Red Cross officials looking to add mobile command centre trailer for Vancouver Island
NANAIMO — The Canadian Red Cross expects emergency response infrastructure on Vancouver Island will be bolstered sometime next year.
Derrick Harvey, a Vancouver Island based emergency response team leader with the Red Cross, says fundraising efforts are well underway to establish a Mobile Command Centre trailer unit on the island. The unit will carry supplies, including cots for 200 people.
“In situations like earthquakes when they come suddenly and we have absolutely no idea what to predict, if the infrastructure is still in place, we will have the ability to move the supplies to where we need it,” said Harvey.
He says Mobile Command Centres work extremely will in situations where somewhat more predictable natural disasters occur, such as forest fires and floods. He points to an example in the summer of 2015 where a forest fire threatened a small north island community.