Calgary, AB,
26
June
2017
|
07:30
America/Denver

UCalgary and Calgary’s emergency services partner for emergency exercise

Sent on behalf of the University of Calgary, Calgary Police Service, Calgary Fire Department, Alberta Health Services EMS, Calgary Emergency Management Agency and Calgary 9-1-1

On Monday, June 26, 2017, the University of Calgary will host a live training exercise as a way to assess the institution’s emergency management plan.

The exercise will bring together Calgary’s emergency responders and provide an opportunity to increase familiarization, understanding and identify areas of improvement for response to an actual event. Participants include the Calgary Police Service, Calgary Fire Department, Alberta Health Services Emergency Medical Services, Calgary Emergency Management Agency and Calgary 9-1-1, along with representatives from the University of Calgary.

“This exercise is an important opportunity for the University of Calgary to partner with Calgary’s first responder agencies to ensure we are aligned and assess our readiness and response to emergency situations,” says Bob Maber, Director of Emergency Management, University of Calgary. “The university is committed to having established and tested emergency plans in place to ensure the safety of all students, faculty, staff and visitors on campus.”

Representatives from each organization will gather at the University and run through a mass-casualty scenario. Although not actively involved in the live exercise response, the Calgary Emergency Management Agency will play an important supporting role for the exercise and the participants.

“As we’ve seen recently around the world, large-scale incidents can occur anywhere at any time,” says Deputy Chief Ray Robitaille, Calgary Police Service. “We are fortunate to have a strong working relationship with the University of Calgary and Calgary’s emergency response agencies. These kinds of exercises allow us to test how we would work together in complex, mass-casualty incidents to identify any potential gaps and to strengthen our response. This is part of our ongoing commitment to Calgarians to ensure the city remains a safe place to live.”

Today’s exercise builds upon a tabletop exercise that was held at the University of Calgary on Wednesday, November 23, 2016.