This week marks Emergency Preparedness Week across the country and in the Foothills.

The week acts as an opportunity to encourage residents to take action to be better prepared and protect themselves and their families during emergencies.

Ken Thevenot, Okotoks Fire Chief, says one tip for families is to assemble an emergency kit.

"You can include some cash, extra keys, water, first aid kit, flashlights, batteries, non-perishable food, maybe a battery powered or windup radio."

Okotoks residents are also reminded to sign up for SCAN, the Safe Communities Alert Network, which will notify them if there's a local emergency taking place.

Thevenot says on a larger scale, residents will also now be receiving alerts from a new federal system.

"It's called Alert Ready, and that's a national critical alerting system. What it is does is with compatible phones you will get an automatic alert whether you're signed up or not," he explains. "This is a great system to notify residents or people in the area visiting us that there may be an event coming so it gives information on what people should do during the event, either seek shelter or evacuate the area."

In recognition of Emergency Preparedness Week, an open house will be taking place May 12 from 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. at the Operations Centre fleet building on North Railway Street. It will include safety demonstrations, a helicopter landing from RCMP, and a barbecue.

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