Ensure you’re prepared – 365 days a year!
Review important safety tips during Emergency Preparedness Week
Emergencies can happen anywhere and at any time – sometimes without warning. During Emergency Preparedness Week, Vaughan Fire and Rescue Service (VFRS) is sharing important safety tips to help everyone in your home – including pets – be prepared 365 days a year!
This year’s theme is ‘Be Prepared. Know Your Risks,’ which encourages everyone to understand the risks in their area and take actions to keep themselves and their household safe. The top emergency risks to Vaughan are extreme heat, floods, hazardous materials, pandemics, power outages, severe rainstorms, tornadoes, wildland fires and winter storms. Luckily, VFRS is here to help you prepare for anything that comes your way!
Know what to do!
This week, take some time to educate yourself and members of your household on what to do in the event of an emergency. Knowing what actions to take before, during and after an emergency can help minimize stress and prevent injuries or damages.
A significant emergency can force evacuation or confinement in one place without basic services such as water, gas, electricity or a working telephone. VFRS's Emergency Planning division wants to help you prepare for emergencies before they happen. There are three steps you can take:
Make a plan. Create an emergency plan (PDF) with everyone living in your household.
Prepare an emergency kit. Gather enough supplies to last everyone – including pets – for at least 72 hours.
Be informed by knowing the risks. While emergencies can happen anywhere, there are some that are more common in our community, like power outages, thunderstorms and winter storms. VFRS’s Emergency Planning division develops strategies to address potential hazards and threats specific to Vaughan. Visit vaughan.ca/EmergencyPlanning to learn about local risks and find out how to prepare for them.
Stay informed
Do you know where to turn for accurate and timely information in the event of an emergency? During an emergency, the City will post timely information and updates on vaughan.ca and our official social media channels. If you see emergency information posted on other social media profiles, make sure to verify its accuracy – only rely on trusted sources, like the City, to get up-to-the-minute information. Staying in the know can help keep you and your family safe. Safety alerts and updates can also be issues via Alert Ready broadcasts, delivered directly to your cellphone.
In an emergency, the City is responsible for assessing the impact on the community, protecting the health, safety and well-being of all residents, determining re-entry procedures if an evacuation occurs and implementing recovery strategies. Vaughan’s Emergency Plan was established to ensure the City is as ready as possible for an emergency.
To plan ahead and prepare for any emergency, visit vaughan.ca/EmergencyPlanning. You can continue to test your knowledge by taking our daily Emergency Preparedness Week quiz on Instagram until Friday, May 9. This year the City proclaimed May 4 to 10 Emergency Preparedness Week.
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