Don’t be surprised if you see mock accident victims, emergency services personnel and barricades in various places around the Hosmer and Fernie area on October 18th.

The Elk Valley and South Country Emergency Program is holding an emergency exercise and there will be volunteers made up to simulate actual accident victims, barricades and involvement from all of the emergency services, including police, ambulance and fire on Monday, October 18, 2010.

“We want to emphasize that even though the emergency exercise will be happening, the hospital and all emergency services will be available as per normal,” says Elk Valley and South Country Emergency Program Coordinator Marianne Stone. “There will be a number of activities in conjunction with the exercise, including a mock evacuation in the Hosmer area, barricades in several locations and activity at the Elk Valley Hospital. Emergency Social Services (ESS) teams from Sparwood, Elkford and Fernie will also be activating reception centres in Sparwood and Fernie.”

The exercise itself will focus on a hazardous materials incident involving a tractor trailer rig resulting in 6 casualties. It will run from 8:00am to 4:30pm.

“The goal with these exercises is to test our emergency plan and our ability to work together and respond in the event of an emergency,” adds Stone. “We want to assure the public that this is part of the ongoing testing of our plan and that there is no cause for concern. There will still be ample crews on hand to respond to any actual emergencies in the Valley while the exercise is running.”

At the end of the day, participants will get together to review the exercise, assess what went well and make recommendations on what could be changed to help improve the response in the event of an actual disaster.

For more information: Marianne Stone Elk Valley and South Country Emergency Program Coordinator (250) 865-7735