CITY EMERGENCY PLANS

At the recent meeting on the investigation into the July 24, 2009 flooding, there were questions about how the City will be responding to emergency situations. Below is background information I received from John Ash, the Chief of Integrated Public Safety, for the City.

From: Ash, John
To: Feltmate, Peggy
Subject: FW: Emergency plans

Councillor Feltmate.

Thank you for your inquiry. As you are aware The City conducted an independent review of the City's response to the Glen Cairn flood last July. Since last July, significant time and effort has been made by all departments to increase our level of planning and preparedness. The Integrated Public Safety Branch has led the implementation of many of the key recommendations across the corporation and is committed to full implementation of all report findings. Some of the main activities currently in place are:

Review and Update of Emergency Plans:

A review of the Corporate and Departmental emergency plans was directed to ensure the all plans were updated to reflect findings of report recommendations.

Risk Communications and Information Sharing:

Risk assessment and escalation protocols have been developed among all key service areas including; 3-1-1, Environmental Services, Public Works, Police, Fire, Paramedics and the Office of Emergency Management. These protocols allow for the timely sharing of unusual events and activities so City staff can make decisions and implement plans based on more complete understanding of the real or potential impacts of emergency events.

Establishment of Duty Officer Newtwork

A network of on-call Duty Officers has been established which creates reliable contacts in each department 7 days a week 24hrs a day. The Intergrated Public Saftey Branch provided each Duty Officer with a full days training on the risk assessment and escalation protocols and is kept updated on any unsual event. Duty Officers are responsible for assessing information, taking appropriate action and escalating as appropriate. This network allows for the pulling together of information in a timely manner so the most appropriate actions can be taken to minimize impact and to ensure the right people have awareness of what is occuring.

Using Technology to Improve Information Sharing

A notification and reporting system was implemented which sends simultaneous incident information to all duty officers. This application can track if the infromation has been received and can actively request specific action be taken. In addition it allows for the creation of web based reporting which can be accessed from any computer. The use of this system maximizes the speed of information sharing and centralizes information so that all Duty Officers can send and receive information in real time improving decision making and response.

Training on Emergency Plan:

Education and simulation training was provided to key and senior staff across all departments on their roles and responsibilities.

In summary I am confident that what has been put in place are plans, process and protocols for the rapid reporting and assessment of unusual occurrences so the City can proactively respond to the potential or occurring impacts of an emergency.

On June 2, 2010 the Emergency and Protective Services Committee will receive a report which will provide Council with an update on the implementation of the recommendations from the Glen Cairn flood review. In preparation of CPSC receiving this report Susan Jones and myself have booked some time with your office so that we may provide you with a more detailed review of the report and answer any specific questions you may have. I look forward to discussing this with you further later this week.

Sincerely
John Ash