Emergency Preparedness Week and COVID-19 Community Survey

For Immediate Release
May 3, 2021

Emergency Preparedness Week and COVID-19 Community Survey

Emergency Preparedness Week is May 2-8 and this year’s theme is Emergency Preparedness: Be Ready for Anything. The intent of this theme is to encourage Canadians to take action to become better prepared for the range of emergencies they could face in their region.

In Lethbridge, Emergency Preparedness Week is an opportunity for us to remind the community how they can take simple steps to become more prepared for disasters, emergencies and unexpected situations.

“As we move into summer, it’s important to think about the natural disasters and emergencies that happen in our region, including wildfires or floods,” says Luke Palmer, Emergency Preparedness Manager. “Preparing is tough but you can take small steps every day to build your 72-hour kit and household emergency action plan.”

COVID-19 was unexpected and has proven to be a complex incident full of learning. In 2020, the City ran three community-based surveys to understand the effects of COVID-19 in our community.

“This process provided us with meaningful data to understand the concerns and challenges that residents faced during the response stage of the pandemic,” says Palmer. “It also helped us make more informed decisions locally with our community partners as provincial public health guidelines continued to change. We know that we are not in the clear yet, but we have come a long way in the past year.”

The survey, available at www.lethbridge.ca/covidsurvey, is an opportunity to share feedback about health, safety, social relationships, access to basic needs, emergency preparedness and a sense of belonging and social inclusion. The survey also includes questions about City services and information needs during this COVID-19 event. The survey will close Friday, May 14, 2021.

For more information about local emergency preparedness resources, visit www.lethbridge.ca/getprepared.

For general inquiries contact:

Lethbridge 311