Dufferin County and its local municipal partners continue to lead the way in emergency preparedness and are ready to meet the needs of residents and visitors in any crisis.

Together, Dufferin County, Amaranth, East Garafraxa, Grand Valley, Melancthon, Mono, Mulmur, Orangeville and Shelburne have purchased and stocked eight municipal emergency support services (ESS) trailers to provide support in local crisis situations. These trailers are the first of their kind in Ontario at a regional level and will help ensure the safety and well-being of the community in emergency situations.

The ESS trailers will be stationed in each lower-tier municipality for rapid deployment to designated shelters. The trailers contain equipment and provisions to enable volunteers to provide support to up to 50 people per trailer in emergencies, including:

• 50 folding cots
• 50 blankets and pillows
• Reflective vests for volunteers
• Personal hygiene supplies
• Emergency food supplies
• First aid kits with enhanced wound care supplies
• Administrative supplies

Between the eight ESS trailers and an additional County support unit that can provide ESS to up to 150 people, this partnership will allow the County and local municipalities to provide support to up to 750 people in an emergency.

Interested in volunteering to help your community if an emergency strikes? The County is recruiting and training volunteers who live nearby local designated shelter sites to help set up and operate municipal emergency shelters. Interested residents can contact emergency.management@dufferincounty.ca to learn more.

QUOTES
“Dufferin County continues to experience increasingly wilder weather events, like the 2022 winter storm over Christmas that led to the closing of all County roads. We are proud to continue to lead the way in emergency preparedness, together with our local municipal partners. These emergency support services trailers will help ensure the well-being and safety of our residents and visitors in any crisis. I encourage residents to contact the County to take part – when neighbours join us in helping neighbours, we can all keep our community safe.”

– Wade Mills, Warden, Dufferin County and Mayor, Town of Shelburne

“The Town of Grand Valley values the assistance of Dufferin County in emergency planning and winter preparedness. The addition of emergency trailers with supplies and equipment supports the community of Grand Valley and its visitors with a flexible approach to emergency shelter assistance.”

– Steve Soloman, Councillor, Dufferin County and Mayor, Town of Grand Valley

“One of my jobs as Mayor is to make sure that my municipality is prepared in the event of an emergency.  I am pleased with the new community resilience project to have an emergency support services trailer in my municipality, ready to serve at our emergency shelter at the Horning’s Mills Community Hall during an emergency event.”

– Darren White, Councillor, Dufferin County and Mayor, Melancthon Township 

“Dufferin County is dedicated to keeping our community safe and meeting the needs of our residents and visitors in crisis situations. We are proud to unveil the first municipal program of emergency support services trailers at the regional level, and thank our partners at the lower-tier municipalities for taking part. With enough supplies to help up to 750 people in local crisis situations, we are ready to provide support.”

– Sonya Pritchard, Chief Administrative Officer, Dufferin County

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Megan Ball, Manager of Communications
mball@dufferincounty.ca