The Kimberley Fire Department has submitted the East Kootenay Emergency Program Policy Group Toolkit to Kimberley City Council in accordance with the Regional District of East Kootenay’s (RDEK) Emergency Program.
Fire Chief Rick Prasad explained at a Council meeting on Monday that the department is working together with the City and the RDEK to prepare for large-scale emergencies.
“We’re trying to work with key staff and personnel in the City and a major part of any kind of larger scale event would [involve] Council. We would like you [Council] to know your role throughout the whole thing. This gives us some guidance on that, it’s a document that the RDEK produced and I think they’ve done a good job in explaining how we would work with other governments, or on our own,” explained Prasad. “It’s a toolkit to provide information on what to do if something goes wrong.”
“We as elected officials are the targeted audience for this [document],” echoed Mayor Don McCormick.
Prasad added that the document outlines the fact that the City can access emergency funding without a local state of emergency being declared.
The Toolkit is a 66 page document outlining East Kootenay Emergency programs, the Policy Group, declaring a state of local emergency, evacuations, and more.
As the document states, the RDEK has established a regional East Kootenay Emergency Management Program that all electoral areas, First Nations and municipalities participate in. Under the umbrella of the regional plan, there are three subregions; the Columbia Valley, Elk Valley and South Country, and Central Subregion to reflect the slight variations in how each subregion operates.
The purpose of the emergency program is to provide a framework for supporting emergency responders. During an emergency the Regional Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) provides support - it is not the responder. At times, such as during flooding or structural fire, the RDEK of a municipality may also be responding to the emergency; however the EOC and its operation must still be viewed as separate and distinct.