[Recording] Supporting Older Adults During an Emergency

As this year’s wildfire season moves into recovery, we are reminded that emergencies can happen without warning. Individuals and families should be prepared to manage independently for up to seven days after a disaster. The community-based seniors services sector must be equally prepared to deliver a coordinated, collaborative response.

In British Columbia, like around the world, we are seeing more and more climate-related emergencies as a result of climate change. Frigid temperature, extreme heat, snowstorms and resulting ice storms, wildfires, heat domes, and floods are a few examples of extreme weather emergencies we’ve experienced in British Columbia over the last few years. 

In this webinar, we shared how United Way British Columbia has supported communities during weather-related emergencies. We also introduced a toolkit designed to help organizations strengthen community preparedness, build their internal response capacity, and better support the people they serve. 

Speaker: Amaan Fazal (Coordinator, Emergency Response & Partnership Development, United Way BC)

*Copy of Slides and Mentimeter answers are available as attachments below.

Links to resources mentioned in webinar:

• [Guide] Emergency Preparedness: What Seniors Need to Know
• [Guide] Working Together in An Emergency - Social Sector Activation Guide
• [Canada-Wide] Western Emergency Support Fund (ongoing)
• [BC-Wide] FireSmart Community Funding and Supports (FCFS) program