News and Information Update

I have been rather busy of late, so haven't had much of a chance to add anything so now seems like a good time for an update. I have been attending several meetings regarding emergency preparedness that have kept me rather busy. A three day seminar was held in Victoria with attendance from almost any emergency and government group you can think of being there. This included fire departments, police agencies, ambulance, CRD Protective Services, CRD Water, Ministry of Forests, Terasen Gas, DND, and well lots more. All were there to review and rate this regions most critical hazards. Over 100 possible situations were reviewed including forest fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, terrorist threats, contamination of drinking water, major storms, power outages, loss of communications, avian flu and well you get the picture. Each one was reviewed and rated by each participant. The results will then be reviewed and from this, the top ten will be selected for further discussion. From here, the top 5 will be selected in great detail. A region wide exercise will be planned to check out the capabilities of agencies to respond in the event one of these catastrophes should occur. If any gaps are found, applications can be made to the Federal Government for funding. All of this is being paid for by the Feds. Kind of our version of Homeland Security. It is all very interesting and at times mind numbing. Quite an eye opener though when you get to hear what other agencies have to consider as threats. Apparently there are more than just fires to worry about. Anyway, having been in on this from the start as a member of the steering committee it is all very interesting and informative. We are only the fifth region in Canada to get this done and are therefore considered a guinea pig as this process is refined to eventually be rolled out across the country. More to follow as it becomes known.