Marathon High Students Prepare for the Unexpected

Written by admin on 10 May 2014

Participants register as evacuees upon arrival. Photo Jan Latham

MARATHON, ON – The Superior-Greenstone District School Board, Marathon High School, Marathon Emergency Services Fire Department and the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management (OFMEM) partnered to coordinate and lead a 16-hour indoor “Survivor” event May 2-3. Approximately 20 Marathon High School students, most in Grade 9, participated in the mock emergency evacuation due to a forest fire. Students sleept in the school gymnasium and participated in a variety of emergency preparedness activities and exercises.

2014 marked the 5^th anniversary of Emergency Survivor, which launched in 2009 when Emergency Management Ontario (EMO), in partnership with the cities of Toronto and Sudbury, successfully piloted the first events – an overnight in-school emergency simulation for secondary students. While each Survivor event is unique to its host school and city, the program always requires that students survive only on the contents of their emergency kits and the presenters always teach students about basic disaster survival skills. More than 15 Survivor events have been held throughout the province.

Those participating in this initiative included Marathon High School students from Marathon, Heron Bay, Pic River and Pic Mobert and it is hoped these communities will be more prepared thanks to the new emergency preparedness ‘know-how’ the students gained.

OFMEM has provided student participants with an emergency survival kit bag and weather radio which can be powered without batteries. Prior to the event, OFMEM advised students on which additional items to bring to customize their kits and ensure a safe, enjoyable experience (i.e. medication, eye glasses, food, water, personal documents, etc.).

Upon their arrival, students were registered as evacuees and provided with a cot, and the challenge was quickly underway. Throughout the evening, students visited a variety of display booths, receiving information and/or presentations from local first responder organizations and agencies including: MNR Aviation Forest Fire and Emergency Services, OSARVA Wilderness Survival, Marathon Humane Society, Pukaskwa National Park, MNR, Marathon Fire Department and Lutheran Community Care Center.

Students prepare their self-heating rations outside. Photo Jan Latham

Supper was provided for the students via self-heating rations which they were surprised to find quite delicious, all things considered. While eating their rations inside a ‘power outage’ provided a great reminder that when living through an emergency, things rarely unfold according to plan.

Marathon OSARVA Coordinator Greg Latham shares information regarding local emergency responders. Photo Jan Latham

The evening continued following the visits to the various booths with an emergency relay game, emergency Jeopardy and a disaster movie. Students were provided with the opportunity to enjoy some much appreciated ‘down time’ to use their phones or other devices for a while prior to calling it a night. In the a.m. a debriefing was held to review what was learned, discuss what everyone was taking away from the experience and how they could better prepare themselves and their families and communities for possible emergency situations which could come up.

OFMEM provided students and the school with various public education products such as the Emergency Preparedness Action Plan, and EP Pocket Guide.

Congratulations to all those who participated and of course to the many agencies who came together to ensure the event was a success.