October 24, 2012 by Canadian Underwriter
The British Columbia government has formally teamed up with the Canadian Red Cross for better and faster emergency response in times of a major or catastrophic disaster.
Emergency Management B.C., the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Development and the Canadian Red Cross will work on joint planning and training in case of a major disaster, such as an earthquake.
Through the formal agreement, national and international Emergency Response Units (ERUs) from the Red Cross will be available in addition to the province’s own emergency teams on the ground at times of a major disaster.
Local emergency responders already work with organizations such as the Red Cross, but in major disasters such as the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, local responders can become overwhelmed, the province noted.
The Red Cross has several types of ERUs, including people and equipment focused on logistics, health, telecommunications, relief, water and sanitation and base camps during the time of a disaster. ERUs can be deployed within 24 to 48 hours, are “fully self-sufficient for one month and can be deployed for up to four months,” according to the government.
“This agreement with government will help ensure we deploy our provincial, national and international resources as quickly as possible following a major catastrophic disaster to provide vital humanitarian assistance,” Canadian Red Cross Society B.C. and Yukon provincial director Kimberley Nemrava noted in a statement.
The formalized partnership comes just days after 600,000 B.C. residents participated in ShakeOut B.C., an earthquake preparedness drill.
Photo: Minister of Justice and Attorney General Shirley Bond signs a partnership agreement with John Byrne and Kimberley Nemrava of the Canadian Red Cross. Source: Province of British Columbia
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