Emergency Preparedness Week May 7-13

What would you do if you found yourself face-to-face with an emergency?

This week marks Emergency Preparedness Week, which serves as an opportunity to remind Canadians to get prepared for future emergency situations and to make preparedness part of a regular routine.

The 2023 campaign is Build Preparedness Habits, and offers a number of tools for residents to review when coming up with their own emergency preparedness plans. According to 2022 survey results, 43 per cent of Albertans do not feel prepared for an emergency.

Emergency types can range from natural or weather-related disasters like fires, tornados and heat waves, to long-term power outages or large-scale accidents such as chemical spills or industrial explosions.

Coinciding with this week, Alberta Health Services is offering a free two-hour E-Prep workshop online to help build emergency preparedness and emotional resilience on May 10 from 1-3 p.m. Alternatively, there is an option to book individual workshops for up to 25 people. For more information or to register for an upcoming workshop contact HPDIP.MH.EarlyID@albertahealthservices.ca.

Additional local resources are currently available at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre in the Sustain-a-topia: Thriving in Our Changing Climate exhibit and online at Lethbridge.ca.

Check out Your Emergency Preparedness Guide for more information and additional resources about planning and tips to develop an emergency kit.