The First Responders Service is provided by a group of firefighters from the Morin-Heights’s Fire Department and a few other civilians to complete the team.

As soon as they receive the call, the First responders on duty leave their home to go to the location given by the calling center.

The First responders are trained according to very precise medical protocols to asses and stabilize patients in various situations, for example take the victims’ vital signs and assist them in case of respiratory difficulties, thoracic pain, loss of consciousness, convulsions, trauma, haemorrhage, child birth, intoxication, burns, etc.

Every minute counts. The faster the victims are assessed and stabilized, the best their chances are to suffer no serious consequences. Ideally, in an emergency situation, basic resuscitation measures should start within 4 minutes. As for the defibrillation manoeuvres, they must start within 8 minutes.

The Municipality of Morin-Heights has 9 cardiac defibrillators at the following locations: Town Hall, Chalet Bellevue, Welcome Pavilion of the Aerobic Corridor, IGA, Sommet Morin Heights, Morin-Heights Elementary School and in three various emergency vehicles.

The First responders don’t improvise, they work as a team. They know exactly everyone’s role and apply specific protocols. Their priority is to secure the premises and assist victims. They have to undergo rigorous medical training: a detailed report for each of their intervention his forwarded to the Centre de Santé Service Sociaux, which analyses and follows-up if necessary.

Another important step of any intervention is the relay to paramedics; the First responders have to communicate clearly and concisely their assessment and make themselves available to assist them.

Once informed, the paramedics provide relief; they can be more efficient and work faster with the First responders’ assistance.

The paramedics are the fifth link of the chain, the sixth being the emergency room personnel who take care of the victim from that point on.

1. The caller
2. 9-1-1 Calling centers
3. Communication santé centers
4. First Responder Services
5. Ambulance Services
6. Hospitals

The caller:
A person finding him or herself on the site of an incident or having found an individual needing assistance. This person undergoes basic interventions and signals the event to the 9-1-1 calling service.

9-1-1 Calling centers:
The center receives the call from this person and rapidly redirects the call to a communication center when an emergency pre-hospital service is required.

Communication santé centers:
The nervous center for emergency services involved during the pre-hospital intervention process assures the call is duly processed; it supports and advises the caller, directs, follows-up and dispatches the call to the closest available first-responders and ambulance service to get the victim seen and sent to a hospital.

First Responder Services:
They intervene with the victim in certain pre-defined situations, according to established operational protocols, in order to prevent the deterioration of the victim’s condition until the paramedic team takes over.

Ambulance Services:
They offer assistance during the pre-hospital emergency transportation to the hospital which will receive the patient. They take over from the First-responders better informed, and their interventions are more efficient due to that collaboration.

Hospitals:
The pre-hospital intervention is completed when an adequate and immediate transfer of responsibility is made to the emergency service of the hospital or to a specialized establishment if the person is transferred, depending on the case.

Contacting Morin-Heights emergency services from abroad
If you are outside Canada and need to contact the Morin-Heights’ emergency services (police and firefighters) or must send the coordinates to an alarm company abroad, here is the number to dial: 1-800-565-0911.