Lethbridge County and regional partners run emergency preparedness exercise

Lethbridge County hosted its first-ever regional emergency preparedness “tabletop” exercise on Wednesday.

The training event brought together staff from the county, the Village of Barons and the towns of Coalhurst, Nobleford and Picture Butte to simulate their co-ordinated response to a large-scale disaster affecting the region.

Wednesday’s scenario focused on a summer storm and tornado with a significant impact on life safety, property and the environment.

The exercise was designed to help staff work through the logistics of responding to a major emergency.

“We really want to understand when the big incidents happen, what our processes are going to be, and this really allows us to have those conversations and more through that process,” said Breea Tamminga, Lethbridge County emergency management co-ordinator.

Last year, the county, along with the surrounding municipalities, signed on to a regional emergency management partnership to enhance collaborative disaster preparedness and response in the region.