On behalf of the City of Parksville and Town of Qualicum Beach, Emergency Management Oceanside (EMO) encourages residents to participate in this year’s ShakeOut drill, set to take place on Oct. 21 at 10:21 a.m.
“We continue to adapt to living and working with the COVID-19 pandemic, and while we are doing a great job in adjusting to these new challenges, earthquakes, storms, forest fires and other natural disasters continue to occur. We all need to be prepared and one of the ways is to practice how to be safe during an earthquake,” wrote EMO in a public release. Parksville Qualicum Beach residents can register at www.shakeoutbc.cato be counted in the drill and to obtain resources and information.
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Intended to create public awareness of earthquake hazards and encourage personal preparedness, participants ‘Drop, Cover and Hold On’ for two minutes in response to a simulated earthquake event.
The three steps include:
• Drop to the ground, take cover under a table or desk, and hold on to it as if a major earthquake were happening (stay down for at least 60 seconds);
• While under the table/desk, look around and imagine what would happen in a major earthquake; what would fall, what would be damaged, what would life be like after?;
• Finally, practise what would need to be done after the shaking stops, such creating a ‘disaster plan’.
The ShakeOut website also provides a life safety drill designed to engage people to think through their own emergency response actions during the drill, then afterwards review and discuss what worked or what did not, in order to make improvements for the next drill or an actual earthquake. The website also has information on participating in the workplace.
The EMO website provides an emergency preparedness guidebook, and encourages residents to review the information in the workbook. The comprehensive guide will help organize or refresh emergency supply kits as well as general emergency preparedness information.
– NEWS Staff, submitted