The Cowichan Bay Fire Rescue exists to provide fire, rescue, medical and other life safety services to those who reside, work, or travel through the Cowichan Bay Improvement District. Our calls for service range from, public assistance calls to significant events that threaten lives and property.

The Cowichan Bay Fire Rescue operates under the authority of the Cowichan Bay Improvement District. Our District covers approximately 104 square Kilometers with an area population of approximately 10,000. Cowichan Bay Fire Rescue responds to an average of 280 calls per year with an average of 32 voluntreers.

The Cowichan Bay Improvement District contains a range of property uses from commercial and residential to agricultural. Large areas of the District are not protected by Fire Hydrants and therefore the Cowichan Bay Fire Rescue utilizes two large water tenders to supply water for fire fighting.

Dispatch

All 911 calls are routed to the RCMP 911 center in Nanaimo where the call is screened to determine the service required (Police, Fire or Ambulance) before being forwarded to FireComm Fire Dispatch. Cowichan Bay’s Volunteer Fire Fighters are then notified of an emergency via pagers through a special tone alert paging system.

First Responder Program

In today’s fire service a majority of responses are for Medical Aid, accounting for nearly half of all emergency calls responded to annually. Cowichan Bay Fire Fighters are trained to respond to injuries and medical emergencies as “First Responders”. This program was developed in conjunction with BC Ambulance Service to provide the best pre-hospital care possible. First Responders are often the first person to provide medical attention to the patients at an accident or medical emergency, and may have to do this until the BC Ambulance Service arrives. The First Responder will provide care immediately – within the first few minutes at the scene and until more highly trained medical personnel arrive – so that the injuries do not harm the patient further. This program focuses on the management of the critical first moments, to assess the patient and decide if the injuries are life-threatening and what treatment(s) they require.

Cowichan Bay Fire Fighters are trained to EMR First Responder Level 3, CPR / AED and Spinal Immobilization. The base training is approximately 50 hours and is recertified every three years.

History