Mayne Island BC Ferry Terminal Evacuation Exercise

Sunday May 6, 2007 was a typical cool and drizzly Gulf Island day. 153 people participated in the biggest emergency preparedness exercise held on the Southern Gulf Islands: Ambulance, BC Ferries, Southern Gulf Islands Emergency Program, Emergency Social Services (ESS), Lions, Fire Department, Mayne Island Improvement District, Mayne Island Little Theatre, RCMP, ESS Transport Team, and of course, 76 evacuees from our community!

Mayne Island Emergency Social Services and Neighbourhood Program volunteers spent thousands of hours over a 6-month period preparing for this massive undertaking: updating evacuation contact lists, developing emergency telephone call out procedures, standardizing operating procedures for all components of reception centre operations, designing & testing appropriate floor plans for reception centre set up, ensuring adequate supplies for all sections within the reception centre from pens, light bulbs & food - to vests, hard hats & first aid cots; facilitating two mini-evacuations from 4 Neighbourhood Zones; and all the countless meetings between groups and sub-groups to provide the information sharing and planning development necessary for an event of this nature.

The scenario was relatively simple, and something that could realistically happen any day of the week: vehicle fire on board a BC Ferry; quickly put out, but of undetermined cause; passengers to be evacuated while on-board investigation is completed. The principal objective of any emergency incident is to save lives and reduce suffering. The secondary objectives were also relatively simple: evacuate the vessel per BC Ferries protocols, register evacuees exiting Village Bay Terminal per RCMP protocols, transport evacuees to a place of comfort and safety (reception centre) & provide whatever emergency social services are required by evacuees. The goals for all participating agencies were to practice their standard operating procedures and identify areas requiring updating, improvement or reconsideration.

Were the objectives achieved? Totally & completely! Were the goals accomplished? Indeed they were! Some better than expected! Was much learnt from the process? Indeed there was! This exercise was a first time experience for almost everyone participating, and everyone, evacuees included, learnt something about themselves, their fellow islanders, their team members and their respective roles and responsibilities.

Thank you cards have been sent, token appreciation gifts given … but as I sit here writing this, I am overwhelmed with a sense of how inadequate those gestures really are, considering how much time and effort people have given in the interests of public safety on Mayne Island. As a rural community, we are constantly reassured by each other that we will indeed, take care of each other through difficult times … but when a community steps up to the plate and actually demonstrates that promise … THAT is something to behold!

I am so proud to be a part of this wonderful Mayne Island community! Thank you everyone! Here’s to a safe summer in our very own paradise!!

Moira McCulloch
Southern Gulf Islands
Emergency Social Services Area Coordinator.
250-539-2595 areaess@shaw.ca

Photos - coming soon