Local rescue teams bring back lessons from Hurricane Harvey response
Posted October 8, 2017 2:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Last month, some local rescue members went south to the Houston area, hit hard by Hurricane Harvey.
Canada Task Force-1 is now back with lessons learned of how to handle a natural disaster emergency, if and when one strikes the Lower Mainland.
Kirk Heaven, a team leader with Canada Task Force-1, was in the Houston area and says what they learned was how important communication is. He says it was chaotic as choppers were landing anywhere they could to get people out and the water just wouldn’t stop rising.
“You put the resources at the right location at the right time. And when you just show up somewhere, you have no idea where you should be. And if there’s no communication of an area to go to, resources could be wasted when they could be used at another area immediately.”
The idea behind the trip was to see and learn first-hand how to handle destruction that is so widespread. Heaven feels local first responders are prepared for an emergency here.
“How you set your resources up for a massive event, and that’s what I think we should prepare for. And we are in the city of Vancouver, we’re very, very proactive. And this just gave us another opportunity to go down and (think) how can we fine-tune some of the things that we have created.”
He adds something people need to keep in mind, should we ever face a widespread emergency, is to be patient and not to expect first responders show up as soon as you call 911.
