Watch above: Salvation Army volunteers from across Saskatchewan gathered at Beaver Creek Camp for disaster preparedness training. Amber Rockliffe reports.
SASKATOON – Salvation Army volunteers from across Saskatchewan gathered at Beaver Creek Camp south of Saskatoon Saturday for disaster preparedness training. Mike Hoeft, an area commander with the organization, said participants are trained to deal with flooding, tornadoes, fires, and other emergencies.
“Of course there’s been a lot of things to do with flooding in southern Saskatchewan -Maple Creek, Yorkton – it’s been all over the place,” Hoeft explained.
“Fires of course are almost a yearly event for people in the north as well as people in the south with grass fires.”
Hoeft said Salvation Army volunteers make a lot of sacrifices and are expected to travel to remote locations.
“They’re volunteering their time, so it might be a day, it might be a week, it might be two weeks that they’re volunteering,” he explained.
Participants are receiving training in emergency food services, safe food handling and emotional and spiritual care. Saskatoon training will also include a newly introduced course … in which volunteers will learn the fundamentals of and specific protocol for, crisis intervention – also known as ’emotional first aid.’
“Recent events in Nepal have highlighted that you never know what might happen in your community. In these courses, participants are trained how to quickly and efficiently respond to crisis during a natural disaster,” Hoeft explained.
“This training sets a standard that ensures Salvation Army volunteers are prepared to respond to any EDS event.”
Thousands of people in Nepal are struggling to deal with the aftermath of the deadly earthquake. Communities around the world are reaching out to help in any way they can. Here in Saskatchewan, the Red Cross is helping with relief efforts by accepting donations online, by phone, or through fundraising events.
“We don’t ship goods from Saskatchewan, so really the best way people can help or respond is just to make a financial donation that will help support the relief efforts,” explained Richard Kies, a provincial development manager with the Red Cross.
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