FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Prince George, B.C. – The City of Prince George encourages residents to review their household emergency plans this week as part of Emergency Preparedness Week, which takes place from May 3 to 9.
The City’s emergency programs division works with various divisions within the City, as well as with community partners and other levels of government, to ensure Prince George is prepared and able to recover from an emergency or disaster. However, everyone in the community has a role to play during an emergency.
The March gas leak in the Heritage neighbourhood underscores the importance of emergency preparedness and being informed about evacuation routes and procedures.
“During the gas leak incident, the province-wide emergency alerting system was utilized and the City’s public alerting system followed a few minutes later,” said emergency programs manager, Tanya Spooner, “it’s important to know the difference between the different notification systems, how to sign up to receive alerts, and how to prepare your family for any emergency situation.”
Sign up for alerts
Residents are encouraged to sign up for the City’s public alerting system (PAS) for area-specific evacuation safety information. When an emergency happens, all registered contacts in that area will receive texts, voice calls, or emails with public safety notifications. Residents can sign up for notifications in multiple areas, for example, if you live in Prince George, work in Mackenzie, and have family in the Robson Valley, you can register to receive updates on emergencies in all three areas. In Prince George, evacuation zones match the garbage collection map.
The PAS is free for everyone in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George and Prince George and is different from the system used by the federal and provincial governments to deliver alerts for large-scale situations through TV, radio, and LTE-connected and compatible wireless devices. The province’s Alert Ready system works by delivering emergency messages to all cellphones connected to an LTE network by cell towers, so alert messages often reach phones outside of the impacted area.
Make a plan
Plan and prepare for personal safety and the safety of your family members for the first 72 hours following a disaster. Depending on the extent of the crisis, it could take several days before first responders arrive to help. Vital services like phones, gas, electricity, or water may also be disrupted. It only takes 20 minutes to plan and consider the following:
- Safe exits from home and neighbourhood
- Local evacuation zones and meeting places
- Meeting places to reunite with family or roommates
- Designated person to pick up children should you be unavailable
- Contact persons close-by and out-of-town
- Health and insurance information
- Places for your pet to stay
- Risks in your region
- Location of your fire extinguisher, water valve, electrical panel, gas valve and floor drain
Pack an emergency kit
Make sure to prepare and regularly update a basic emergency supply kit and grab-and-go bag. Keep kits in an easy to reach location so they can be quickly retrieved in the event of an emergency. An emergency kit should contain all the supplies you will need in the first 72 hours following a disaster including medications and first aid supplies, important documents, food and water, etc. A grab-and-go bag is a smaller version of an emergency kit to take along in case a disaster requires immediate evacuation. A full list of recommended supplies is available on the City website.
Remember – misinformation can spread quickly during an emergency. It is important to ensure you are relying on accurate and trustworthy information. The City website has a wealth of emergency information and resources to refer to before, during, and after an event. Get more information at princegeorge.ca/BeReady.
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Media contact:
Kendall Robertson, senior communications advisor
Mobile: 778-349-5393
Email: media@princegeorge.ca