LFES sees highlights and initiatives in past year

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on January 4, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Lethbridge fire chief Greg Adair may look back on 2024 with fondness as 2025 develops.
Adair talked to The Herald recently about the year that was for LFES.
The LFES had several highlights from 2024 and started key initiatives.
EMS call volumes decreased in 2024 with LFES staff answering to 10 to 15 per cent fewer calls, Adair said.
The acuity of the EMS calls continues to be patients with significant health issues.
Fire call volume in 2024 remained the steady with 2023 numbers, with Adair calling his service a busy one.
Call volume has increased to the 911 and Public Safety Community Centre, however.
Adair says the LFES is happy to announce that this year an agreement has been made with the Blood Tribe fire department to dispatch their fire service in 2025.
“This will increase dispatching contracts from 22 to 23 fire services our public safety communications centre will be dispatching for in 2025, said Adair.
“We’re quite excited about that contract,” he added.
That centre also does dispatching for the Lethbridge Police Service as well as LFES services.
In 2024, the LFES hired a new fire marshal in Troy Hicks and announced two new platoon chiefs. And it welcomed 13 new firefighter/EMS recruits in 2024, he said. And it introduced a new communications strategist in Curtis Goodman who helps LFES in community engagement.
A health and wellness support specialist has been hired who focuses on the mental health and wellness of LFES members as they “continue to face challenging calls – fire calls, EMS calls.”
And city council has approved the addition of four medical supervisors who will be on the street providing support to EMS practitioners 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. These positions are funded through the LFES contract with Alberta Health Services. They will be hired and become operational in 2025.
Also in 2024, the LFES signed a new 2.5 year EMS contract with AHS, that contract which comes with a two-year extension.
The department has done community engagement collaborations with the Lethbridge Hurricanes including an event involving that WHL club and VisitLethbridge.com where they showcased services to the community during a game.
It also rolled out the Stop the Bleed program with the Hurricanes and VisitLethbridge.com Arena for people playing hockey if they receive a significant event that causes them to bleed profusely. A kit has been created and training provided so the serious bleed can be stopped to save lives. That program will be extended to other arenas in 2025.
And in 2025, the LFES is looking forward to continuing enhance recruitment with a plan to hire 10 or more people “to ensure that we have an effective fire response force and adequate staffing to ensure that when you call us we will have the right resources to respond to your event,” added Adair.
The LFES has also started the journey to become an accredited fire service, a journey that will take up to two years, Adair said.
This accreditation means the LFES will continue to improve its service and ensure policies, processes and responses meet or exceed the industry standard. The LFES will then benchmark itself against other communities in North America to ensure the service it is providing is “high quality service that meets industry standard,” added Adair.
The LFES in 2025 will be working on a wildfire preparedness plan and sprinkler deployment plan to better protect the city’s critical infrastructure, Adair said and it will continue the work on relocating fire station No. 3 at the south end of Lethbridge. It will also be launching the Tactical EMS team which will work in collaboration with LPS on the high acuity events police respond to.
“Our paramedics will go out with their tactical team and respond on these serious events” with the TEMS team being responsible to ensure safety of the LPS, public and bystanders, said Adair.

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