Red Deer among eight municipalities considering Regional Emergency Management Partnership

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“The partnership agreement would enable The City of Red Deer and partners to streamline resources through a coordinated emergency response, as well as collaborate on training programs and exercises, which strengthens our region as a whole when, and if, a wide-scale emergency were to occur,” said Carol Lind, Emergency Management Coordinator for the city. “This partnership agreement strengthens all of our municipalities’ emergency preparedness and response abilities, not just benefiting citizens of Red Deer, but all citizens within the region.”

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The city currently works cooperatively with other emergency management programs; however, it does not have a formalized agreement or structure to streamline administrative processes, coordinated emergency management plans, deployment of trained personnel or collaborative training and exercise programs with all local authorities in the region.

For example, Red Deer City and County currently have a Mutual Aid Agreement in place for emergency services, enabling both municipalities to provide structural fire protection or vehicle extrication at each other’s request. The support is provided as long as resources are able to be maintained at appropriate service levels within their respective municipalities. If service levels would be compromised, the agreement is not enforceable, and resources would remain within its own limits.

One existing partnership nearby is the Lacombe Regional Emergency Management Partnership that did a full-scale emergency exercise in October 2022 with 13 participating municipalities to test response plans.

READ: Lacombe County remembers 2021 train derailment during full-scale emergency exercise

In such a partnership, city officials say all costs and expenses associated with responding to an incident would be the responsibility of the municipality where the incident occurred, including applying for disaster financial assistance and recovery funding. Local authorities responding outside of their jurisdiction would be able to seek cost recovery reimbursement from the requesting municipality.

The city says the partnership would require minimal changes to the current emergency management program structure. Their emergency program would operate independently with a supporting agreement outlining the terms and conditions for any regional emergency management initiative.

The partnership will require all participating local authorities to pass their own bylaw amendments and endorse the Red Deer Regional Emergency Management Partnership Agreement. Red Deer County Emergency Management will be seeking approval for the bylaw amendment at council’s meeting this Tuesday, March 7.

Municipalities would retain decision making authority for their respective municipalities and would be responsible for declaring a state of emergency if they wish.

The City expects the partnership agreement could be in effect by summer 2023.