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GAMETI/RAE LAKES
Brenden Bekale says he believes he is better prepared to take action if disaster strikes in Gameti after participating in an emergency response course last month.

Pretend patient Adell Dyall is properly strapped onto a stretcher during Paulatuk's live airport exercise. The program is delivered through the territorial Department of Transportation's airport division and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. - photo courtesy of James MacKenzie

"It gave me an idea of what to expect if an incident takes place," Bekale said. "It kind of makes you feel alert."

Bekale and seven other Gameti residents took part in a newly-launched Small Community Live Airport Exercise, an emergency-preparedness program that will be delivered to communities throughout the territory, said Mike Handley, safety and emergency planning officer with the Department of Transportation's airport division.

The program is a partnership between the division and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Handley said.

The program usually consists of two days of training with a live exercise taking place on the third day.

For the first time this year, communities were also provided equipment, including spinal boards, cervical collars and other medical supplies, which they can keep in the community.

"If an emergency or an accident happens, these people can go to this place, grab the on-scene controller kit with these basic tools, basically medical supplies to get people safely packaged up onto a back board to minimize the risk of any more damage, and get them safely transported from the accident site to the medical centre," Handley said.

The goal is to teach residents and community organizations how to respond to a plane crash, but the training can be used for any type of accident, such as all-terrain vehicle, boat or snowmobile accidents.

Participants learn how to manage an accident scene, how to assess the injured and how to transport them safely to the community health centre using the equipment, he said.

Handley said recent changes to airport emergency planning through Transport Canada's Canadian Aviation Regulations require that police, firefighters and medical services are deployed to any major aircraft accident. While RCMP usually act as the on-scene controller in the event of an emergency, this poses a challenge in some communities in the NWT that do not have permanent firefighters or RCMP.

"We've realized doing these live exercises that a lot of the communities don't have those three main resources as per the regulations," he said. The Small Community Live Airport Exercise addresses some of those gaps.

The idea is to train as many local people as possible, including RCMP, wildlife officers with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Canadian Rangers volunteers, municipal workers and residents.

"We want to have people who are established in the community who are going to be there for some time," he said.

So far, the program has been popular.

"The response has been really overwhelming because we did not expect it to be this good," he said.

There were 13 participants in Fort McPherson and 21 in Paulatuk.

All of them are now trained in how to be on-scene controllers, how to triage victims and how to transport the injured.

"We're filling a huge gap that has been in the communities for some time now," he said. "We're going in to teach local community people the basic needs with the basic equipment to save lives."

Handley said some small communities don't have ambulances, meaning trainees need to learn how to safely transport the injured to health centres using the vehicles that would likely be used during an emergency, such as pickup trucks.

"Again, in the communities, you get what you get," he said. "If you're using a pickup truck, we teach them the basic means of how to get the person into the back of a truck safely, tied off and secured safely and transported with the transport officer from the scene to the health centre."

On the third day of training, the group simulates a live exercise in the form of a plane crash and responders are monitored to determine efficiency and effectiveness. Agencies such as RCMP and health centre staff are able to test their plans as part of the exercise.

Volunteers are made up with a moulage kit to create the look of broken limbs and other injuries, Handley said.

"You have to make everything as realistic as possible."

Training will continue this year in Tulita, Fort Smith, Fort Liard and possibly Fort Providence.

He said over the next three years, the goal is to provide training and supplies to 21 small communities in the territory.

Bekale encouraged others to take the course.

"If everybody handles their job the way they're supposed to, everything falls into place," he said.

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