VOICE OF THE PEOPLE: Adapt choppers to better fight fires

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While our firefighters work with a minimum number of water-carrying helicopters, how many expensive, powerful military helicopters sit idly by at Shearwater or on ships?

Couldn't several of them be equipped with a quick coupling to attach and dump buckets? Yes, I know flying these machines with a swinging bucket of water is very difficult and takes a lot of training, but who gets more training than our military?

Think how much they would save, fighting a fire. Think outside the box.

Merrill Conrad, Halifax

As a retired railway worker, I was dismayed to see CN is still running trains through heavily wooded areas in spite of all the dangers surrounding our resources right now.

All parks are closed and activities, including commercial, have been banned, but trains still run through heavily forested areas.

It is a documented fact that trains can inadvertently start fires from the exhaust throwing hot particulates onto extremely dry areas. The braking systems also generate tremendous heat from the friction required to slow movement.

I’m just wondering if this is sound judgment in these circumstances.

Wade Furey, Waverley

The reason for the existence of the Canadian Armed Forces is to protect Canada.

We have a new enemy, that being the increase of forest fires, which devastate an important natural resource.

I suggest we train a good percentage of Forces personnel in forest fire suppression and have them quickly mobile to get them to fire locations to protect our country and our people. We are paying for them so why not employ them to give this type of protection?

Douglas Millar, Liverpool

The Nova Scotia wildfires are a result of not enough water either in the form of snow or rain for the past six months.

Municipalities and the province need to be putting together policies to get citizens and businesses in the habit of conserving fresh water.

The need may be there to curb excessive water use in the home and places of commerce immediately. As summer approaches, things may get dryer. Without conservation, wells will run dry and municipal reservoirs will suffer.

We need to start conserving now.

Malcolm MacPherson, Valley

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Hearing and Speech Nova Scotia, a provincially funded organization dedicated to providing hearing services to Nova Scotians of all ages and speech-language pathology services to preschool children and adults.

Since 1963, HSNS has been helping people across the province live life to the fullest with quality audiology and speech-language pathology services.

It was established because of the vision and advocacy of the late Dr. Barrie Coward, a Nova Scotia pediatrician, who, along with a group of individuals, was concerned about the lack of services for pre-school children with hearing and speech disorders.

The Hearing and Speech Clinic was officially opened on May 7, 1963, with then-premier Robert L. Stanfield officiating.

Over the years, HSNS has grown significantly in response to increasing demand and changing needs. Today, it operates 35 clinics, serving more than 25,000 Nova Scotians annually. It collaborates with community partners to provide specialized programs and services, including autism, balance, tinnitus, swallowing, voice, infant hearing, alternative communication systems and cochlear implants.

Every year, staff provide over 35 practicum placements for speech-language pathology and audiology students enrolled in the Dalhousie School of Communication Sciences and Disorders master of science program.

Over the past six decades, our highly skilled and dedicated staff have helped hundreds of thousands of people improve their communication skills and overcome related difficulties in achieving their goals in learning, working and social interactions. We have helped employers protect their employees’ hearing through onsite testing and education, and participated in research, education and advocacy to advance the fields of audiology and speech-language pathology.

All services are co-ordinated and meet professional standards provincewide. Services are free as part of the health-care system and there is no need for a doctor's referral; Nova Scotians with a health card can make appointments directly.

We look forward to the future with optimism and enthusiasm. We are eager to embrace new opportunities and challenges that may arise in the ever-changing landscape of health care.

We are grateful for the support and trust of our clients, partners, funders and communities that have made our work possible and allowed us to improve hearing and speech-language pathology services.

All of us at Hearing and Speech Nova Scotia remain steadfast to our mission of providing high-quality hearing and speech services because every person deserves a voice and every voice deserves to be heard.

Anne Mason-Browne, CEO of Hearing and Speech Nova Scotia

I write this in response to an article in The Herald on May 23 around school zones.

One suggestion was closing streets for a short period during dropoff and pickup times.

I live in the Bedford Ravines, and I think there is a larger issue related to the school on Southgate Drive. This is a residential but also a through street between the 102 and Bedford highways. This is a high-density area.

Southgate Drive is quite narrow. Parking is permitted on both sides and there are usually cars or work vehicles parked on either side of the street adjacent to each other. When this happens, vehicles must often stop to let another pass. This street is not wide enough to accommodate four vehicles.

I leave it to the reader's imagination as to the havoc and risk during pickup and dropoff times at school. This issue has been reported to HRM with a suggestion that parking be permitted on only one side in the interest of safety. I would be interested in what others who live in the area feel about this issue.

The same issue extends to Ravines Drive, with the exception that there is no school in the area. However, dodging around vehicles is still an issue going up and down that street.

Janet Crocker, Bedford

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