Latest news with #HalifaxRegionalFireandEmergency
Global News
5 days ago
- General
- Global News
A look at Nova Scotia's specially trained K-9 search and rescue team
When disaster strikes in Nova Scotia, a specially trained team of dogs and their handlers is ready to answer the call for help. This elite K-9 unit can sniff through rubble and wilderness to find survivors and save lives. There's only a handful of these teams in Canada. Agile, energetic, playful and hardworking, these are the qualities that make Labrador retriever, Vaz, stand out as a member of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 5. View image in full screen Russell Brown and Labrador retriever, Vaz, are both members of Halifax's Urban Search and Rescue task force. Skye Bryden-Blom / Global News Russell Brown is the K-9 team lead, and says their dogs are trained to detect a human's scent, searching with their noses in the air. They're equipped to sniff out survivors buried beneath rubble after a building collapse. They've also added wilderness search and rescue to their portfolio. Story continues below advertisement 'If there have been a lot of people who have been searching the area already, it doesn't affect our dogs because our dogs are trained to ignore residual odour,' he said. 'They don't find articles. They don't care if there have been 100 people in the woods looking before us.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Russell calls the work a longtime passion, having studied animal behaviour before becoming a firefighter. For more on this story, watch the video above.
CBC
13-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
5 people treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after Dartmouth incident
Residents were evacuated from an apartment building in Dartmouth, N.S., early Sunday morning due to high levels of carbon monoxide, with a total of five people treated at hospital. Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency district Chief Stephen Turner said fire crews received a call at 1:08 a.m. AT from medical personnel at the Dartmouth General Hospital. He said there was a patient there with high levels of carbon monoxide, which prompted the staff to notify the fire department about potential carbon monoxide exposure. Turner said fire crews went to the Albro Lake Road apartment building, which was found to have high levels of carbon monoxide. Residents were evacuated from the building — it's unclear how many — but four people were taken to hospital for treatment, said Turner. He said the building was ventilated and people were allowed to return to their units. In a Facebook post, the Halifax Professional Fire Fighters association said it's an 18-unit building. Turner said carbon monoxide is an odorless gas. "We recommend that everybody have a carbon monoxide detector in any building that has potential to have a carbon monoxide exposure, so that you can ensure that you are warned in advance," he said. Carbon monoxide warning signs In its post, the firefighters' association recommended that people with gas-burning appliances, such as furnaces, propane fireplaces or barbecues, install carbon monoxide detectors on every level of a home. "Know the symptoms: headache, dizziness, nausea, and confusion," it said.
