The CSRD staff came out to the North and South Shuswap in early March to gather feedback from the community in terms of how their emergency services, and other events that the CSRD had control over, were handled. The report is now available. From the discussion that will come to the CSRD board on Thursday this week, a number of recommendations have been identified. I think that all these recommendations are valuable and I hope that many/most/all are implemented. What’s been missed?

Recommendations & Action Areas

• More regular communication throughout the fire
• Consider daily updates even when status is status quo
• Review Alertable app for bugs and potential value adds
• Continue to work with media to enhance reporting
• Review and consolidate communication channels
• Consider having communications officers embedded in communities
• Work with communities throughout the year for Emergency Support Services (ESS), increase Neighbourhood Emergency Programs (NEPs) and host regular community connection meetings throughout the year
• Address issues about self or pre-registration with provincial program
• Work on remote ESS assistance protocols and information sharing
• Work more closely with First Nations to support leasehold landowners
• Provide emergency information annually (new and current)
  • continue to use community events to connect
  • host community workshops
• Review channels for outreach and consider diverse audiences
  • how to reach someone with no internet?
  • where are community hubs?

Here is a link to the full report.