Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

KANGIQLINIQ/RANKIN INLET
An emergency-management exercise in Rankin Inlet is being hailed as a success by both organizers and participants.

Rankin Inlet Mayor Pujjuut Kusugak, left, listens as Todd McKay of Nunavut Airports makes a point during an emergency-management exercise in Rankin this past week. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

The exercise was held on Oct. 10 as a co-operative effort between Nunavut Airports, Community and Government Services and the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet.

Similar exercises will be held in Iqaluit later this month and Cambridge Bay in mid-November.

The federal Department of Public Safety has helped the Government of Nunavut (GN) take its emergency-management program across the territory for the past four years through its Joint Emergency Preparedness Program.

The funding is matched dollar for dollar by the GN, with the feds donating $156,000 each of the first three years and $90,000 this past year.

Rankin's mock scenario saw a jet land after a German national on-board had suffered a heart attack.

More injuries occurred when the jet was struck by a vehicle and fuel poured towards the terminal, forcing its evacuation.

Community control group members included the Hamlet of Rankin Inlet, RCMP, Nunavut Airports, Health, and the municipal Public Works and fire department, among others.

Rankin Mayor Pujjuut Kusugak said he was impressed by how calm workers from the participating agencies remained during the exercise, and by how well they disseminated information during the day.

He said participants were well-briefed as the exercise began and everyone was on the same page during the course of action.

"Calls would come in to different department representatives and they would ensure we all received group updates every 30 minutes to an hour," said Kusugak.

"It was good to see that level of co-operation.

"Hopefully we never go through this for real, but it was good to see people stay so calm and ensure everyone knew what was going on."

Kusugak said Rankin is in good hands should a real emergency happen.

He said everyone was professional while doing their jobs as instructed.

"It's really important these exercises are held, if not annually, every-other year.

"Turnover rates, contact numbers and advances in ways of communicating more efficiently are all things we have to stay on top of.

"Also, if different regulations, procedures and so forth are being used nationally or territorially, we have to ensure everything is in place and everyone understands them properly because a lot of things could go wrong if one small detail is left out.

"These exercises ensure those deficiencies are minimized."

Hamlet SAO Hilda Price said the exercise went very well.

She said she was impressed by what she saw, especially due to the lack of past experience in testing the emergency-response plan.

"We were kept well-informed and I thought our guys did an excellent job, even with little or no previous experience," said Price.

"Anytime there's an exercise, you're going to find things you may have done differently.

"We test our plan to see where the weakest spots are, and then we can meet to discuss how to make changes."

Manager of Emergency Preparedness Glen Higgins acknowledged many of the participants didn't have a lot of exercise experience.

He said every party was willing to take part in the exercise and wanted to learn how to do things correctly.

"Nobody wanted to make any mistakes and it came together well under hamlet leadership," said Higgins.

"Nine volunteers played as simulated casualties, so the exercise touched on a number of community aspects.

"The path the government's on has been proven across North America.

"You train people, develop the plans, work through the programs, keep them going and don't let up."

President of Emergency Preparedness Consultants Inc. Michael Hand is working with the GN to conduct a hazard-risk assessment in each hamlet and deliver emergency-management training.

Hand said he's proud the program has visited every hamlet in Nunavut.

He said functional exercises are a natural progression to put that training into play.

"It's like anything else: you can practice to be a hockey or baseball player, but it's always nice to get into a game and be able to play.

"There will be minor mistakes made during these exercises, and thank goodness for that, because if we don't make mistakes, we don't learn.

"It's only a matter of time before there's an actual emergency, and these people will be trained, ready and confident in their abilities.

"That brings out the confidence in the entire community -- and it will be in a better position because of the training the community control group receives -- and I'm extremely confident in the people of Rankin Inlet."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.