The Cariboo Regional District Community Liaison Program deals with emergency preparedness communication.
The program brings knowledge from local residents into the EOC. In turn, communities learn emergency preparedness as public safety is a priority.
The aim is to reduce risks by working hand in hand with rural and remote communities.
The CRD is continuing to improve on:
- Emergency response and operations
- Engaging area residents before emergencies
- Encouraging household emergency preparedness
- Promoting the emergency notification system
- Disaster recovery activities
- Resilience-building across the region
- Achieving primary safety goals.
Learning and adapting is the basis of a successful and coordinated program. The Program Coordinator is seeking feedback and participation to build a sustainable program.
Who is the Program Coordinator? |
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Stephanie Masun CRD's Community Liaison Program Coordinator. Phone: 250-305-4894 or 1-888-550-9570 Stephanie was the region's recovery manager after the 2017 wildfires and was the CRD Manager of Protective Services until August of 2019. Her understanding of emergency preparedness and background working throughout the Cariboo in disaster recovery, business continuity planning, and community engagement enables Stephanie to build an effective and sustainable program to deliver the CRD's emergency operations and support remote, rural communities around the region. |
What is the Community Liaison Program? |
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The CRD's Community Liaison Program improves communication to rural and remote communities, reducing disaster risks and increasing resilience across the region. The CRD Community Liaison Program Coordinator works with key community members who act as liaisons to support emergency communications at a local level. Promoting emergency preparedness, timely incident reporting, and building capacity for community-informed recovery planning are some of their primary activities. |
Why is this program being developed? |
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Communication challenges in the CRD include limited access to mobile phone service, areas without Internet access, and/or minimal public radio broadcasting. These limitations reduce options to engage communities before or during an emergency. The Community Liaison program is intended to fill this shortfall. Core concepts for the program emerged from local needs identified during the CRD's 2017 Community Consultations and wildfire recovery. Information gathered during subsequent emergency operations and feedback from the CRD communities has also been incorporated. The current program continues to build on lessons learned and take feedback on areas for improvement. A key goal is to ensure the benefits of local knowledge are included in our emergency preparedness and operations. |
Where is the program going to run? |
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The top priorities are working with communities with limited access to internet, cell service or emergency response capacity in their immediate area (i.e. a fire department, fire brigade or search and rescue service). Targeting these priority areas and building out from there, the program will establish a an effective network of emergency response options throughout the region. |
How is the program funded? |
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When did the program start & when will it end? |
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The program started in Oct. 2019 with program development. It will run for two years from the fall of 2019 to September 2021. Then the program will be transitioned to the CRD for long-term management. |
How can I get involved? |
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Contact the program coordinator. Find out what is planned for your area and what you can do to begin planning for emergencies. |
The program funding has been achieved through an application to the