AGA: Emergency Operations

By Alison Lomon
Emergency Program Coordinator

The past 17 months have been busy for the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) team – starting with the shutting down of the Government Building and modified operations of some facilities.

This required us to developing a Return to Work Plan to ensure the health and safety of our Staff and share it with Communities.

Actively participating in coordination calls and meetings with Emergency Management BC, Interior Health, FNHA, Health Emergency BC and the Regional Districts and adapting the changing policies and procedures, and incorporating them into our plans. All while maintaining the invaluable services and work that the KNC does.

The amount of calls and virtual meetings this year have been staggering the EOC team has met over 102 times as a group. Some of the EOC working team tasks included the Return to Work Plan, implementing all the Covid-specific safety policies to all KNC owned and operated facilities.

All facilities were fitted with protective barriers, signage, and personal protective equipment, and operational guidelines.

Developing the Stages of reopening which continually changed, due to the Provincial orders, and our approach to maintain the working from home directive to reduce the impact on staff.

The Staff Acknowledgment Form and other employee policies and procedures, to maintain the health of staff, while understanding the expectation of the new policies.

Communications were viral and the creation of a weekly Newsletter was implemented to make certain that staff and support staff were well informed of the changes and strategies for mental health and various other topics.

There have been countless hours of meetings and after hour calls, by all members of the EOC team, this team has been outstanding to work with, each person’s contribution has been invaluable to the success of this unique task. The EOC team members are: Shawna Janvier, Colin Sinclair, Josie Cale, Kaydia Wright, Don Maki, Lynn Armstrong, Brittany Groff, Trish Barnes, Jesse Nichols, Kyle Highwind and myself.

As we move into the reopening phase – again - we are currently in final discussions of what the work place will look like once we can fully open up – We are very aware there is anxiety, excitement and relief for staff and we will continue to put our staff and communities first in our planning.