Experts to share tragic life lessons at disaster conference

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/05/2017 (3207 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You can see a steady stream of disasters from around the world thanks to the Internet and 24-hour cable news. But if the unthinkable happens in your community — a tornado, wildfire or terror attack — are you sure it’s prepared?

Today in Winnipeg, a three-day disaster management conference begins, with experts who have survived and learned from emergencies sharing their know-how.

The Swissair crash in Nova Scotia, the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida and the largest and costliest wildfire in recent Canadian history — last year’s blaze in Fort McMurray — will all be examined at the Manitoba Disaster Management Conference.

The aim is to raise the level of emergency preparedness in the province, said Randy Hull, the conference’s volunteer chairman.

“If we can share our life lessons from all these events, even a little town like Melita can hear what another community did and know, ‘That’s what I need to do to prepare,’ ” said Hull, who recently retired as emergency preparedness co-ordinator for the City of Winnipeg.

The conference at Canad Inns Polo Park is a chance for first responders and those tasked with disaster planning to learn and join a network sharing ideas and best practices.

“It’s really about sharing real experiences,” Hull said.

While most Manitobans look forward to fairs, festivals and events such as the Canada Summer Games, organizers need to be prepared in case something bad happens at them, said emergency manager Nicki Albus.

“We’re going to events making the assumption that all the bad stuff has been thought about,” said Albus, whose presentation is on planning for emergencies at mass-spectator events.

She’s using the 2009 Big Valley Jamboree as an example to show how good planning can mitigate the impact of an emergency and how the lack of it can escalate the situation.

One person died and more than a dozen were injured when a powerful windstorm caused the main stage to collapse at the music festival, which is held near Camrose, Alta.

“They said they had a severe weather plan, but it was not revised till they had that death in 2009,” Albus said.

“Have a procedure to stop the show in event of severe weather or whatever is the trigger. Make sure there is a scripted message and a plan ready to go.

“So when you look up and see dark clouds and get a report there’s a tornado, you’re ready to act.”

Long Plain First Nation Chief Dennis Meeches knows first-hand the need for a community emergency response plan. In July 2016, an F-1 tornado tore through the community.

He and Canadian Red Cross officials will show drone footage taken at first light after the twister touched down.

They will go over the timeline of activities including the transition from recovery to relief efforts. Meeches will explain how and when to declare a state of emergency and access disaster funding.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca