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By Courtney Almeida

GPREP hosts mock emergency and disaster exercise

Mar 14, 2019 | 5:30 AM

Grande Prairie Regional Emergency Partnership (GPREP) hosted a mock emergency exercise at the TARA Centre at Evergreen Park yesterday. A simulated training exercise was held to prepare ahead of time for any large-scale emergency or disaster scenarios.

Over 80 participants from all over the Peace Country were involved in the exercise.

“We try to do one large exercise like this once per year, minimum, but we also do some smaller tabletop exercises,” says Dan Lemieux, Community Services Director for The County of Grande Prairie.

It was conducted in Grande Prairie, but its purpose was to prepare for anything large-scale that might occur within the Peace Country or surrounding areas.

During the mock exercise, the TARA Centre was used to support large numbers of displaced evacuees.

“This facility at Evergreen Park can hold 450 cots, so we could easily hold about 450 evacuees in this facility.”

The simulation scenario was focused on a disaster occurring in nearby British Columbia.

“There was a large fire that happened in British Columbia. British Columbia asked the province of Alberta to support them by hosting evacuees,” said Lemieux.

“At the current time in this exercise, we’re preparing to host about 250 evacuees from British Columbia.”

Simulation practices offer the chance for people to gain experience in dealing with emergency situations, in case they are faced with a real-time occurrence in the future.

“We ask everyone to be ready for 72 hours. So, for 72 hours you should be able to look after yourself or your family in the event of an emergency.”

He advises that every household should have an emergency kit, which includes items like matches, batteries and at least 72 hours’ worth of food and water supplies.

GPREP is an emergency response partnership that involves the collaboration of six other regional municipalities, including The City, The County of Grande Prairie, the Town of Beaverlodge, the Village of Hythe, the Town of Wembley and the town of Sexsmith.

Although the event was merely an exercise, it provided regional partners with the opportunity to practice, assess and continue to develop currently delegated Emergency Response Plans.

An Emergency Coordination Centre and an Emergency Reception Centre was set up to support and resolve pressing civilian response issues.

The addition of practising Emergency Social Services was added for the first time too, something that had been overlooked in the past.

“This is another part of our plan (Emergency Social Services). How are we going to look after people? So, we are just exercising another part of the plan today,” said Lemieux.

For more information on Emergency Management click here. 

by Courtney Almeida