Cathy Sommerville’s entry into the County of Stettler’s Always Be Prepared contest was all about location.
“Make sure you have your legal land location or rural address listed somewhere obvious,” she wrote in her entry. “I know both my legal land and my rural address, but I also have it on a magnet on my back door.”
She wrote that it was inevitable that if there was an emergency, and people were running out the door, it will be easy to see.
That suggestion was selected as the winning entry in the contest, which called on area residents to make suggestions into what should be included in an emergency preparedness kit. The goal, county spokesperson Niki Thorsteinsson said, was to root out the unusual but useful suggestions that people might not normally think about.
Like toilet paper, which according to the county is one of the items people never think to put in emergency kits but is almost always one of the first items people wish they have when cut off from access to stores in an emergency.
Deputy Reeve Joe Gendre presented the county’s kit to Sommerville.
“You just never know what is coming,” Gendre said. Last year, he experienced that reality first-hand when a spark from a grinder was carried 25 feet by wind into some dead grass, causing a devastating fire at his farm that consumed several buildings, though not his home.
“Fire took out my power, therefore my water from my well was gone until we were reconnected,” Gendre noted. The quick response of the Stettler Regional Fire Department is the only thing that saved his home and his neighbour’s property, he said.
Customizing emergency kits is vital, Gendre noted. A one-size-fits-all option rarely lives up to the name.
“If you have pets, remember pet food,” he said. “Infants? Don’t forget the diapers.”
Sommerville also mentioned medications, something people might not consider when thinking about the possibility of disaster.
She recommends people have enough medication to get through one week in an Emergency Kit, because it may be days before a pharmacy is open, and it may run out of medication or have limited access if the emergency is severe and wide-spread.
The County is encouraging all County residents, including seasonal Buffalo Lake residents, to be prepared by making an emergency provisions kit and mapping out an emergency plan.
“You just never know when a disaster might strike,” Gendre said. “It takes a bit of planning now, but it could save you valuable seconds when you need it most.”
For more information about Emergency Preparedness Week, go to www.getprepared.gc.ca.