Wellington County emergency manager Linda Dickson provided council on Nov. 24 with an annual update on the township’s progress in meeting municipal requirements set out in the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.
Dickson reported that a joint Emergency Management Program Committee meeting on March 27 included hazard identification and risk assessment training, as well as training and discussion on weather trends.
On Sept. 30 township staff met to review the Mapleton’s hazard identification and risk assessment and specific township program items.
Dickson also noted proposed minor changes to the Emergency Response Plan were reviewed at the March 27 meeting. She explained the changes will be considered in 2016 with other changes to the plan, including source water protection policies.
The report points out several members of the township’s control group have attended provincially-mandated training for 2015, which included training and information from Geoff Coulson of Environment Canada on March 27 regarding weather trends. Training sessions on service continuity and the importance of note taking were held on Aug. 11 and Nov. 18.
Township staff has also attended additional training opportunities, including:
– basic emergency management course, Mayor Neil Driscoll and executive planning assistant Christine Hickey;
– CANWARN Training by Environment Canada, CAO Brad McRoberts, Fire Chief Rick Richardson and public works manager Jim Grose; and
– scribe training – business development and marketing manager Crystal Ellis, Hickey, and administrative assistant Jaclyn Dingwall.
On March 25, the township held its annual emergency management exercise as part of the fire department’s training exercise. Based on a mass-causality event, it included both a field component and an emergency operation centre component. The scenario involved a natural gas explosion at the PMD Sports complex, with the control group operating from the primary emergency operation centre.
The objectives of the exercise were:
– reinforcing the basic components of the incident management system;
– testing communication at the site and with the emergency operation centre, including radios and the use of the simplex channel, telephone, BBM chat, etc.; and
– setting up a process for responding to mass causality emergency situations in the field among first responders.
Dickson reported a number of key recommendations came out of the March 27 emergency management program meeting, including:
– the need to pre-identify shelters/evacuation centres and promote the location to residents;
– if any part of the community is in need, reception centres/shelters should be opened and where possible municipalities should avoid using fire halls for reception centres/shelters. Shelters should be opened within 48 hours of a situation (power outage);
– a list be made of all potential shelter sites, including identification of those with back-up power and what facilities in the site are available with or without back-up power;
– have a pool of municipal generators that could be moved around the county. It was suggested this could be funded through the county; or county staff could assist with bulk buying of generators;
– there is a need to maintain fuel supply for generators, generally 72 hours is considered an appropriate time frame;
– continue to promote 72-hour “Be Better Prepared” in public education across the county; and
– there is a need for ongoing training for communication officers and spokespersons.
Dickson explained the objective for the 2016 work plan is to look at each of the recommendations in more detail in order to determine the feasibility of implementation.
Councillor Dennis Craven asked if the emergency simulation exercise in March revealed anything in particular Mapleton needs to do in terms of communications or providing overnight accommodations to disaster victims.
“The thing with shelters is having the ability to accommodate people overnight” said Dickson.
“The Peel Maryborough Drayton Community Centre is one of those facilities we felt suitable for that purpose. I think you’re in pretty good shape for that in the short term.”
However, she noted that no local municipality currently has facilities to provide longer-term emergency accommodations.
