Halifax creating emergency registry for vulnerable residents
Initiative would allow staff, volunteers to call and visit homes during emergencies
Halifax will soon have a new tool to keep vulnerable people safe during emergencies, as the city continues to deal with the aftermath of a major wildfire.
Regional council approved a voluntary vulnerable persons registry during their meeting on Tuesday. Community members and advocates have long pushed for such an initiative.
"The need for this has been magnified because of what has happened," said Coun. Cathy Deagle-Gammon, referring to the Upper Tantallon wildfire that saw thousands of people displaced and approximately 150 homes destroyed.
The program would be operate on a self-referral basis and would be available to residents without 24-hour support who experience "severe difficulty" with any of the following:
- Mobility.
- Vision impairment.
- Hearing impairment.
- Developmental disabilities.
- Cognitive impairment.
- Mental health conditions.
Residents who require electricity for life-sustaining equipment such as an oxygen concentrator or dialysis machine will also qualify.
Coun. David Hendsbee said he's heard of some residents on the Eastern Shore who were facing the prospect of running out of oxygen during power outages caused by post-tropical storm Fiona.
"It was hairy scary at one time, and now trying to have this come forward, it's going to be quite helpful," Hendsbee said.
A staff report said there may also be exemptions for some residents who receive support from a caregiver, and children with intensive needs or who require electricity for life-sustaining equipment would also be eligible.
During an emergency, or ahead of an anticipated emergency, people on the list would receive a notification on their mobile phone through the city's hfxALERT system, a phone call, and then an in-person visit with police or volunteers based on their personal risk level, said emergency management director Erica Fleck.
"We blast as many volunteers out as we can at one time to do all those knocks on the doors," Fleck said during the meeting.
The plan, which includes a new staff member and technology to handle the registry, has a price tag of $280,531 over four years.
Fleck said besides the registry, the new staff member will focus on other tasks including expanding the use of hfxALERT, which is the city's system for informing residents about emergencies and operations updates.
"We need to do a better job," Fleck said.
People will eventually be able to call 311 or fill out an online form to sign up for the registry.
Advocate wants registry province-wide
Anne Camozzi, a disability rights advocate in Antigonish, N.S., told CBC's As It Happens on Wednesday that the registry in Halifax is a good first step, "but what we really need to see is this go province-wide."
Camozzi began advocating for a registry after post-tropical storm Fiona.
"If I had to evacuate, I wouldn't have had a way to evacuate. And that's a pretty scary prospect, I think, for people who are made vulnerable by wide-scale emergencies," she said.
The province is indeed looking at making a similar move. The Liberals introduced the Vulnerable Persons Registry Act in October 2022 but it has yet to be scheduled for second reading.
The staff report noted that multiple communities across Canada, including Kings County in Nova Scotia and Jasper, Alta., have also established emergency registries.
Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was one of the first to establish the tool in 2011, after a young man died during a 2003 blackout. The city of roughly 140,000 now has 452 people on their registry.
It was developed with intent to save the lives of the estimated one per cent of residents that "are likely to perish without support during large scale disasters," the report said.
Camozzi said more needs to be done to bring such initiatives to Nova Scotia.
"The province has to provide some leadership, and so far they have not been willing to do that."
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With files from As It Happens
