The City of Yorkton has had its fair share of emergencies over past several years, so it should hit home with the people of the city that they need to be prepared for emergencies.
Fire Chief Trevor Morrissey says that people need to be able to sustain themselves for 72 hours after a disaster strikes. In an emergency situation, he explains, people need to be self sufficient in order to allow organizations time to prepare and respond.
“The first 72 hours are crucial, that is when the emergency organizations are mobilizing,” he says. They’re getting everything together, and in that time period for the amount of people they will be dealing with, they need time to get all that stuff together.”
The Red Cross and Salvation Army are both crucial in the response to an emergency, Morrissey says, distributing emergency supplies and providing logistic support when disaster strikes.
At a kickoff for Emergency Preparedness Week, City officials demonstrated a kit everyone should have on hand that includes such things as water, food, wind-up flashlights and radios.
“What you need to be thinking of is what you won’t be able to have anymore. One could very well be power, if you don’t have power your radios typically won’t be working.”
The goal is to have it in a place where it’s easy to access, Morrissey says, and also to keep it fresh. Just having canned food but forgetting about it could lead to the food being expired when disaster does strike.
The province is also going to be better when disaster does strike, Morrissey says, as they are joining into SaskAlert. This means people in the area will be notified of emergency events through radio and television immediately. There will also be a smartphone app.
“It will be detailed information about who they need to call or what they need to do, depending on what the emergency is.”
Morrissey says that Emergency Preparedness Week is a reminder to people that they need to be ready.
