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Editor’s blog

May 25, 2012, Toronto – Great news out of Alberta, where the Conservative government announced presumptive legislation for post-traumatic stress disorder in its throne speech on Thursday.

It’s a first in Canada and a big leap forward. Legislation to amend the Workers Compensation Act so that those affected by PTSD won’t have to prove their illness, will be debated in the fall.

It’s a timely announcement given the series that Ed Brouwer is writing for Fire Fighting in Canada (incidentally, he’s getting great feedback!). You can read Ed’s first piece here and the second piece in the June issue, which will be online shortly.

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Recommendations from the coroner’s inquest into the four fire fatalities at the Muskoka Heights retirement home in Orillia, Ont., in 2009 are expected today. Lawyers for all parties involved proposed their recommendations to the jury earlier this week. Watch our website for details.

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FDIC Atlantic starts a week from today in beautiful Wolfville, N.S. As always, the education/training weekend is sold out – and for good reason: great speakers (FFIC’s Ed Brouwer, Mark van der Feyst, and me!), great training sessions, great organization, great entertainment, and great company.

As always, we’ll have blogs, tweets, photos and video.

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The folks at King Fire & Emergency Services in Ontario are getting
kick out of a YouTube video of their new public-education vehicle. The
video, shot by a passer by, has gone viral (well, viral in the sense of
public-education footage!) with more than 115,000 hits!

Here’s a photo of Chief Bryan Burbidge and Deputy Chief Jim Wall in the mini-apparatus at the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs conference in Toronto earlier this month (they were very accommodating when I asked them to get in the truck in front of a gaggle of other chiefs and onlookers!).

The vehicle, built by Dependable and funded by community donations (not, as Burbidge notes on his Facebook page today, by ratepayers!), is made from a converted golf cart and is the talk of the town.

As Burbidge says on his Facebook page, “this truck is only two weeks old and is strictly a public education and community events vehicle designed to get attention and guess what, I think it’s working!”

You can see the YouTube video here.

We’re heading to King next week to shoot a better video!

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Short and sweet for a Friday. Stay safe!