INSIDE

In case of heart attack, carry passport

By Meg Olson

With congressional calls for a review of border polices following back to back incidents in November of emergency personnel delayed crossing the border on a call, local fire chief Bill Skinner has some concerns about the Point’s border-dependent ability to respond to emergencies.

“We’ve been fortunate so far,” Skinner said. “But there are some things I need to look into, and quickly.”

On November 11, a fire truck from Quebec responding under a mutual aid agreement to a fire in New York state was held up at the border for eight minutes while an inspector checked identification of firefighters. The following day an ambulance carrying a cardiac patient from Ontario to Detroit, Michigan was sent to secondary inspection and the driver was asked for confirmation of identity.

“The delay occurred despite long standing existing protocols between local officials,” wrote Bernie Thompson, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security in a November 19 letter to Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. “It is imperative that emergency personnel are not delayed unnecessarily when responding to critical needs within border communities.”

Skinner said the local fire department also has a long standing mutual aid agreement with Delta Fire and Emergency Services, and he has had meetings with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) supervisors to ensure both Delta crews and Canadian volunteers with the local fire department can respond to Point Roberts in a timely fashion.

“So far they’ve been good trying to work with us and we haven’t had any serious problems,” Skinner said. However, he said the process did not have enough consistency to make him comfortable problems couldn’t crop up, as they did in the East earlier this month.

“We always have been at the mercy of the inspector,” he said. “I can sit down with the port director and come to an agreement but it boils down to what the individual inspector wants to do. If the individual inspector chooses to question you it seems to me a directive from a supervisor can’t alter that and that seems very strange to me.”

As an example, Skinner said Canadian members of the Point Roberts fire department are required to carry their work visas when responding to calls in Point Roberts. “Some inspectors ask to see it and some don’t,” Skinner said, which can affect response time.

Under existing protocols firefighters use the NEXUS or the cargo lane to cross the border as quickly as possible, and there is a pager at the port of entry alerting CBP officers that emergency personnel may be crossing to respond to a call. Some officers enter every vehicle license into the system, while others wave them through.

So far officers have been the most consistent in handling fire trucks from Delta that respond to Point Roberts fires. “The agreement is they won’t slow their progress southbound but they have asked that the crew check-in for processing as they leave,” Skinner said.

“Both U.S. CBP and Canada Border Services Agency in the Pacific Northwest have a long history of cooperation in terms of getting emergency vehicles across the border in times of need,” said CBP public affairs officer Mike Milne.

“We continue to work on an ongoing basis to further develop understandings and agreements which will further facilitate the movement of emergency vehicles across the border without threatening the security of either nation.”

Milne said procedures to smooth the way for emergency personnel were in place and the agency would consider new procedures to lessen the impact of new documentation requirements anticipated for next year. “At some locations there are lists of fire fighters and emergency personnel,” he said.

Skinner said he would look into how the department would deal with the proposed need for a passport or equivalent identification next summer under the Western Hemisphere Travel initiative, perhaps with pre-clearance for members of the fire department and an onboard manifest.

“But for our patients it becomes a bigger issue, depending on where we pick them up.” he said. “If it’s in a ditch beside the street chances are they don’t have their passport.”