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Squamish emergency alerts go live

Partnership between DOS and Nation a first in B.C.
PIX

It is a first in B.C. 

The collaboration between the District of Squamish and the Squamish Nation to create two emergency mass-alert notification systems is the first coordination of its kind between a municipality and a First Nation community.  

“It is really unique that they have come together and partnered on this,” said Christine Sommers, co-founder and CEO of ePACT, which is the platform for the alert systems. 

“We haven’t heard of it ever before in B.C. The federal and provincial B.C. governments are looking at this as a potential model for others. It is kind of groundbreaking what they are doing.” 

The system, called Squamish Alert and Squamish Nation Alert, works by connecting the district and the Nation to a network of residents. 

Once they are signed up, residents will be notified in case of emergency. 

“It is getting the right message to the right people at the right time,” said Alexis Kraig, emergency program coordinator for the district, at a recent committee meeting where she presented the system to council members. 

The system officially launched Sept. 15 and will only be used to disseminate critical public safety information.

“To evacuate, shelter in place, boil water; anything where there needs to be immediate information disseminated quickly so that we can allow our public to do some form of response,” said Kraig.

An example would be if Judd Road flooded, the alert would notify impacted residents and tell them to avoid the area, Kraig explained.

Every message is set to be 150 characters long. Phone calls are set to be about 60 seconds long and there is criteria for when there would be text, phone and voice notification. Each message will be sent by two methods. 

“Mainly we will just be texting or sending emails,” Kraig said. “We will phone out, for example, in a case where BC Hydro gives us a flood alert or tells us the damn is going, we will phone all the residents.” 

When residents sign up for the free alerts, they can also note if they may need extra help in an emergency and they can build a network of emergency contacts within the system.

The different regional authorities are working to ensure messages match each other, Kraig said. 

“We are working with the communications department for pre-scripted messages and trying to make it so that our pre-scripted messages, our trigger points, are identical to Squamish Nation, SLRD, and eventually Whistler, so that there will be consistent messaging for emergency notifications throughout the corridor.”

Chris Lewis, Squamish Nation councillor, said the Nation understands that having a robust emergency notification system is essential for members’ safety. 

“Actively engaging and informing our community members can make the greatest difference in our resilience during an emergency,” Lewis said in a news release.

“That’s why this is a collaborative, government to government initiative, implementing joint processes and technology across the Squamish Nation and district. This program has the opportunity to make a real difference to the safety and support of all our residents.” 

Kraig stressed the new system is only one of the tools the district would use in an emergency. 

“We will always back this up by directing people to go to the website and we will always try to use multiple modes – it will be on our Facebook, our website. We just want to get as much information out to the public as possible during an emergency.” 

The District of Squamish and the Squamish Nation are also working together to plan a practice mass-evacuation on Oct. 15. 

BC Hydro, the Sea to Sky Gondola and Telus, according to Kraig, sponsored the alert system. 

To sign up for the alerts go to squamish.ca/alert or squamish.net/alert.

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