Press Release
For Immediate Release
Campbellville, Ontario
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Ontario Harness Horse Association to host Emergency Preparedness workshop.
Over the next few months, on behalf of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Susan Fitzgerald will be offering some emergency management workshops for agriculture explaining the formal response structure that government agencies and first responders use in emergency situations. The Incident Management System (IMS) was created as the result of a communications breakdown amongst the many services and levels of government that were called in to fight wildfires in California in the 1970s. The system expanded and spread into and across Canada and now all government agencies in Ontario follow the IMS when responding to emergencies. This same IMS structure would be used for emergencies involving agriculture, e.g. fires, floods or significant disease outbreaks.
The goal of these workshops is to increase industry awareness and understanding within agriculture of the basic concepts of emergency response protocols. This will help improve both associations and individual companies know how to “tap into” the emergency command system and respond effectively to emergencies that may impact their sector or society at large.
The Ontario Harness Horse Association will host one of these workshops on July 30, 2019 in Guelph, Ontario. The workshop will start at 9:00 am and run until approximately 3:00 pm. There is no charge to attend this workshop as they are being financially supported by Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) funds provided through OMAFRA, however pre-registration is required. Attached is an agenda and registration form with additional details. Participants will receive an IMS 100 certificate issued by Emergency Management Ontario, Ministry of the Attorney General upon successful completion of the workshop.
For more information please contact either Brian Tropea at OHHA, 905-854-6442 or by e-mail at brian@ohha.ca, or Susan Fitzgerald at 519-669-3350 or by e-mail at susan.tfio@bell.net