On April 13, 2008 a fire ripped through a Retirement Home in Huntsville Ontario, but more than 50 residents escaped without any injury. The Home was totally destroyed.
Following the fire I set up an interview with Huntsville Fire Chief Steve Hernen to discuss the successful evacuation and response to the fire. Chief Hernen explained that the facility had a well developed fire plan and continual staff training. The combination saved the residents.
interview part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vKc55CwOS8
interview part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1msK4TvBn8
After the interview we (EMT) decided that we needed to reach out to more Long Term Care and Retirement facilities, so we started planning a special emergency management seminar for these Homes. Unfortunately, with many projects keeping us very busy the seminar fell onto the back burner.
Nine months later, on January 19, 2009 I responded with EMS to another Retirement Home fire in which two residents died at the scene and many others were seriously injured, 2 of whom subsequently died from their injuries. For the families of the residents it was devastating. The community was in shock as the national media descended on the small central Ontario city searching for answers.
On that day I decided that the seminar had to move forward.
We are pleased to say that the response to the Emergency Management for Long Term Care and Retirement Homes seminar (June 4 & 5) has been fantastic. 85% of the seats are sold out and we anticipate being sold out in the next few days. To see if there are any seats remaining please email us at info@emergencymgt.com.
Due to the critical importance of this issue, numerous topics to cover and strong demand we are now considering making this seminar an annual event. For more information on future seminars and training programs subscribe to our newsletter by emailing us at info@emergencymgt.com.
