A community emergency plan is part of the mandate of the local municipality, however these plans would benefit from the skills and knowledge of the community itself.

In recent research it was found that a high percentage of people impacted by disaster are initially aided by their neighbours and family members, not by professional first responders.

Meeting your neighbours helps to build a community that is resilient to emergencies. It is invaluable in a disaster to know if you live beside a paramedic or someone that will need your help to evacuate.

Knowing your community’s resources, such as the location and availability of generators, pumps, hand tools and machinery, could help a community respond quickly.

Knowing your community’s vulnerabilities is also important. Which buildings are old and potentially unsafe, where do vulnerable people live? These answers may help prioritize the community’s actions.

The Peninsula Emergency Measures Organization is a group of community members that help develop an understanding of what the community could do to help each other during an emergency. For more information on the Peninsula Emergency Measures Organization go to:  www.pemo.ca