The Town of Amherstburg is one of the municipalities and organizations taking part in a week-long emergency preparedness training exercise starting later this week.
Amherstburg is participating in an emergency preparedness training exercise from March 14-21. The town announced the exercise is in collaboration with the City of Windsor, Windsor Regional Hospital, the Town of Essex, the County of Essex, and provincial and international partners.
The initiative will simulate a coordinated response to a fictional nuclear event.
The participating municipalities, hospital and agencies involved in this exercise will be able to test response protocols, strengthen cross-border collaboration, and enhance emergency management skills in a controlled environment.
During the exercise, some training locations will experience temporary service interruptions, and certain sites will be closed to the public. In Amherstburg, that includes the Libro Centre, with the exception of Team Rehab. The Libro Centre will be closed next Monday through Wednesday (March 17-19) but the town says this will not affect business at Team Rehab.
Windsor Regional Hospital will be part of the exercise next Tuesday (March 18) but patient care is not expected to be impacted by it.
The Town of Essex is not anticipating any facilities or services will be impacted by the emergency preparedness training exercise.
Additionally, the public may encounter actors engaging with emergency personnel in a simulated emergency environment.
This joint international collaboration will provide emergency teams with a realistic opportunity to demonstrate their skills, refine strategies, and build essential partnerships in a safe training environment.
As a part of being prepared for a nuclear incident, the Windsor Essex County Health Unit encourages those with Potassium Iodide pills (KI pills) to check the expiry dates. If your pills are close to expiring or you don’t have KI pills, please visit one of the distribution locations to replace them.
For information about KI Pill and the distribution locations, please visit wechu.org/KI.
“This exercise is essential to ensuring our emergency teams are fully prepared to protect our community in the event of a crisis. By working with our municipal, provincial, and international partners, we are reinforcing our emergency response capabilities and strengthening vital relationships that are critical in an actual emergency,” said Amherstburg fire chief Michael Mio.
Emily Bertram, Emergency Planning Officer and alternate community emergency management co-ordinator (CEMC) for the City of Windsor added: “This exercise plays a key role in preparing our municipal and emergency response teams for crisis situations. It has already provided, and will continue to offer, valuable opportunities for participating organizations to build stronger partnerships and improve response effectiveness.”
Essex fire chief Jason Pillon said ensuring the safety and well-being of the community is their top priority.
“This collaborative emergency preparedness training exercise will allow us to test our response capabilities in a controlled setting to ensure that we are prepared in the event of an emergency. By working together with regional and international partners, we strengthen our ability to effectively respond to emergencies and protect our residents,” said Pillon.
The municipalities also issued reminders that the public can sign up for emergency notifications online. Amherstburg Alerts is available at www.amherstburg.ca/alert. In Essex, residents can sign up at www.essex.ca/Alerts while those who live or work in Windsor can sign up at www.windsoralerts.ca.
Emergency training exercise starts later this week
By RTT Staff
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