Q1 | March 2018
ERAC Q1 2018 Newsletter
President's message
2018 is upon us and it’s looking to be an exciting year. There are a few items of note keeping us busy here at Emergency Response Assistance Canada (ERAC), including our first Dangerous Goods Emergency Management Conference in October in Calgary.

Announcements
We welcome Perry Schnarr as technical advisor. He will be assisting with the training curriculum and competency development for ERAC regionals, full-scale rail emergency exercises and first responder training. In addition, he will respond as required to support emergency events.Perry joins ERAC with over 30 years’ experience in emergency response, including decades of experience at Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services.

ERAC also welcomes Clayton Snyder as an instructional designer to our staff. Clayton has worked within the instructional design, curriculum and learning development fields for over 15 years at several universities, colleges and companies. Clayton will be responsible for producing positive and engaging learning tools for ERAC staff and response team members throughout Canada.
Training and events

ERAC's year has started off at a sprint:
  • Regionals
  • Dangerous Goods Emergency Management Conference
  • Leo Sichewski Memorial Bursary
  • ERAC Response Team Awards
  • LPG firefighting training
In the Spotlight: Euroway

In recognition and support of our response teams, ERAC will highlight an organization in each newsletter.

Euroway Industrial Service has supported ERAC as a response team since 2014 for both LPG and flammable liquids.

A collaborative approach to training and assessment
The goal of ERAC's Operations staff is to design a comprehensive training program and evaluation process for our response teams that not only evaluates but also enhances performance, and can be a model for all teams and their leaders to establish a plan for continuous improvement through training.

Consignor 24-hour phone number vs. ERAP activation number

A consignor is required to place a 24-hour emergency telephone number on shipping documents for dangerous goods in addition to the ERAP activation phone number, which ERAC provides (1-800-265-0212) as part of your ERAP preparedness and response service.

SafetySync update

All response team leaders need to ensure that their team members are compliant with SafetySync courses, policies and certificates. Additionally, as of March 31, 2018, LPG Firefighting Awareness will become mandatory and affect overall compliance for TAs, RMAs, and LPG RTLs and alternate team leads.

Building positive community relations
There’s value in taking a proactive approach to building relationships with your community, and ERAC is a strong component of developing your social license to operate. During multi-team regional training events, we invite civic, provincial and federal officials to view firsthand what ERAC does to mitigate emergencies in their communities.

Resources
Transport Canada's You're Not Alone guide is intended for local emergency planners as well as police, firefighters and paramedics. This document helps communities prepare for potential rail incidents involving the transportation of dangerous goods.

ERAC Key Performance Indicators
Arrival Time by Responder Type
Incidents by Container Type
Number of Notifications by Type
Emergency Response Assistance Canada (ERAC) | 587-349-5880 | info@erac.org | erac.org