File photo of emergency supplies S.E.R.C. has on hand

Six volunteer members with the Southern Emergency Response Committee (S.E.R.C.) attended the Disaster Management Conference in Winnipeg last week.  The event is held every eighteen months.
    
Chris Kalansky, S.E.R.C. Emergency Coordinator says the conference featured a great series of speakers for them to learn from.  They included an official from the U.S. Embassy in Japan who was working during the nuclear crisis, an emergency coordinator from Texas who spoke about his experience following last year's explosion at a fertilizer plant, the emergency coordinator from High River, Alberta, who spoke about last year's flooding, and Dr. Tony Beliz from the L.A. Department of Health, who talked about violence in schools.

Kalansky says the reality is that these large scale disasters are rare events.  "So most of what we do for training, we learn from these people, they've been through this.  It's a once in a lifetime event, so it's a rare opportunity to hear from the frontline workers to hear what the went through, the challenges they had, and how they overcame them."

Kalansky says the conference is a great opportunity to network as well.

Kalansky says it was great to see elected officials take part in the conference, noting they play a very key role during a large scale disaster.  "They are on the front lines, they are the voice of the community.  If they understand what's happening during a disaster, and have a better picture of what problems might arise and how the responses will unfold, then they can offer a better service to the community."

Kalansky says they will take the information gained at the conference to the S.E.R.C. table and walk through the details of possible scenarios and how they would tackle the situation.