BASES Launches Emergency Preparedness Week Campaign

Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week) is a national event that runs the first week of May each year. BASES collaborated with a wide range of community stakeholders, including representatives from industry, Bluewater Health, the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce, local school boards, and municipal emergency managers to develop this year’s EP Week plans.  

An informational video was created by Sarnia’s TMRRW Inc. to highlight the local emergency sirens, how to sign up for emergency alerts, and what to do if a shelter-in-place advisory is issued by the local municipality. The short video is geared to quickly educate community members of all ages about emergency preparedness in the Sarnia-Lambton region. 

In preparation for this year’s EP week, one of the local school boards was reviewing their shelter-in-place emergency plans and identified that they did not have a means to easily shut down their ventilation system. Electricians were brought in to rectify the situation and ensure the ability to quickly shut off outside airflow if needed. This is a great example of the importance of emergency planning in identifying and understanding the risks at work, at home, and in the community so that proactive action can be taken to prioritize the safety of all. 

Resources are available on the Community Awareness page of lambonbases.ca with more information about emergency planning, including audio samples of the community sirens, how to build a 27-hour survival kit, signing up for public alerts, shelter-in-place/evacuation advisories, and emergency planning templates.  

To encourage community members to review and practice their shelter-in-place plans, BASES is running a Facebook contest for a chance to win an emergency preparedness prize pack valued over $500. Sarnia-Lambton residents can post a photo of their Shelter-in-Place drill on Facebook before May 13 using #EPWeek2023SLONT for their chance to win. Special thanks to Enbridge, the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce, Shell, and Imperial for sponsoring the contest.  

To receive more information about emergency planning, please email [email protected] or visit www.lambtonbases.ca.