2022.

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It's Friday night at 11:55 p.m. Everyone is winding down from a busy week, some already peacefully in their dreams. Suddenly, a call comes in, pagers go off … within 5 minutes, everyone is on alert and those on duty ready to mobilize. Soon after, it is ascertained to be a false alarm, a “stand down” directive goes out and everyone resumes what they were doing.  Oh, and by the way, this does not get tagged as an incident and no hours are recorded …. Submitted by Sue Ashcroft