PREPARED BY:
Environmental Health
DATE:
2024-05-16
SUBJECT:
Emergency Preparedness
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE
Being ready for an emergency starts with being prepared and having a plan. All Windsor and Essex County residents have a role to ensure readiness for emergencies. Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week) is a national event that educates communities across the province about actions people can take to prepare for emergency situations. This annual event has taken place for over 25 years and is traditionally held during the first full week of May. The event serves as a great reminder for residents to keep an ongoing awareness of the risks specific to our community, make a plan to respond to these risks, prepare a 72-hour emergency kit, and to stay informed in the unlikely event that an emergency occurs. The WECHU provides a number of important resources on our website with important links and guides to help everyone feel prepared.
DISCUSSION
EP Week took place from May 5-11, 2024. Aligning with Ontario’s Provincial Emergency Management Strategy and Action Plan and it’s goal to keep Ontario in a state of constant readiness and preparedness, the theme for 2024 was “Plan for Every Season.” This theme reflected the unique challenges we face in Ontario on a seasonal basis and the opportunities to practice emergency preparedness throughout the year.
The WECHU, in collaboration with the City of Windsor and the New Canadians Centre for Excellence (NCCE), hosted information sessions on Emergency Preparedness for newcomers in the Windsor and Essex County region. The 40-person session covered essential topics such as preparing 72-hour emergency kits and plans for families, fire safety, heat-related events, and nuclear preparedness. Additionally, the WECHU conducted a social media campaign with content on emergency kit items, extreme heat preparedness, and emergency plans. Internally, the WECHU refreshed its own emergency readiness through testing of our 24/7 notification system, known as RAVE Alert mobile safety, to ensure quick and barrier free communication with our staff during emergencies.
The WECHU participated in a bi-annual OPHEMN (Ontario Public Health Emergency Management Network) meeting, a knowledge-sharing and exchange platform for enhancing public health emergency management programming across the province. Several public health units, including the WECHU, signed up as active observers for a provincially led extreme heat exercise. The exercise facilitated meaningful engagement on the exercise scenario and sharing learnings on initial onset and impacts, sustained response, recovery, and demobilization.
Potassium Iodide (KI) Distribution
The WECHU, initially introduced in 2018, continues to support a Potassium Iodide (KI) pill distribution program to ensure that WEC residents living within the primary and secondary zones of the Fermi 2 Nuclear Energy plant are prepared in the event of a nuclear emergency. These exposure zones are based on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission guidelines as the Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ), which extends 10 miles (16 km) in a radius around a plant (Primary Zone). This zone includes sections of the Town of Amherstburg and LaSalle, including the entirety of Boblo Island. The secondary zone is the Contingency Planning Zone (CPZ), which extends about 50 miles (80 km) around a nuclear plant in WEC. KI is a stable iodine salt that is effective in reducing the risk of thyroid cancer in the event of a radioactive iodine release. Newborns, infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant and breastfeeding individuals are at the highest risk of adverse health effects to the thyroid from radioactive iodine. Therefore, these individuals should be the first utilize KI tablets in the unlikely event of a nuclear accident. KI tablets are only to be taken when instructed by the Medical Officer of Health. The current KI tablet stock out in the community is nearing expiry in Spring 2025. The WECHU, in consultation with the Ontario Ministry of Health, has developed a plan to ensure a replacement process for KI pills beginning in June 2024 to ensure ongoing nuclear emergency readiness. The WECHU, in collaboration with municipalities in the primary zone, will be implementing a community level distribution of KI pills, prioritizing primary zone residents, followed by secondary zone residents.