Health unit offers emergency tips

May 23, 2007

“Emergencies don’t run on schedules” — Kelly Magnusson, emergency response manager, Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit

Four years ago, the power failure that left much of Eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States in the dark occurred. Just four months earlier, the province had been caught in the grip of the SARS crisis.

According to a press release from the Simcoe Muskoka Health Unit, that was the last time major emergencies were declared for Ontario.

SARS and the power failure left many people scrambling to buy generators and assemble survival kits so they would be ready the next time a crisis hit.

Fortunately, there hasn’t been another provincially declared emergency since.

That, however, has left public health officials worrying that a sense of complacency might be setting in with the public.

“Emergencies don’t run on schedules,” said Kelly Magnusson, emergency response manager with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit. “The next one could be just around the corner, and that’s why we remind people that they should be preparing for emergencies now.”

During Emergency Preparedness Week, which ran from May 6 to 12, municipal emergency management co-ordinators arranged exhibits and awareness events across Simcoe and Muskoka.

The health unit has information available to direct families to the tools they need to plan for emergencies.

Knowing where to start, and what equipment a household might need in an emergency, can be a bit daunting. The health unit has fact sheets, planning templates and checklists for a number of different emergencies. 72 hours – Is your family prepared? is a brochure produced by Public Safety Canada. It is a comprehensive guide with forms to fill in local emergency contact information.

Personal Emergency Kit Checklists are handy shopping lists to help the public assemble kits and first aid supplies for the home and car. It’s available through the provincial Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

Clean Up After a Flood is a guide to what can be salvaged, what should be discarded, and proper cleanup methods to avoid becoming ill from contamination.
These guides and several more can be found on the health unit’s website at www.simcoemuskokahealth.org.

“Preparation is critical,” Magnusson said. “In a large-scale emergency, first responders will be devoting all their resources to managing the emergency. It means many people may be forced to wait for any kind of help. For that reason, it’s important for people to have home emergency kits with enough in them to last three days, minimum.”

For more information on emergency preparedness, call Your Health Connection at 721-752 or 1-877-721-7520 Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.