Members of the regional police forces, fire services, ambulance bases, military staff, and municipal staff gathered together from April 5 to 7 for the second bi-annual Emergency Response Forum.Held at The Centre in Dryden, there were a multitude of seminars and information offered to all the participants, and a great variety of guest speakers.  The theme for the event was “You Are Not Alone”, with the focus being on the emergency management and planning.Hosted by the Canadian Red Cross, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the City of Dryden, the events began with remarks by Tom Kontra, the acting Chief of Emergency Management Ontario, and continued with “You are not alone, but you might be alone.”“Rather than just meeting in our own little segments, let’s meet together to learn how to work better together to take care of the needs of the people the event of an emergency, whether it be a house fire, an apartment evacuation, or a forest fire or flood,” said John Saunders, Provincial Director of Disaster Management for Red Cross.The seminar ended with a tabletop exercise, going through a mock scenario.“If this was to happen, how would we work together, what are some things that we might have forgotten, how do we access certain things,” described Saunders of the exercise.Other sessions included a teaching on the recent devastations in Haiti, learning about the initial response and how that reflects on Ontario from how things happened, and the longer-term response.“Some of the other highlights of the forum have been learning more about what the Canadian Military brings to the table when it comes to domestic disasters, how do we engage them,” said Saunders.  “So it was really learning more about the different players, how we work together, who has what resources, and how do we tap into those.”Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Hill from the Canadian Armed Forces hosted a one hour presentation to close the first day of the forum.Some of the sessions also included Emergency Management for Long Term Care and Retirement Facilities, Disaster Preparation for Communities, Northwestern Ontario Infection Control Network seminars, MNR Fire- Smart, H1N1 Pandemic Response, Derailment Safety for the First Responder, Engaging and Embracing Social Media in Emergency Management, and a keynote presentation by current Dryden Police Services Chief, Shayne MacKinnon.By Ally Dunham