聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽The Town of Carlyle and the R.M. of Moose Mountain are proactively preparing a community emergency plan - and they want area residents and business owners to follow their lead.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭o the best of the community's ability, the Town and the R.M. are prepared for an area-wide emergency,鈥� says Lorri Matthewson of Solomon-Matthewson Consulting. 鈥淏ut no matter where you live, there is simply not enough staff to assist every person in a community emergency situation, so as a community, we have to help ourselves and each other.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Matthewson - along with Emergency Management Officer Brent Stillwell and Martine Stillwell of The Co-operators Insurance - conducted a free seminar entitled 'Plan. Prepare. Practice.' on Thursday, May 24 in Carlyle on community, business, and individual emergency preparedness. Attendees were informed about the Community Safety Plan for the Town of Carlyle and the R.M. of Moose Mountain (co-sponsors of the event) and also learned about what local residents could do to prepare their families, properties, and businesses in the event of a large-scale emergency such as a toranado, flooding or fire.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Emergency Management Officer for both the Town of Carlyle and the R.M. of Moose Mountain, Brent Stillwell says: 鈥淢y main concerns for our local area would be a tornado or hazardous spills. But as we've learned from Slave Lake and Fort Mac, fire is always a concern. Those are just a few things that can turn into a community-wide emergency pretty quickly.鈥澛�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Martine Stillwell agrees, adding that although many emergencies cannot be prevented, the effects of such events can be minimized by: 鈥淚nsurance preparation for individuals and insurance preparation for businesses.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he most important thing you can do from an insurance standpoint is to get to know what's on your insurance policy,鈥� says Martine. 鈥淜now what you are covered for - and remember, they are living policies that can be changed to suit your circumstances.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎nother thing that's really important is to make sure your insurance company has your updated cell phone number and email address, because in the event of a community emergency, that's how your insurance provider will get information out to you.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here are some other things homeowners and business owners can do to prepare,鈥� adds Martine. 鈥淭ake photos of documents like your birth certificate, passport, health card and have those numbers handy. If they're stored somewhere like on your cellphone, that will help a lot if you're displaced from your home. Do a personal property inventory - room by room - there are forms available to download or even take photos of each room. Put it on a memory stick and put it in your safe deposit box.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎 lot of these things are pretty simple, but in an emergency, the better you're prepared, the easier it will be to deal with - and that goes for both residents and businesses.鈥澛�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Brent says that in the event of an emergency in the Town of Carlyle, plans are in place, but residents must recognize that there are simply not enough emergency responders to carry out a large-scale evacuation without the cooperation and assistance of local residents.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here are 1,500 people in town,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd right now there are 24 to 30 firefighters at any given time. We have 5 or 6 trucks available, so it's pretty clear that we can't possibly be everywhere.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淟ogistically, it's just not possible, so we need people to help themselves, help their families and help their neighbours.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n a rural area like ours, communities the same size as us will be the first to help us and we have reciprocal agreements with a lot of them,鈥� explains Brent. 鈥淏ut that still means that our closest help is a half an hour away and even STARS is an hour away, so it's important that people stay informed and follow instructions from the Town.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淎nother thing I would add is please don't take photos of an emergency situation and post them on social media,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here are privacy issues - especially if there are casualities 鈥� and it also gets in the way of the work that first responders do.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here will be updates and information on the Town of Carlyle's Facebook page and website and these are set up to carry notifications for both the Town and the R.M.,鈥� says Matthewson. 鈥淎nd in an emergency situation, that's the best way to use social media.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hen you have to evacuate, notification is attempted, but not guaranteed,鈥� she continues. 鈥淎nd it may mean people going door-to-door. But it's really important to help those who may not be online. As Brent said, our emergency responders will deal with the worst things first and it's impossible for them to evacuate everyone. We have to help each other in a situation like that.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here will be evacuation routes and other information updates,鈥� adds Matthewson. 鈥淎nd although things can change in an emergency, right now, the Town of Carlyle and area's go-to place is Prairie Place in Arcola, unless otherwise noted.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Matthewson says that if a resident is out of town during an emergency, the free Sask Alerts app will notify users of emergencies in their communities wherever they are. 鈥淚've personally found it really helpful,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut there are a lot of things we as individuals and as members of a community can do to prepare for an emergency.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淵ou can prepare a safety kit, have copies of your prescriptions, Have some cash, make sure you have a full tank of gas in your vehicle, and have a filter or tablets that will make drinking water potable. There are lists avaiable and you'll probably need a suitcase or a hockey bag to store it, but it's worth it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淵ou also need a plan in place for your pets, because a lot of shelters can't take them, due to people's allergies and other concerns.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t's a lot to consider,鈥� says Matthewson. 鈥淭he Town of Carlyle and the R.M. are working hard to have an emergency plan and a communication method which will give residents of our community information that is relevant and bot contradictory.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淔or our part, we can help our community by doing our best to take individual responsibility聽 in order to prepare ourselves and to help our neighbours in the event of an emergency.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t's all about the community helping each other.鈥澛�
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