Are you prepared to live in your house without running water or electricity for up to a week? What about if there is a forest fire and we need to evacuate really quickly, are you ready for that?
Never fear, the Strathcona Regional District emergency program is hosting an emergency preparedness exhibition and trade show at the Thunderbird Hall on Friday, Oct. 20. from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“We want to do a one-stop-shop for the public for emergency preparedness,” said Shaun Koopman, protective services coordinator for the regional district. “Because emergency preparedness at the household level, it’s about more than just a week’s worth of food and some duct tape hanging around.”
Koopman said the most common excuse people have for not preparing for emergencies is that they are very busy, at this event people will be able to get the supplies they need, learn about what they should do to keep their family prepared and learn about the different organizations in town that will respond when there is an emergency.
“Households have to learn how to prepare, plan what to do, train and practice, organize supplies and equipment, in terms of earthquakes, secure their building contents, secure their building structures and protect their finances,” Koopman said.
For the kids, Spirit, the search and rescue dog, will be on site for a meet and greet and emergency command vehicles will be open for tours.
“We really want to encourage the public to take steps to prepare as well because the better prepared the public is, the better first responders and emergency volunteers and local government resources can perform their job from the emergency operation centre standpoint,” Koopman said.
St. John Ambulance will be at the event selling LifeStraws, which are small water filters.
Home Hardware will be selling “go bags,” and Cortes Community radio is selling solar lanterns.
Check out a quick video walkthrough from the event:
Emerg Fair
