ERAC is committed to continuous learning and improvement and regularly engages with our Plan members and response teams for feedback on how we can improve the services and training we provide.

This past October, members of our responder community were invited to complete their bi-annual Responder Survey and share their thoughts on how we are doing, along with areas where we can improve.

Our survey questions included a range of topics, including overall satisfaction with ERAC’s training and assessment process, the technical proficiency and preparedness of our technical advisors, feedback on our online learning system (Workhub), communication preferences and more.

The survey results indicate overwhelming satisfaction with ERAC, recognize the proficiency and preparedness of our technical advisors, and strongly acknowledge ERAC’s promotion and commitment to safety. Another strong trend was the sense of pride respondents had in being part of ERAC’s elite network of emergency response professionals.

Respondents also provided suggestions for improvement, including more in-depth and complex training exercises, additional sharing of information on incidents, lessons learned and best practices, and potential group training with other response teams. ERAC’s operations team is now reviewing these suggestions and will look at incorporating some of them into future training initiatives, as we work to improve our services and our responders’ training experience.

As we move forward, ERAC will now be increasing the frequency of these surveys and will conduct one with each response team at the conclusion of each annual Regional Training and Assessment event. This will give our response team members more opportunities to provide feedback on our training initiatives and events and allow us to learn and make improvements to our training program.  

Spencer Buckland
President

ERAC is pleased to announce we have hired Buddie Reed as our new Equipment Fabrication & Maintenance Technician. Buddie is a Journeyman Red Seal Welder who will be responsible for managing the production and maintenance of ERAC and ERAC customer-owned equipment. Welcome Buddie! 

Each year, ERAC holds several Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Level 1 Operations Firefighting training courses for first responders across Canada. Course participants review commonly encountered LPG emergencies, work through strategies and tactics to safely manage the situation and complete their training with hands on “live burn” exercises. Instructors are ERAC full-time technical advisors with NFPA 1041 instructor credentials. Many of our participants are on-call firefighters in their community.  

In early October, ERAC was in Leduc, Alberta to train with the Leduc County and City of Leduc fire departments. Check out Regional Manager/Technical Advisor Chris Whitman’s short video overview of the training session. 

Our 2024 Dangerous Goods Emergency Management Conference will take place from June 4 – 6, 2024 at Hotel Arts in Calgary, Alberta, and will again feature speakers from oil and gas, transportation, government, industry partners and more. More details on the conference to come later this fall.