Saint John Fire and the Saint John Emergency Management Organization are closer in their plans to develop a simulation theatre at Fire Station 1 after a $45,000 donation from Canaport LNG.
The Fire Prevention and Investigation division will relocate leaving room beside the City’s emergency operations centre for the development of an emergency planning, preparation, and response simulation theatre at the fire station on Leinster Street.
The theatre is part of the Community Awareness Emergency Response initiative or CAER.
Municipal-industrial relationships were examined in other cities and the CAER initiative was adopted as a way to better understand the potential incidents that could occur in Saint John’s industrial landscape.
“Strong partnerships with industry are critical to the success of a CAER program for Saint John, explains Saint John Fire Chief Kevin Clifford. The City has an industrial hazard risk profile unlike any other city in Canada, which emphasizes the need for us to have a comprehensive and integrated approach to emergency planning, preparedness and response.”
We are committed to providing a safe environment for our employees, neighbours and the general public; emergency preparedness, resiliency and response is one of the main areas of focus for our terminal. We are happy to support and partner with @cityofsaintjohn in this initiative. https://t.co/ZjogzQiqZk
— Canaport LNG (@canaportlng) January 11, 2019
The CAER Initiative involves a three-step approach to an emergency which is a facility risk assessment, creating of an emergency response plan and testing that plan.
CAER provides an environment where all the responding agencies and industry representatives can test the execution of the emergency response plan at once in a real-time, high-pressure environment, rating the simulation against expected results.
“As a leader in health, safety and environmental management, our goal is to move beyond mere compliance, towards industry excellence,” said Sergio Carvana, Canaport LNG’s HSSE Manager.
The completion of the simulation theatre involves three phases, the relocation of fire prevention and investigation division which should be finished by the middle of this year, renovating the space and completing the space by purchasing and installing furnishings, new technology and equipment.