It’s going to be controlled mayhem.
That’s how Regional District of Nanaimo emergency coordinator Jani Drew described the upcoming Prepare To Survive event slated for Oct. 3 and 4.
The two-day event will culminate in a live disaster simulation including actors in various forms of distress and injury, downed power lines, gas leaks, earthquake sounds and even a mobile disaster feeding van.
“We’re trying to introduce a whole level of realism,” Drew told The NEWS Friday afternoon.
The first day of the event (Oct.3) will offer classroom and workshop training for critical skills in any emergency and the opportunity to practise those skills in a disaster simulation setting. This includes basic first aid and CPR, pet emergency preparedness and first aid and emotional first aid. The next day (Oct.4), attendees will have the opportunity to put their new skills to use in the disaster simulation.
“We (the RDN) really believe that by investing in this kind of training for our residents we are building grassroots resilience,” said Drew. “That’s where the value is.”
She said almost 80 people have already registered for Sunday’s simulation.
“Humans have this innate desire to help one another in times of need and this neighborhood emergency preparedness program offers an easy to use program to capitalize on our natural inclination to take care of people,” said Drew. “We work together because we realize disasters don’t recognize boundaries, we’re only as strong as our weakest partner and the more we practise together the more we can recover.”
The Prepare To Survive Neighborhood Disaster Response Training and Simulation event is free of charge and will take place on the Coombs Fairgrounds. It is open to Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness (NEP) teams, Emergency Social Services and Emergency Communications volunteers from Lantzville to Deep Bay including Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose and Coombs/Errington. Residents interested in starting a NEP team or volunteering with emergency services are also welcome. For more info or to register for this event e-mail BeReady@rdn.bc.ca or call 250-390-6526.
