"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Tara Stroup takes the same line from the late American president John F. Kennedy when applying emergency preparedness tactics for businesses in the Tri-Cities.
As the city of Port Coquitlam's emergency program officer for the past six years, Stroup has laid out the roadmap that business owners need to do before, during and after a major disaster to ensure companies of every size get back on track quickly.
But once business operators are on their feet after, for example, a hazardous incident on the rails, a fire or a flood, Stroup said the city needs their goods and services, too.
Businesses can play a key role in the community's recovery by providing food, water, shelter, communications, medical supplies and general clean-up, among other things.
And on Nov. 15, at the PoCo Inn and Suites Hotel, Stroup will host a free Business Continuity Planning Workshop to give companies tools for how they can be prepared in case an emergency strikes locally — plus ideas on how to partner with the municipality.
It's the third year Stroup has organized a business recovery workshop in PoCo, and this year's lineup features speakers from Walmart Canada — a business leader in emergency preparedness — and Vancouver Police Department, which will talk about cyber security.
Stroup, who leads a team of 120 volunteers and falls second in command in the event of a disaster in PoCo (after CAO and incident commander John Leeburn), said her job involves lots of planning and training of city hall personnel. In a crisis mode, "everyone needs to be on the same page and speak the same language especially with fire and police," she said last week from her office at firehall #1 where she has a command post and quonset huts filled with cots, blankets, first aid kits and other emergency supplies.
Stroup groups her point people into four categories: operations (i.e., those people who "do" such as fire, police, ambulance and Search and Rescue); logistics (those who "get"); planning (those who have been preparing for future disasters); and finance.
Luckily, she said, "PoCo has a lot of good plans and people who know what to do in a disaster. We are further ahead than most municipalities in the Lower Mainland."
Her contacts through the Metro Vancouver emergency preparedness committee, which meets monthly, and through B.C.'s transportation ministry are also extensive. "Everything takes a lot of planning and organization, and we want to help businesses but we also want them to help us…. It's important for all of us to work together."
• Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam and Port Moody businesses wanting to register for the Business Disaster Recovery Workshop on Nov. 15 at 3 p.m., at the PoCo Inn and Suites, can call 604-927-5460 or email [email protected]. Refreshments are included.
