THE EMERGENCY PLAN
The responsibility for an emergency management program rests with the Municipality. Every municipality must be prepared to meet the threat that may arise from emergencies or disasters. Emergency preparedness management is a community-wide effort to manage public safety during large scale emergencies and disasters. This is done through an organized and structured effort to address:
Mitigation – managing or removing the things that create a hazard
Preparedness – being ready for an emergency when it happens
Response – working to protect life, property and the environment when an emergency occurs
Recovery – repairing the damage, learning from what happened, and making improvements.
The Municipality’s Emergency Plan provides for a prompt and coordinated response to emergencies or disasters affecting our municipality. Rossburn’s most likely emergency event is one caused by severe weather - tornado, blizzard, flood or ice storm, and/or a loss of electrical service - a hazardous materials spill or serious fire could also occur.
The detailed Emergency plan can be found Here (Please note that this large document is over 125 pages and may take time to download).
This Emergency Plan does not apply to those day-to-day situations that are dealt with by Emergency First Responders. The Emergency Plan is implemented when an emergency grows beyond the day-to-day emergency situations normally handled by the Fire Department, Police, Ambulance and/or Public Works. The Emergency Plan does not override the responsibility of emergency services (Police, Fire, and EMS) to take warranted action within their scope of responsibility in the event of an emergency.
Planning, in relation to an emergency situation, may be defined as the process of anticipating the need for the application of resources and manpower plus determining the methods of obtaining and applying these resources at the right time to achieve stated aims. As such, the contents of the Emergency Plan provide only guidance to the Municipality.
The goal of the Emergency Plan is to provide the earliest possible coordinated response in order that the following objectives are assured:
1.Prevent or limit the loss of life,
2.Prevent or limit the loss of property,
3.Prevent or limit the damage to the environment,
4.The restoration of essential services.
An important component of emergency preparedness is training and to conduct disaster exercises to test and enhance our Emergency Plan, the Emergency Operations Centre, and our emergency response.
For more information on Rossburn Municipality’s Emergency Preparedness Program, volunteering, or being a part of the Emergency Management Team please contact:
Municipal Emergency Coordinator: Tracy Reid
Email: publicworks@rossburn.ca
Cell: 204-859-6995
What is a State of Local Emergency?
Manitoba’s Emergency Measures Act requires the Municipalities to establish emergency preparedness plans and programs, and to implement those plans when an emergency or disaster exists or appears to be imminent. A State of Local Emergency can be declared in such a situation, giving local authorities the power to take action to prevent or limit the loss of life and the damage to property or the environment.
Why does the Municipality have to declare a State of Local Emergency?
Upon the declaration of, and during a State of Local Emergency, the Municipality may issue on order to any party to do everything necessary to prevent or limit the loss of life and damage to property or the environment, including:
•Implement emergency plans, utilize any real or personal property considered necessary to prevent, combat, or alleviate the effects of any emergency or disaster, or authorize/require any qualified person to render aid of such type as that person may be qualified to provide.
•Control, permit, or prohibit travel to or from any area or on any road, street, or highway, or cause the evacuation of persons and the removal of livestock and personal property and make arrangements for the adequate care and the protection thereof
•Control or prevent the movement of people and the removal of livestock from any designated area that might have a contaminating disease
•Authorize the entry into any building, or upon any land without warrant
•Cause the demolition or removal of any trees, structure, or crops in order to prevent, combat, or alleviate the effects of an emergency or a disaster
•Authorize the procurement and distribution of essential resources and the provision of essential services
•Regulate the distribution and availability of essential goods, services, and resources
•Provide for the restoration of essential facilities, the distribution of essential supplies, and the maintenance and co-ordination of emergency medical, social, and other essential services
•Expend such sums as are necessary to pay expenses caused by the emergency
RESIDENT’S EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Everyone has the responsibility to have in place an individual or family plan to deal with a community crisis. The preparation of the municipal Emergency Plan should encourage individuals and families to prepare their own plan. Experts recommend that in an emergency residents should be prepared to be self-sufficient for 72 hours. For seniors, it is important to have a ‘support system’. For further information, go to www.getprepared.gc.ca or www.gov.mb.ca/emo.
In the event of an emergency, you may not have the resources to figure out the next steps; It is important to have a plan for the most common types of emergencies in your area. When an emergency occurs, you may have to stay safe for up to 72 hours before emergency services can reach you, which is why it is important to prepare a 72-hour emergency preparedness kit. A guide on how to prepare one can be found Here. You should also keep a guide on what to do in certain common emergency scenarios, to ensure you're properly prepared and know how to react. A guide for common emergency scenarios can be found Here.
During an emergency it is important to utilize local information to stay up to date on what is occurring. There are several radio stations that will broadcast information regarding an emergency, including:
•CKDM at 730AM
•Q Country at 91.5FM and 880AM
•StarFM at 94.7FM
Weather Network also broadcasts, and can be found on:
•162.400FM
•162.550FM
