by
CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — Whitewater Region Mayor Hal Johnson has nothing but praise for those involved with the emergency situation at Country Haven the night of Friday, Nov. 4.
Opening last night’s council meeting, he said, “We had, on the fourth of November, one of those things happen that you always fear happen. There was an incident at Country Haven in Beachburg, the seniors home.”
He noted at the time it was portrayed as an emergency situation due to the sprinkler system going off, alerting staff and residents to the possibility there was a fire in the home. However, later in the evening, it was discovered there was a defective part in the sprinkler system.
“But, the people involved in our emergency preparedness, went into the situation, eyes wide open, and did a phenomenal job,” Mayor Johnson stated. “This is a group of people in a municipality you can be proud of, because it gives you the comfort that when we need our people, and all the training we pay for, is well spent, the time is well spent, the money is well spent.”
What was learned during this incident is invaluable and what took place by the parameds and firefighters was above and beyond at the time, he said.
“The people were evacuated out of the building in record time and had it set up so that no one could go back into the building without an escort,” he said.
This is important because in southern Ontario there was a fire in a seniors residence and while the seniors were evacuated, there was nothing set up to ensure no one returned into the building, and that’s exactly what happened, he said.
“At one point, and at a very dangerous point, the residents had to be re-evacuated,” the mayor said. “They had to be re-evacuated at great danger to the residents and the firefighters.”
The mayor noted that each person who was evacuated was addressed a number and those numbers were double-checked whenever there was movement, whether it was into an ambulance, a bus, or even escorted into the building to use the washroom facilities, once it had been determined there was no fire
Between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m., no one was lost or misplaced due to the system that was put in place, he said.
Once it had been determined there was no fire, but there was severe water damage to the home, a place for each of the 58 residents was required. Carefor Mackay House in Pembroke had 50 beds, so 50 residents were loaded onto buses, with Country Haven staff, and were sent to Mackay House. Upon arrival, each of the residents were medically evaluated to ensure they were not experiencing a medical difficulty due to the stress they were experiencing, Mayor Johnson said.
The other eight residents were taken to Caressant Care in Cobden, where they were medically checked as well, he said, noting one was taken to hospital.
“Caressant Care didn’t exactly have the places to put people, but immediately their staff put accommodations for the night together and a staff member from Country Haven came with them and they were looked after very, very well,” Mayor Johnson said.
The next day, additional beds were set up for those residents at Caressant Care at Mackay House, so all the residents could be together for the next few weeks while their home is being repaired.
“We have to give a great pat on the back to the staff of Country Haven, who had to organize all the health issues, they had to have everybody’s medical history with the right person and going to the right place,” he said. “They did it in the most efficient way possible.
“They were just phenomenal,” he said. “They placed one of their staff on every bus to calm the residents and have familiarity with the plan that was happening.
“The firemen, if they saw anybody under stress, the firemen would talk to them. It was such a great thing to watch.
“Having said that, I would like to give a round of applause to our emergency system on how well it worked and didn’t even know it would work.”
