A primary care paramedic, who recently served as a lieutenant in a Manitoba fire department and was named the community’s firefighter of the year for 2015, began work on February 1 as Kamsack’s first director of protective services.
Cody Langlois moved to Kamsack from Dauphin, Man. to work in the position, which was created by combining the duties of fire chief, bylaw enforcement officer and EMO (Emergency Measures Organization) co-ordinator.
Born and raised at Winnipegosis, Man., Langlois graduated from the Winnipegosis Collegiate Institute in 2005, but by then already had two years under his belt as a member of the Winnipegosis Fire Department. Shortly after graduation, he began working full time with the Winnipegosis District Ambulance as an emergency medical technician (EMT) while still a volunteer firefighter.
Langlois went to Regina where he attended a primary care paramedic course at SIAST, graduating in 2008 when he returned to Manitoba to work with the Parkland Regional Health Authority based in Dauphin and volunteered with the Dauphin Fire Department.
The ambulance, which employed 12 persons full time, responded to an average of 3,000 calls a year, while the 40-person fire department responded to about 250 calls a year, Langlois said last week from his office in the Kamsack Town Office building.
“I like a challenge,” Langlois said when asked why he chose to apply for the job in Kamsack. “I wanted to advance, take on new responsibilities and enjoyed my leadership roles in the fire department and ambulance.
“I see the job as an opportunity to grow.”
Named the Dauphin firefighter of the year in 2015, Langlois is certified as a Level 2 firefighter, a Level 1 fire officer, a fire investigator and a hazardous materials operator and still has a “casual” relationship with the ambulance company he had worked with which is now an ambulance in the Prairie Mountain Health Region.
Serving as president of the Dauphin Firefighters Association, he helped the group raise nearly $50,000 for muscular dystrophy and has served as president and vice-president of the 115-year-old Dauphin Firefighters’ Ball, which recently raised nearly $8,000 for the firefighters’ organization.
A single father, Langlois said his four-year-old daughter is expected to be visiting with him in Kamsack on a regular basis.
“I love this area,” he said, adding that he is a hunter and fisherman.
“The outdoors is a big passion of mine,” he said, listing sledding and “quading” as favourite activities.
Langlois was captain and a defensive player with the Winnipegosis Midget Tigers hockey team when the team won the Manitoba provincial gold medal.
“In fact, we played Kamsack several times,” he said of the Tigers team.
Asked about the firefighting facilities in Kamsack, Langlois said that “they did a beautiful job building the new fire hall.
“It’s a gorgeous facility,” he said. “I’m excited to be working in it.”
Admitting that some of the fire department’s apparatus is aged, he said he will be working with town council to replace those items over time and said that as a fire department improves its facilities and capabilities, it translates into less expensive insurance premiums for property owners.
He said he is looking forward to his first meeting with members of the fire department which was to have occurred yesterday (February 7).
