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. With this week being Emergency Preparedness Week, the City of Yorkton, Red Cross and Salvation Army held an event to highlight what people need in order to be prepared for an emergency.
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. 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. We rely on people to be self-sufficient for those first 72 hours as we deal with the sick and injured.”
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.
“I encourage people to donate to the Red Cross and Salvation Army because that stuff gets used in the area... They provide anything they can and whatever they need.”
On hand was an example of what an emergency preparedness kit should have, with things like water, food, wind-up flashlights and radios. The goal is to have the ability to sustain yourself for those three days, with two litres of water per person per day and food for everyone in the house, including pets.
“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 phone application
“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 because an emergency isn’t predictable.
“I hope people realize they are not prepared. If they can realize they are not prepared and take the steps to get prepared.”
