City of Guelph helps families prepare for emergencies

Are you ready for an emergency? CTV’s Ashley Bacon outlines what you should prepared for.

The City of Guelph wants residents to be prepared for any emergency.

The Emergency Preparedness Pavilion was held at the West End Community Centre on Friday. It was aptly timed, just days after a destructive storm swept through southern Ontario.

“We’re seeing a number of instances and situations that are increasing, weather events especially, and we have to be prepared any time of the year,” said Mark Lasso, a training officer with Emergency Management Ontario.

Members from emergency and city services were on hand to help teach families how to be prepared for anything.

There were dozens of booths where kids could learn how to handle different types of emergencies.

“If there’s a really bad storm, like a tornado, you go in your basement,” said Sabina, a Grade 4 student.

“If there’s a fire, we could grab the fire extinguisher and then we could go out of the house,” explained Baden, another Grade 4 student.

Reaching out to younger generations is particularly important, said city staff.

“If we can get them educated at that young age then they’ll bring it back to their families, to their guardians or parents and they’ll start to prepare for themselves and bring that through to adulthood,” said Eric Lucko, the city’s emergency manager.

The theme of this year’s event was prepare for all seasons -- a reminder that an emergency can strike at any time, even while on the road.

Const. Matthew Burton, with the Wellington County detachment of Ontario Provincial Police, said drivers should always plan ahead.

“‘Where do I need to go? Where can I pull off? What’s the visibility like? Are my headlights on? How far do I have to still go? Is there a lot of traffic around?’ The big thing is to make sure to preplan to react, and to look at your options,” Burton explained.

Guelph Police were also there to help educate the public. They had a phone set up so participants could practice making a 911 call.

“Having them do that in a controlled environment like this just makes them ready for, hopefully, if they ever do have to call 911,” said Scott Tracey, a spokesperson with Guelph Police. “If they ever do have to call 911, they’ve sort of had a bit of practice and know what the process is.”