File photo

Sophie Gray

Local Journalism Initiative

The RDOS and local municipalities has been awarded funding to beef up emergency preparedness procedures and practices in communities around the South Okanagan.
The Regional District of the Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) was awarded a number of grants, totalling over $158,000. The funding administered by the Union of B.C. Municipalities through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, providing funding to enhance emergency responses by municipalities, First Nations and communities across B.C.
According to Sean Vaisler, manager of emergency services for RDOS and director of the Emergency Management Centre, $25,000 of the funding is allocated to training exercises. Municipalities in the area will work together with the RDOS to focus on training new and returning volunteers as well as emergency response staff and first responders.
“Our focus this year is for a mock exercise for the regional district,” said Vaisler. “So, ensuring that we partner with all the communities and we either have a full scale exercise or a tabletop exercise or individual exercises for the communities.”
The funding will be managed by the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), a branch of the Region District of the Okanagan-Similkameen. The EOC coordinates preparation and responses to emergencies like floods, wildfires, landslides and health emergencies around the regional district using volunteers and staff.
Vaisler said the EOC applied for the funding back in January, when they proposed large scale training exercises to train staff which are now not possible because of COVID-19. The pandemic has forced him and his team to switch up training sessions to accommodate health protocols.
“It would be, you know, a flood is occurring or a wildfire or a landslide style emergency, or an emergency that has been seen in the regional district,” said Vaisler. “There isn’t a defined exercise at this point yet. Hopefully we will be contracting that out over to a firm that will assist us with that.”
The remaining money will be split between the RDOS and local municipalities including the Town of Oliver and the Town of Osoyoos, who do not fall under the RDOS.
The emergency support system portion of the grants will go towards outfitting volunteers and staff with proper protective equipment and branded clothing to fit with seasonal temperatures. Branded clothing, said Vaisler, will also help staff and volunteers appear more professional when out in the community.
A large portion of the funding will also go towards promoting the Civic Ready system. The Civic Ready system is set up to alert residents in the RDOS to emergencies using phone calls, text messages, and emails. Vaisler is an advocate of the system, and hopes that with the funding, the RDOS can further promote the opt-in system around the regional district.
“So if there is a wildfire, like at Eagle Bluffs– we had a major fire there last year– we did send out a notification and individuals are able to opt into it.”
Vaisler said that it is especially important for residents to be aware of emergency preparedness at this time of year, when emergency response teams are juggling flood watches and COVID-19 responses while approaching wildfire season.
One of the ways Vaisler said residents can make things easier and prepare themselves for the upcoming wildfire season is to opt into the Civic Ready system and look into ‘fire smarting’ their properties. Information for both can be found on the emergency operations centre website.
“The lakes will remain high for a little while but it’s slowly dissipating with the hot weather,” said Vaisler. “We’re really urging all the residents that live in either an interface zone or areas where they can be ‘fire smarting’, to do so.”