Dilico Anishinabek Family Care helps community members get winter roadside safe

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — Dilico Anishinabek Family Care held a Winter Roadside Safety and Life Skills workshop for staff and community members on Jan. 13 at Dilico’s Court St. office in Thunder Bay.

“We have travelling [Dilico] staff, we have clients in our programs that can benefit from this sort of education,” says Rhiannon Vaillant, community critical response manager at Dilico. “There are so many little things that don’t get taught to us at times or we don’t learn along the way so we wanted to bring up some things to be mindful of when you hit the road. Garry (Gustafson, Life Skills Elder at Dilico) is going to show us how to boost a car if you are not familiar.”

Vaillant says Dilico has satellite phones for staff to use when they are travelling in areas that don’t have cell phone service.

“There are sign-out roadside safety kits (at Dilico’s Anemki Pl. office in Fort William) and those are available to all travelling staff,” Vaillant says. “If you’ve used anything out of it, that is available as well.”

Vaillant says it is also important for travellers to check out the weather advisories for the area they are travelling to before they leave.

“We just use 511, so that’s a place you could call — they will give you the most up-to-date weather advisories for that area,” Vaillant says. “There’s a mobile app, there’s an Internet app for that.”

Vaillant says travellers should also check if there are any gas stations along their route.

“If you are travelling in the conditions we end up with, snow tires are advisable,” Vaillant says, adding that travellers should also do a vehicle circle check. “So checking your tire levels, damage, do you have fluids, do you have functioning windshield wipers, snow removed from the roof. Be mindful of cleaning off your car, working lights, heat function. It’s advisable, from Emergency Management Ontario, that when you do travel, to have three days worth of food and water in the car. And at this time of year, boots, hats, and mitts.”

Vaillant says travellers should have reflective warning pylons with them to use in case the vehicle breaks down along the highway.

“Those are things that could come in a roadside safety kit,” Vaillant says. “Remember to park in places where your battery might be accessible if your car might need to be boosted. If you are travelling to remote areas and you are not with somebody or there might not be other traffic in that area, consider a battery charger.”

Vaillant says travellers should check in with other people before they leave to let them know the route they are taking.

“My manager would know if I was going to Whitesand, there’s no service at certain points along the drive,” Vaillant says. “I should be there by this time, when I get to the office and get Wi-Fi, I’ll check in with you. At that time, if you don’t check in with somebody, they know at least where to send somebody for you.”

Vaillant says if travellers do end up in the snowbank, they should make sure they remove any snow from around the tailpipe before they remain in the vehicle.

“If you end up in an accident, make sure [you are] safe, your passengers are safe,” Vaillant says. “Call 911 if possible, put your hazards on.”

Gustafson says Dilico’s Life Skills program is focused on developing essential skills and abilities to enable people to do daily tasks as well as to empower people and enhance their overall well-being.

“Our program covers the 13 First Nations that we are affiliated with, and with the Dilico live-in programs and also clients that come into Dilico,” Gustafson says. “Some of the things that we do, but not limited to, [are] basic money management, budgeting, decision making, coping with fear. If you have a skill that is required, it’s my job to build that program.”

Gustafson says one of the issues he has noticed is that many young people do not have their ID.

“They don’t have a copy of their SIN (Social Insurance Number), they don’t have a birth certificate, and they don’t realize that without those two pieces of ID, it limits what they can do; you can’t open a bank account,” Gustafson says. “So, it’s my job to empower the clients.”

Vaillant says they are looking to host further workshops for the Life Skills program, noting that updates will be posted on Dilico’s Facebook and Instagram pages.