It is very important that ESS responders each have a personal preparedness plan. When the ESS plan and team have been activated, you will need to activate your own personal preparedness plan to ensure your needs – family, pets, home, work, etc. – are addressed. Once your plan has been activated and your needs have been taken care of, you can feel confident that you can report to the RC and focus on the disaster response and the tasks at hand.
During a call out, ESS responders may be contacted by any of the following means:
- Telephone call
- Text message
- Community Alert Network message
- Commercial radio
ESS responders may also be alerted for a standby situation, e.g., a severe weather event where there may be a potential for RC or GL response. In case there is a major disaster and the ESSD and/or Reception Centre Manager is unable to communicate with ESS responders, some local authorities may have pre-identified a location for ESS responders to report to.