With the winter storm season upon us, B.C.'s minister of state for emergency preparedness was in Delta last week to remind residents about the importance of being ready in the event of an emergency or natural disaster.
"In the event of a catastrophe, the first people that you're going to have to rely on is yourself and your neighbours," said Naomi Yamamoto.
Yamamoto, who was appointed to the position in July as the government put a high priority on emergency preparedness, joined Delta North MLA Scott Hamilton last Friday for a tour of Tilburybased First Aid Survival Technologies Limited (F.A.S.T.).
The company, which has been in business for close to 30 years, produces emergency disaster kits and emergency management response products. F.A.S.T. produces both personal pre-made kits, which are customizable, as well as gear kits for search and rescue teams and emergency response products for large organizations such as B.C. Hydro, the Canadian Red Cross, WorkSafeBC, the Department of National Defense and the Corporation of Delta.
The company makes home and school emergency kits, specialty first aid and emergency kits for cars, and emergency food and water rations.
One package of vacuum-sealed food rations is enough nutrition for one person to survive on for three days explained general manager Carmen Ewles. Each bar has the exact percentage of fat, protein and carbohydrates for survival, she said.
F.A.S.T. started in 1988 with Dee Miller and Janice Turnbull assembling custom first-aid kits on a ping-pong table in Turnbull's basement. The company soon outgrew the basement and moved into a larger manufacturing space.
In the early 1990s, after an earthquake in Northern California, the company started to manufacture and assemble emergency preparedness kits for the B.C. market.
