The Innisfail Fire Hall was a hot bed of activity recently as the Regional Emergency Management Partners participated in a mock emergency situation.
The Emergency Management team members included the RCMP, Alberta Health Services, Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) representatives, representatives from Red Deer County, Sylvan Lake, Bowden, Innisfail, and Delburne, as well as Mayor of Bowden Robb Stuart, CAO of Bowden James Mason, Mayor of Innisfail Brian Spiller, and Red Deer County Councillor Don Church were all present for the session.
“Operation Good Neighbour”, as the mock session was being called, was put into place June 29, as those gathered participated in a tornado scenario.
The scenario situation acted as a “valuable experience-building” opportunity for those who participated.
Like in a real emergency situation, those assembled were able to activate an Emergency Coordination Centre and a remote Incident Command Post. A Reception Centre was also activated during the exercise for any displaced citizens.
A Regional Emergency Management Plan was approved by Red Deer County Council on May 9, 2017 and will work with Delburne, Elnora, Bowden, Innisfail, Penhold, and Sylvan Lake.
“Having a common Municipal Emergency Plan will allow us as a region to work seamlessly in times of disaster,” said Ric Henderson, Red Deer County assistant county manager.
The mock tornado situation, and Operation Good Neighbour was the first training session to test the “response and management elements” of the regional plan.
“When large events occur, they do not recognize political boundaries, hence the requirement for us all to work collectively to deal with situations,” said Henderson, adding the training allows them to “strengthen our ability to respond to incidents of all types.”