INNISFAIL - Like a good group of Scouts Innisfailians gathered to Be Prepared.
The town pitched in to spread that long-held mantra for the annual Emergency Preparedness Week, a national event coordinated by Public Safety Canada in close collaboration with the provinces, territories and partners.
The event, running this year under the theme Be Emergency Ready, was held from May 6 to 12, and Innisfail joined in with a Preparedness Barbecue on May 9 at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre. The event was all about helping citizens learn how to protect themselves and their families during an emergency.
During the May 9 public barbecue citizens were invited to look over emergency preparedness pamphlets and to take in tips and guidance from local emergency responders, including those from the Innisfail Fire Department, EMS and different branches of the RCMP, including a group of trainees from the RCMP Police Dog Service Training Centre, who were joined by Lolo, a seven-week-old German shepherd.
Gary Leith, chief of the fire department, said citizens should be properly prepared for all types of emergencies, such as natural disasters like tornadoes, or man-made ones such as a train derailment where there could be a potential evacuation due to a chemical spill incident.
"The province expects people to be able to look after themselves for up to 72 hours because myself and other emergency services people could be dealing with the actual cause of the problem," said Leith.
"The people in the emergency -- ones left without power, we expect them to look after themselves for water, for food, shelter and warmth, 72 hours before the province is able to gather enough support to get back to them and help them out."
As for Lola, soon to be fully trained and emergency-ready, the puppy was pure delight for children at the barbecue. More importantly, the RCMP dog will someday be fully prepared to handle an emergency.
"Here in Innisfail we should be very proud we have this facility (police dog training centre) here that sends trained dogs all over Canada," said Leith.
