More than 60 first responders were at the Edmonton Expo Centre on Saturday for Get Ready in the Park, an event that kicked off emergency preparedness week.
The event let families interact with and learn from first responders, including water rescue, EMS and emergency support.
The onset of wildfire season in Alberta highlights the need to prepare.
“We have more and more extreme weather and extreme incidents,” said acting deputy chief Rein Tonowski of Edmonton Fire Response Service.
“We need to really be focused on what our plan is, what those risks are and being prepared for them.”
Wildfire risk certainly features in the discussion. Last year’s event was actually cancelled due to the wildfire response.
“At this time (last year), we were actually setting up the evacuation centre at this place,” Mayor Amarjeet Sohi recalled.
And it’s not just the big incidents, like the wildfires, that have first responders standing by.
“On a day-to-day basis, we’re active 24/7 dealing with small emergencies that happen in the city here,” said Emergency Support Response Team coordinator Gerry Clarke.
Organizations explained how they are trying to expand their effectiveness by coordinating between different services and levels of government. Saving time is crucial in situations where seconds count.
“To get those agencies spooled up, get them on the road and to that incident, it takes time,” said John Swist, an Alberta Emergency Management Agency field officer.
The agency oversees disaster prevention and responses.
This spring, it’s training with communities that have been affected by extreme weather, aiming to cut down the time between an incident happening and resources arriving.
Swist said the Alberta Emergency Management Agency is working with other agencies to make sure their plans are up to speed and they have agreements in place.
“Many of these communities cannot deal with these incidents by themselves.”
Emergency Preparedness week runs until May 11.
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