Cold Lake Emergency Response Team receives $240,000 grant

Cold Lake’s Emergency Management department has received grant funding to provide training to support the development of an All-Hazards Incident Management Team (AHIMT) in Northeast Alberta. The grant will provide $240,000 over the next four years, explains Manager of Protective Services, for the City of Cold Lake, Jeff Fallow.

“Training being offered and facilitated by staff from the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) to help build these AHIMT teams around the various geographic locations in Alberta,” Fallow explained. The Alberta Government announced six other recipients of the grant.

“As our region has not only seen some of the most recent disasters we’ve also supported them with sending firefighters and support staff to the location.  In addition, our communities have been reception/registration centers for some recent events such as the LaRonge fire evacuation in July 2015 and the Fort McMurray fire evacuation in May 2016,” stated Fallow.

“These teams once trained will have worked together so when asked to assist for a real incident will already be able to communicate effectively and be comfortable with the different roles and responsibilities within the Incident Command System (ICS).”

Included in the Northeast region (1 of 7 regions in the Province of Alberta): are the cities of Cold Lake & Lloydminster, RM of Wood Buffalo (Fort McMurray), four Métis Settlements, ten Municipal Districts and Counties which includes the MD of Bonnyville and County of St. Paul, eleven towns which include Athabasca, Bonnyville, Smoky Lake, St. Paul, Vermilion, Westlock to name a few, and numerous Villages, Summer Villages and First Nation communities.

“Thanks to the Government of Alberta’s support this will enable our region to continue to train and prepare for when an emergency or disaster strikes.  This training will significantly improve the incident response capability and public safety overall in the Northeast Region, and directly and positively impact the provincial public safety system.”

The CGA funding will provide four years of funding at $60,000 per year totalling $240,000 for training for the Northeast region of Alberta.