No one expects an emergency to happen, but it’s best to be prepared when it does.
This is the idea behind Emergency Preparedness Week, which is currently in full swing.
“It's a national campaign or awareness week, and basically, it’s just a way for authorities of all the different levels ... to kind of do public education and just talk to people, raise their awareness and knowledge on this topic,” says Darin Driedger, the municipal emergency coordinator for Winkler, Morden, and the RM of Stanley with the Southern Emergency Response Committee.
What constitutes an emergency?
According to Driedger, awareness of the possible development of emergency situations and emergency planning comes down to identifying possible hazards.
“If you're in this area, using broad categories here, [there are] some natural disasters, of course, ... so things like tornadoes, really bad summer storms, [and] severe weather,” he says, adding that in winter, blizzards and freezing rain can serve as a point of concern.
“In Manitoba, we're [also] no strangers to floods and fires in most of the province, even around this area, we've had flooding issues in the past, and we have a burn ban in effect.”
Human hazards
Beyond what nature can bring, Driedger says there is also a category of hazard that is “caused or initiated” by people.
“It can be intentional or non-intentional. It can just be through an accident, it could be something like a chemical spill from a truck or from a train, or in a factory, a large fire, utility outages, things like that, too,” he says.
“Those are kind of just broadly speaking the main hazards we like to mention and have people familiar with in this area.”
How does one prepare?
According to Driedger, one of the most common ways to prepare for an unexpected situation such as those listed above is to have an emergency kit ready.
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“I just tell people, keep it simple. You can start small. It doesn't have to be very elaborate, very expensive,” he says. “You can just add a few things to it in the course of a year, and you can actually get yourself a pretty useful kit that can really help.”
What people often overlook
Driedger says that while people may have their emergency kits ready, they tend not to give as much attention to the “emergency planning part of it."
“I think that's just as important as having a kit,” he says. “Typically, when emergencies happen, it might not even be when everyone's at home together. If it's during the afternoon, as an example, you can have people at work, at school — kind of spread out all over the place, so just having a plan knowing how you would reconnect ... could really go a long way.”
The municipal emergency coordinator also suggests considering those who may need assistance or support in an unexpected situation.
“I like to encourage people — if they have a neighbour that's elderly and maybe doesn't have family nearby — to think of someone like that,” he says.
“Maybe you have a newcomer to the country who doesn’t have much of a network of friends and family. Think of people like that as well in these situations.”
Driedger says that looking out for everyone is the sort of thing “that can really, really help the community be resilient” in emergencies.
“I think just starting small, having those discussions [is important],” he says.
A final bit of advice
Driedger’s final suggestion for emergency preparedness is to heed public alerts. He says the Alert Ready system will deliver messages to cell phones when there is a hazard, but the rest depends on the individual.
“It’s a two-way street — we need people to take note of that information and act appropriately, so don't ignore it, don't dismiss it, don’t downplay it,” he says. “Emergency planners are very cautious about sending those out, so if they are sending them out, it's for a good reason, and we just really need people to pay attention to them.”
To learn more about Emergency Preparedness Week, click here.
With files from Alexander Peters