Be Alert, Be Prepared

Emergencies can occur anytime, anywhere -- are you prepared? This is the question Nova Scotia's Emergency Measures Organization is asking all Nova Scotians during Emergency Preparedness Week, May 6-12. This year's theme, "Keeping Canada Safe - Emergency Preparedness Begins with YOU," focuses on the importance of individual preparedness.

"Emergencies happen at all different levels," said Jamie Muir, Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Act." Some affect a family or community while others can occur on a much broader scale, involving an entire region or province. All emergencies have at least one common element -- they affect individuals first. The key to lessening the impact is to know what to do before, during and after an emergency occurs."

Many emergencies are caused by weather, for example, severe flooding, hurricanes or ice storms. They can restrict communications. For this reason, individuals are encouraged to have a home emergency kit that includes a battery- or solar- powered radio. If an emergency causes a power outage, a battery- powered radio is the most reliable source for information.

One of the main activities taking place during Emergency Preparedness Week is a provincewide exercise with private and public radio stations Wednesday, May 8. The exercise will test the stations' capability to provide emergency information to the public in the event of a massive breakdown of conventional resources. Regular radio service will continue as usual during this time.

"Having a battery-powered radio during an emergency is only as good as the information that you can get from it," said Mr. Muir. "An essential part of Nova Scotia's emergency planning process is having in place a system that allows us to communicate with radio stations and them to communicate with the public when conventional resources are not available."

Other activities taking place this week include a half-day emergency preparedness video-conference workshop hosted by the Atlantic chapter of the Canadian Emergency Preparedness Association. It takes place Tuesday, May 7. A two-day emergency planning seminar on May 9 and 10 is hosted by the Special Care Emergency Preparedness Association.

For more information on preparing at home for emergencies, visit EMO's Web site at www.gov.ns.ca/emo/ .