have extensively, we thought at the time, prepared for emergency management. We had all the systems in place, so we could start enacting things like an emergency operations centre, our partners were in place, we had done a few tabletop sessions. From that perspective, we thought we were prepared.” What Chichak and other participants hadn’t realized was that they didn’t necessarily have everything in place to help after initial emergency management. Emergency management professionals are highly trained to handle the response phase of a disaster, but recovery is not usually in their job description. “The response phase is tightly controlled and very logical,” says Hackman-Carty. “But recovery is not like that; it’s all over the place. The emergency managers do what they are supposed to do, and they are very good at it, but when they’re done they leave. By having them participate in this training, we are hearing them say ‘wow, I never thought about business and how the decisions we make upfront can enable businesses to recover faster or inhibit them.’”
An example of a decision made by emergency management that can drastically affect the business community is the decision of who gets back into evacuated areas and when. During and immediately after a disaster, most business owners can’t get into the community for their own safety. But for some, critical action needs to be taken. Hackman-Carty remembers a meat processing plant in one flood-impacted community that lost thousands in inventory in 2013 because the owner couldn’t go in and turn on the generator. That could have been avoided if the emergency management team was aware of the situation ahead of time, and had included turning on the generator as part of its response plan. In the pilot training program, participants learned how New Orleans and other communities in the United States handle business re-entry through a tiered program. Businesses are qualified ahead of time and placed in one of three tiers. Those in tier one are allowed back in first to support the response team with critical products and services. Those in other tiers have a better idea of
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when they’ll be allowed to start rebuilding. Whitecourt wanted to take part in the pilot because it faces numerous potential disasters. The town of about 10,000 people is situated 180 kilometres west of Edmonton. Two rivers, a railway and a busy highway run through the community, which is surrounded by forest and oil and gas operations. “In light of the disasters that have taken place in Alberta, we felt it was important to be proactive and learn from individuals and organizations that have been through past disasters. How they have been managed, how these communities could have looked at things a bit differently, what worked and what didn’t,” says Chichak. “As elected officials and administrators, you have to make sure you are doing your due diligence and looking into the future so you’re prepared.” The Town of Whitecourt included other organizations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, the provincial government and Community Futures Yellowhead East in the training. “This course gave us a lot of good ideas to move forward and for how we can move forward 2018
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PHOTO COURTESY: ROCKY VIEW COUNTY
RESPONSE PLAN: Rocky View County is incorporating the Economic Resilience Training for Community and Regional Leaders into its Regional Emergency Management Program.