North West Mutual Aid Area hosted a disaster planning exercise in St. Walburg Feb. 22.
The mock emergency centre exercise was designed by the mutual aid co-ordinators and was facilitated by Randy Buckland of Emergency Fire and Safety.
There were 20 participants who worked to save the town from a potential explosion due to a factitious tanker truck accident involving a fire hydrant and a major gas leak from the tanker.
There are a number of tanker trucks going through towns at any given time, carrying any amount of different products and this scenario could play out in any town.
The day consisted of presentations around the need for contingency plans, Roles and responsibilities of members of an emergency operations centre were outlined. There was a demonstration on the proper use of VHF radios, which were used later in the day, along with cellphones.
There were also several videos shown to round out the morning program. The Town of St Walburg provided lunch and then it was back to the EOC.
There were a number of lessons learned and some changes will be made to make things flow more smoothly.
The exercise ended with a debriefing and a survey of what participants liked about the day and what they would like to see more of. As mutual aid co-ordinators we will look to build workshops around these needs.
