Emergency preparedness notes and emergency alert results, mark midway point of Emergency Preparedness week

MLA Jennifer Rice delivered an update on preparation notes for
British Columbia residents during Emergency Preparedness Week

On Wednesday, North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice, in her role as Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Preparedness provided an update on the current flood situation in parts of the province, as well as a note of concern for the potential of another challenging wildfire season.

Speaking in the Legislature the MLA highlighted the need for British Columbians to be prepared for emergencies in their community and to prepare an emergency kit to provide them with the essentials until help arrives and conditions in their hometowns return to a semblance of normalcy.

Part of that approach to being prepared comes by way of those emergency kits and as we noted on the blog on Monday, the province has partnered with some retail giants in BC to make such preparation as easy as possible.

With the province observing Emergency Preparedness this week, Ms. Rice also noted the three key elements towards preparation:

Learning the Risks
Developing a Plan
Preparing a Kit




As part of her comments for the Legislature, the North Coast MLA also made note of yesterday's Emergency message test, which saw a Test Message delivered to cel phones and mobile devices across the province.

That was a project which we noted on the blog earlier in the day on Wednesday, offering up a hint as to how the system was supposed to work.

It was all systems go for the North Coast Review's cell phone
as the Emergency Alert test from Wednesday came through loud and clear

However, that project may require a bit of fine tuning, with reports coming in from all corners of BC that not everyone received a message at 1:55 PM on Wednesday.  Suggesting that a bit of work is still ahead for the province as they look to roll out a comprehensive alert system for emergency notification.

The scattered success of yesterday's test making for a range of media observations through the last 24 hours.

B.C's emergency cellphone test doesn't quite go as planned
Didn't get a mobile emergency test alert? This might be why
Emergency alert test in B.C. did not work for everyone
BC Alert has mixed results
Nationwide emergency alert system only works on some phones
Many British Columbians never received emergency test alert
Did you get the B.C. Emergency alert?
Did your cellphone make an alarming sound? Mixed result for B.C. test of new emergency alert system
BC to work with emergency alert operator after test fails to reach all


More notes on items from the BC Legislature can be found on our archive page here.

A wider overview of the provincial political scene is available on our portal D'Arcy McGee.