Emergency Preparedness

You can prepare your home and your family by creating safety plans, having emergency supplies on hand, and packing a grab-and-go bag including medications, treatments, and special equipment.

• Public emergency preparation and recovery (gov.bc.ca) - Information on hazards, household emergency kits, grab-and-go-bags and other resources
  • Build an emergency kit (gov.bc.ca) - Emergency kit supply list and what to pack in a grab-and-go bag
• Coping with disaster stress (CMHA) - Mental health tips for you and your family
• Emergency Preparedness (BC Renal) - Information on how to prepare for Dialysis Patients
• Community evacuation information for seniors (HealthLink BC) - Information for seniors on how to prepare
• Seniors as emergency response volunteers (HealthLink BC) - Information for seniors on how to help with emergency preparations and respond as volunteers

Knowing where to find reliable information about air quality is an important step to protecting your health.

• Air Quality - Information on how to find local air quality
• Air Contamination (HealthLink BC) - Information on what do if a hazardous substance is released into the air

To prepare for safe drinking water, it is important to know where your water comes from, how to find local water notifications, have a supply of safe water on hand, and understand how to disinfect water to make it safe for drinking.

• Drinking Water - Information on how to stay up-to-date on the safety of your drinking water, private drinking water safety, and resources including how to disinfect and test your water and for water system operators
• Water and food contamination (HealthLink BC) - Information on how to prepare and what to do for safe drinking water for an emergency event and how to plan for emergency food and water supplies

An emergency can disrupt the food supply. You can prepare by having a safe supply of food on hand, understand how to properly store this food, and have a plan for safe cooking procedures.

• Food, Water and Beverage Safety (HealthLink BC) - Learn how to choose, prepare and store food safely and what you can do to prepare for emergencies
• Food and drinking water safety in an emergency (gov.bc.ca) - Planning ahead for emergencies and food safety during emergencies

If your property has its own septic system, it is important to know that emergency situations such as floods, wildfires, and power loss may impact the functioning of your system and possibly make it unsafe to use.

• Wildfires - Information on septic disposal and your health for wildfire events
• Floods & Landslides - Information on septic disposal and your health for flooding and landslide

• Emergency Response Plans - Information for a drinking water operator on how to create an emergency response plan
• Water Suppliers Impacted by Emergency Events - Information on flushing and disinfecting system

• Emergency information: Food Premises - Information for food service providers during emergency events

• Child Care Bulletin - Emergency Preparedness
• Community Care Home Bulletin - Emergency Preparedness
• Caring for Seniors in Long-Term Care in an Emergency (HealthLink BC)- Preparing for and responding to hazards requires consideration of the needs of seniors, especially those in long-term care facilities

• Food donations for during an emergency - Guidelines about the handling and storing of donated food at emergency social services centres