All Estevan and area emergency measures organizations (EMO) came together to train for a province-wide severe emergency on May 14.
The federal/provincial exercise that was put on by Public Safety Canada was called Nexus Vitalus. It was the first time this training happened in Estevan and Canada-wide.
“It is a series of discussion-based exercises across Canada. The focus is on the integration of critical infrastructure stakeholders in event response. Specifically to engage with the province territory, strengthened our resilience, the support in identification of gaps in our current information mechanisms and improve the delivery time rates … for information, and to conduct cross-sector exercises to strengthen our preparedness and a response in our communities,” explained Estevan's emergency measures co-ordinator Helen Fornwald, who participated in the exercise along with other EMO members.
Altogether there were about 35 people training during the full-day exercise at the Fire Hall. They were representatives of different agencies of the EMO team, who together tried to resolve a suggested emergency situation.
“It was a winter storm and its accompanied severe weather impacts in the province of Saskatchewan. And power, interrupted throughout the province of Saskatchewan, kept getting impact some critical infrastructure. Plus we had other disasters, shortage of fuel, shortage of food and water and things like that, and emergencies, and we had to deal with it as a team,” said Fornwald.
In the morning of the exercise day, the group was working with the scenario based on the first 36 hours of the emergency. And in the afternoon it was fast-tracked to three to five days into the disaster. So the group got to deal with the case on two separate levels.
Agencies involved in the local EMO team and participating in the exercise were the Estevan Police Service, the Estevan Fire Rescue Service, the RCMP, the EMS, city council, public works, water treatment plant, engineering, the public information officer, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Mental Health, amateur radio, SaskPower, SaskEnergy, SaskTel, Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure, the RM, the airport, reception centre, Salvation Army, Emergency Management and Fire Safety, Estevan Ministerial Association, Water Security Agency, Red Cross and the Estevan Comprehensive School.
“We get together as a group once a month. And that is the group. We have a representative of all these agencies that sit on our EMO team,” said Fornwald.
She noted that the experience with the exercise was wonderful.
“Any time that you have a tabletop, we are that much more prepared for the next time, because we get recommendations, and move forward, and make revisions to our plans. It’s all about being prepared.”
After any exercise of this type, the EMO gets recommendations including from the province line. The results from the Estevan Nexus Vitalus practice are supposed to be in some time next week.
“Our next EMO meeting I will present those recommendations,” said Fornwald.
She believes that now when they are working more closely with Public Safety Canada, they will be doing similar major exercises every year.
Estevan EMO also runs its own annual tabletop training that involves all emergency services.
