Emergency plans, crime prevention top of mind at meeting

If Lac La Biche County were to be hit by a tornado, do you have a plan? How prepared are you in case a train derails in town, or if a wildfire threatens the community? Those topics and more were top of mind last Tuesday at the Chamber of Commerce’ s emergency preparedness meeting, and presenters like fire services manager John Kokotilo are hoping they’ ll be on your mind as well.

He was one of three speakers at last week’ s meeting, and his main topic of discussion was Emergency Response Assistance Plans (ERAPs). The plans are exactly what they sound like they are: a way for families and businesses to plan ahead in case a large scale emergency arises - but not many residents know that the fire department has resources to help them get started on creating their own plans. Kokotilo said having a plan plays an important role - they can help reduce panic in an emergency, and take pressure off of emergency services personnel, who’ ll will have their hands full already in case of a large scale emergency.

“If you have a huge problem to take care of, if you can break it down into sections and the groups can take care of those sections, the big problem becomes a lot easier,” he said. “To have no plan, and have every body just... go. That proves to be dangerous. If we can get most of the people on board, its going to immensely help the situation.”

Mayor Omer Moghrabi said preparedness could make all the difference in a dangerous situation - its better to have a plan and not need it, than to need one and not have one.

“You’ ve got to have a plan. You’ ve got have a meeting point, all those types of things,” he said.

Kokotilo has other ideas about how the County can be prepared as well. At the meeting, he suggested implementing some kind of public announcement system that can be used to provide residents with information in an emergency situation. He said they could be loudspeakers or electronic signs, and said they would only ever be used if they had to be.

“It wouldn’ t be going off at noon every day, because maybe at noon one day we’ ll have an actual disaster,” he said. “I’ m inquiring about this and trying to dig up some information with the other municipalities.”

ERAP forms can be acquired through the fire department. They’ re generic forms - residents have to come up with and review the plans themselves, but with them, people should be able to nail down what they’ re going to do should the worst come to pass.

Anyone interested in creating an ERAP of their own should contact Lac La Biche County Protective Services at (780) 623-6767.

RCMP constable Chris Clark was another one of the presenters at the meeting. He focused on crime prevention initiatives, and one idea in particular got people talking

It’ s called Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, an idea that Clark said many communities across Canada are implementing with great results. In his presentation, Clark said that through proactive city planning, communities have been able to reduce crime by as much as 40 per cent. It’ s mostly about visibility - by reducing blind spots in communities and increasing how much passersby in an area can observe, it makes it more difficult for criminals to get away with anything. Clark said if someone wants to commit a crime, but can’ t find a place where they won’ t be seen, they’ re far less likely to go ahead with the crime.

Moghrabi is a fan of the idea. He said it’ s something the County can look into including in future projects, even though something as large scale as CPTED can’ t be applied overnight.

“For this County to do that, it needs public input, and probably some professional consultation,” said Moghrabi, adding that he likes the idea of an initiative that may reduce crime and beautify the community. “The underlying objective is safety, but when you make it look nice... it improves quality of life and it draws people from outside, into our community.”