Be Emergency Ready: Emergency Preparedness Week returns May 6-12, 2018

Get prepared through workshops and events happening throughout Squamish

How prepared are you and your family for safety in the event of an emergency or natural disaster? Emergency Preparedness Week, a national awareness initiative designed to help Canadians become better prepared for major emergencies, returns May 6-12, 2018 with emergency preparedness activities taking place throughout Squamish.

"The District takes a leadership role in preparing for community emergencies and encourages all residents to develop and practice a plan for their own immediate safety should an emergency situation arise,” says District of Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman. “Accordingly, residents should be prepared to take care of their family’s personal welfare and survival during the first 72-hours of an emergency and ideally up to a week until help arrives.”

The public is invited to get involved in the following Emergency Preparedness Week activities:

• Emergency Preparedness Presentation: If a flood, fire or earthquake were to occur in Squamish today, would you be ready? Get tips and tricks for putting together your own family emergency kit at this emergency preparedness presentation. Thursday, May 10, 6 to 7 p.m. at Brennan Park Recreation Centre.

• Emergency Preparedness Station: Drop by the Squamish Emergency Program station all week long for valuable information and resources to help you and your family get prepared. Residents can also enter to win a four-person household Emergency Kit! Monday, May 7 through Friday, May 11 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Brennan Park Recreation Centre.

• Squamish Emergency Program and Canadian Red Cross at the Squamish Farmers’ Market: Visit the Squamish Emergency Program and Canadian Red Cross at the Squamish Farmer’s Market for emergency planning tips and resources. The event also offers an opportunity to check out the Red Cross Disaster Response Vehicle used to transport emergency response supplies to the field in any community, under any conditions at any time.  Saturday, May 12, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the corner of Cleveland Avenue and Victoria Street.

• Test your Emergency IQ! Do you know when to Shelter-In-Place? Do you need an Emergency Kit and a Grab-and-Go bag? Complete our quiz and put your local emergency knowledge to the test! Residents who complete the quiz can be entered to win a personal Emergency Kit: https://surveyanyplace.com/s/hdmssjua

• SquamishAlert Notification System Test: Subscribe to the free SquamishAlert emergency system, or complete your existing profile, to receive important emergency information by phone, email and text. A community-wide system test will take place on Thursday, May 10 at 10 a.m. Sign up at http://squamish.ca/alert to create your account and stay informed.

The District takes its responsibility to be prepared for community emergencies very seriously and works in partnership with local first responder agencies to develop and implement best practices to protect the community in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. The District also undertakes regular staff training and exercises to ensure skills are practiced and remain sharp. Following new regulations introduced by Technical Safety BC and WorkSafeBC, an emergency exercise to simulate an ammonia leak at the Brennan Park ice arena will be conducted on May 24, with the participation of District staff and first responders. Residents in the immediate vicinity of Brennan Park will receive educational materials in advance of the exercise.

For more information about the District of Squamish Emergency Program and for emergency planning tips and resources visit http://squamish.ca/emergency-program. To subscribe to the SquamishAlert emergency notification system visit http://squamish.ca/alert.  

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May 3, 2018