KENTVILLE, N.S. — Kings Regional Emergency Management Organization (REMO) and Kings Transit Authority (KTA) are ready to work together to keep people safe in any emergency situation that arises in Kings County.
The two organizations signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) that will allow KTA to provide emergency services in Kings County with its vehicles, working in collaboration with Kings REMO.
In an emergency situation brought on by natural, technical or human caused disaster, Kings Transit will be able to serve Kings County residents with transportation service.
Some of the services Kings Transit is now able to provide in emergency situations include the following:
- Transportation of first responders and support personnel to the site of an emergency
- Comfort bus services
- Transportation of evacuees from dangerous areas to reception centers, shelters or other safe places
- Modification of existing transportation services to serve evacuee needs
- Return of evacuees from safe places to their residences
“It has always been a subject of verbal discussion between a number of agencies across Kings County,” said Dan Stovel, Regional Emergency Management Co-ordinator (REMC) for Kings County.
Stovel stressed that the MoA is for the safety and resiliency of Kings County residents in a wide-scale emergency situation.
“It’s good to have these agreements in place to support things in advance of anything in the future.”
The collaboration of Kings Transit and Kings REMO will be in place for any number of emergency situations – and won’t be limited to power outages from hurricanes.
“Whether it’s a forest fire or hurricane recovery, we can use our vehicles as comfort buses,” said Glen Bannon, manager for Kings Transit Authority.
Bannon described one potential use of Kings Transit buses as spaces to keep warm in the event of an emergency – like an apartment fire.
“Whether it’s a large fire or just a small fire in one unit, the whole building has to evacuate,” Bannon said. “In midwinter, everyone is going out into the cold underdressed in the middle of the night, a comfort bus is somewhere for them to go.”
Bannon noted the buses are also equipped with wireless internet, so it’s easier for people taking shelter in them to reach out and let others know they’re safe. That and the buses being equipped with TMR2 radios make them potential havens in emergency situations.
“We are able to integrate with disaster recovery operations from a communications point of view,” Bannon said. “About nine out of 10 times, with any kind of disaster and emergency situation, there are often problems around communication between different organizations.
“We can integrate into REMO from a communications perspective and emergency services quite easily.”
