By Roy L Hales

This mornings program is the beginning of a series about the 2019 Disaster Preparedness Trade Show, held in Campbell River’s Thunderbird Hall on Friday , Oct 18, 2019. The room is filled with a smorgasbord of stories, ranging from oil spill clean-ups, to a First Nations helicopter rescue initiative and much more. You can find them in in the halls 21 booths and four free public education sessions. One of the organizers told me this is Shaun Koopman’s day. Shaun is the Strahcona Regional District’s Protective Services Coordinator and he is behind this public introduction to the emergency response community. 

Disaster Preparedness Trade Shows

The tradeshow is the public component of a three day event and Shaun suggested I contact Judy Hagen, Quadra Island’s Director of Emergency  Emergency Support Services, to get a more complete picture of what is going on this weekend.  

She traces the origins or this event back ten years, to an annual meeting on Quadra Island. This will be the third year that Strathcona Regional District is hosting the tradeshow.

“We’re really targeting getting Campbell River residents ready for an emergency because it is better to prepare than be part of a disaster,” says Hagen.

Beginnings of the ESS on Quadra & Cortes

Twelve years ago, when Hagen was setting up an ESS program on Quadra, she contacted her friend Bertha Jeffrey on Cortes.

“Bertha and I knew each other from the [Discovery Island] Chamber of Commerce and from working with Speed Watch. I used to go to Cortes and do Speed watch. (We are in the process of trying to get a board for Cortes Island.) So when I started doing [ESS on] Quadra, I said let’s set Cortes up at the same time.”

One of the first Cortes residents Hagen signed up was Keith Muir, who is still an active ham radio operator.

Leadership Training

Hagen added that two days of leadership training will follow the Tradeshow.

“We’ve got Emergency Management BC coming … the Justice Institute. So it is going to be a very good educational time.”

Stories From Campbell River’s 2019 Disaster Preparedness Trade Show

• The Big Spill (Western Canada Marine Spill Response Corporation)  
• Homalco Air Rescue
• Campbell River Is Planning For Sea Level Rise
• Emergency Drone Operations
• Pet First Aid
• How To Set Up A NEPP In Your Community

Top photo credit: Campbell River by Makuahine Pa’i Ki’i via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)