The San Pareil Emergency Preparedness Committee (EPC), a sub committee of SPPORA, is coordinated by Glen Jamieson and is comprised of a small group of volunteers. Their mandate is to put in place a plan that will assist all San Pareil residents in the event of a disaster. Events such as flood, earthquake, fire etc. become more serious emergencies if Plummer Road is no longer an exit option, and the community is cut off from regional services, perhaps for many days.
San Pareil has been divided into four smaller portions for ease of compiling important resident information and communicating updates. These areas are:
- Shorewood Drive, Juniper, Ballenas (Coordinators Betty Price, Darlene Donaldson)
- Mariner, San Malo (Coordinators Glen Jamieson, Liz Campbell)
- Alder Place, Terrien, Sabine (Coordinators Joyce Peeke-Vout, Leigh Winter)
- Maple Lane Park (Coordinators to be determined)
Each of these four areas has also been assigned a Muster Station where residents will gather in an emergency. Identifying signs are being posted at these sites. The RDN contributed $4800 which went towards the purchase of emergency supplies and equipment bins. They’ve been placed close to the muster stations and can be accessed by volunteers. Additional keys for the entrance gate to Rathtrevor Park have been distributed to certain volunteers who will be responsible for opening the park entrance if need be, providing an alternative access and exit to San Pareil.
Resident Information Sheets have been handed out or left at front doors of all households. This information will assist volunteers in communicating with each home regarding any medical or mobility issues that residents may have if the need to evacuate arises. If you have not completed one of these information sheets, please contact Glen Jamieson at glenj02@yahoo.ca; he will pass your information on to the appropriate group who will be in touch with you.
The EPC needs more volunteers to work on each of the five sub-committees in each of the four community emergency planning groups:
- Communication
- First Aid,
- Damage Assessment
- First Responders
- Shelter (caregiving, food)
The more volunteers, the better prepared our neighbourhood will be in an emergency. Involvement is each group is not time-consuming (unless a disaster occurs!), as it largely involves simply becoming familiar with the tasks each group is responsible for. This should not take more than a few hours each year and is a great opportunity to get to know your neighbours better in an activity important to us all.