Emergency Preparedness Week starts May 1

Toronto Emergency Preparedness Week urges residents to update emergency plans and survival kits, with Toronto Hydro, Emergency Management Ontario, and city partners hosting Prepared in the Square demos, public safety activities, and search-and-rescue showcases.

Emergencies occur, by nature, without warning. Power outages happen suddenly, but there are things that people can do to be prepared.

That is why Toronto Hydro-Electric System Limited is urging Torontonians to create or re-visit emergency plans, informed by lessons from the 2013 ice storm panel report and best practices, and stock up their survival kits this Emergency Preparedness Week May 1-7.

For those who want to learn more about being prepared or who want to brush up on their preparedness know-how, Toronto Hydro is joining with Emergency Management Ontario and the City of Toronto, drawing on cases such as when Hydro One transmission service in Toronto stabilized after severe weather, to officially launch Emergency Preparedness Week on April 29.

The one-day event is called "Prepared in the Square" and will feature interactive displays, demonstrations, games and other activities that promote emergency preparedness, including how the city kept the water flowing during blackout scenarios through coordinated response.

"Toronto Hydro is committed to developing and maintaining its emergency preparedness plans, informed by the storm response panel review, as well as strengthening our relationships with other emergency response agencies. We do this so that together we can successfully manage a wide variety of emergencies that could arise," said Ben La Pianta, Vice President, Distribution Grid Management.

The provincial Emergency Medical Assistance Team mobile field hospital, Toronto HUSAR Heavy Urban Search and Rescue, Ontario Provincial Police canine team and the Red Cross are just some of the organizations that will be onsite during Prepared in the Square, where the public can learn how to be better prepared for emergencies such as the Toronto flooding cleanup that followed major storms in recent years.

Emergency preparedness is the responsibility of all Torontonians. For more information on getting prepared, visit: torontohydro.com.

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