Comment on MD of Pincher Creek withdrawal from PCCEMA

Chris Davis, Publisher, Pincher Creek Voice


Earlier this week we published an MD of Pincher Creek council story which included information that the council has decided to withdraw from the Pincher Creek Community Emergency Management Agency, which was a joint initiative between the Town of Pincher Creek and the MD of Pincher Creek, and the Village of Cowley*.  I'm going to stay away from commenting too much about that, except to opine that such an agreement is easier to undo than to create, and  issues so significant shouldn't be decided at "Special" meetings.

I do want to offer a clarification.

The Pincher Creek Community Emergency Management Agency (PCCEMA) isn't the same thing as Pincher Creek Emergency Services (PCES). PCES handles our "regular" day-to-day emergency situations - traffic accidents, fires, medical calls, etc. PCCEMA was designed to handle big emergencies, if and when they arise. It has four cornerstones of purpose: mitigation, preparedness, recovery, and response.


We've spilled a lot of virtual ink about PCCEMA (and PCES), but apparently some of it didn't stick, and I've had a few people express concerns that were based upon an incomplete understanding of the situation. If you're going to be concerned, it might as well be fact-based. PCES remains the same as it was before the MD council decision about PCCEMA. It serves Pincher Creek and the MD of Pincher Creek. PCES continues to maintain first response centres in the Town of Pincher Creek, in Beaver Mines, and in Lundbreck.

As a significant side note, I applaud PCCEMA's handling of the rain event earlier this year. @PCCEMA on Twitter and the 24 hour PCCEMA phone hot line proved to be extremely effective methods for communicating timely and comprehensive information to the general public and to the press (enabling us to better inform the public as well).  Our community was better served, compared to the similar rain event in 2013.  A laudable "wet" run.

 *Corrected for accuracy