CSRD funding to help keep South Shuswap First Responders on the road

By Barb Brouwer

Contributor

Residents of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District’s electoral areas C and G will continue to receive vital service from the South Shuswap First Responders.

At the Dec. 8 board meeting in Salmon Arm, the CSRD board voted to continue to provide the South Shuswap Responders a $50,000 annual financial contribution to be funded through tax requisitions.

In her report to the board, Jodi Pierce, manager financial services, noted that CSRD has provided grant-in-aid funding to the organization since 2002.

The South Shuswap First Responders is a non-profit volunteer organization that was established in October 2000 by a number of people in the Sorrento/Blind Bay area. Local first responders hold Emergency Medical Assistant (EMA) First Responder Level 3 licences with CPR and AED certification.

The organization requires annual funding to provide pre-ambulance emergency first aid and medical assistance, and grant in aid funding is not a suitable mechanism for annual funding at this level,” wrote Pierce in her Nov. 21 report. “Staff has recently been converting these larger annual grants to contribution agreements to ensure that all parties are aware of their responsibilities regarding the use and reporting of funds.”

Recipients’ responsibilities include, but are not limited to, submitting annual budgets, financial statements and an annual report.

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Pierce advised directors that CSRD staff has been working with Kathy Werkman, the newly elected president of the South Shuswap First Responders, who is very much in favour of having a signed agreement going forward.

“This is a great group of volunteers that provide this service; hopefully you never need them,” said Area C director Marty Gibbons, pointing out that the BC Ambulance Service is incredibly busy and accessing ambulance service can be difficult in the more rural communities such as Eagle Bay, Herald’s Bay and parts of Notch Hill. “This fills a very crucial role and I wanted to recognize that and thank the volunteers. And I think it’s important that the board recognize the outgoing president (Debbie Edwards), thank her for her service and encourage the new leadership of this group moving forward.”

The board was unanimous in endorsing the contribution agreement with the South Shuswap First Responders for a five-year agreement commencing Aug. 1, 2023.

Anyone who is interested in volunteering with this critical group, may send an email to ssfr@shaw.ca, or go online to Facebook and enter South Shuswap First Responders in the search box.

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