Everyone needs a helping hand sometimes. That's exactly why a tiered emergency response agreement exists between the Hanover Fire Department and Grey County EMS.
Hanover Fire Chief Jeff Dentinger says the agreement is there so that EMS knows when to dispatch fire crews to calls for assistance.
"So we're here to help support EMS. So that might be an auto extrication call, a medical assistance call, there's a variety of situations," he says. "So what we've done is made sure that we're both in agreement, and that EMS is aware of what our capabilities are."
Dentinger says this system ensures there's no guesswork, and that if EMS feel something like an extrication might be needed, the fire department is there right away.
Dentinger also notes there's no additional costing involved if EMS calls in the department's assistance.
"There is no costing in the agreement. The fire department responds to medical assistance calls, when required, to back support EMS," he says. "In addition, we're there to help support EMS at auto extrication calls. Our job is to do the extrication, so we want to make sure we're going to calls where the extrication is required."
The chief says the extrication may not always be required, but it's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to emergencies where time is of the essence.
