Emergency Management
Increases
in severe weather, greater urbanization, aging infrastructure and emerging
international threats have increased the degree to which Canadians are
affected by emergencies - natural or human-induced. Over the last decade,
millions of Canadians have been affected in one way or another by a disaster.
Protecting our quality of life through Emergency Management means ensuring
that Canadians are better prepared personally as well as at community,
provincial/ territorial and national levels. Historical information about
natural disasters, such as earthquakes, ice storms, floods and hurricanes
is available using both OCIPEP and NSS web site linkages.
Providing
Canadians with a civil emergency response capability, humanitarian assistance
and disaster relief is a key commitment for the Department of National
Defence and the Canadian Forces (DND/CF). The Department of National Defence
is involved across the entire spectrum of Emergency Management, which
includes policy, mitigation (prevention), preparedness, response and recovery.
Within DND, the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency
Preparedness (OCIPEP) has a national mandate that includes the co-ordination
of Government of Canada (GOC) emergency management activities and the
provision of national leadership in the implementation of a comprehensive
approach to enhancing Canada's emergency management framework. The Canadian
Forces (CF) plays a crucial and active role in the response and recovery
efforts of major disaster situations both nationally and internationally.
Response and recovery operations are carried out through deployment of
the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART): http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/Operations/DART/index_e.asp.
DART is a unique organization designed to deploy to crisis situations
anywhere in the world.
The National Search and Rescue Secretariat (NSS), reporting directly
to the Minister of National Defence is the focal point for developing,
co-ordinating and reviewing national search and rescue policies and plans
with the federal agencies involved in Search and Rescue (SAR) services.
The NSS is responsible for liasing with the provincial and territorial
agencies, and volunteer groups that provide SAR services in their respective
areas of jurisdiction. In addition, the Air Force SAR crews coordinate
and conduct searches, administer emergency medical aid at crash sites
and transport injured people to hospital. For more information, check
their site at: http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/athome2_e.htm
Emergency
management of a major incident usually involves the resources of many
organizations both public and private. Operational, communications and
technical services must all come together to deliver a seamless response
capability - all of which could be achieved more efficiently using Internet
technology solutions.
On-line access to Emergency Management and Response information and sharing
of operational information increases Canadians' sense of security and
provides faster, more accurate 24/7 reporting of events from assigned
response units. Some of the benefits to clients derived from on-line service
delivery and improved operational capability include:
- Safeguarding Canadian lives and reducing damage to properties by ensuring
an appropriate level of civil emergency preparedness throughout Canada.
- The provision of assistance in the event of civil disasters (floods,
forest fires, hurricanes, snow and ice storms) and humanitarian assistance
(searches for missing persons, diver assistance, Search and Rescue)
all benefit the persons directly affected and Canadians generally by
increasing their sense of security.
- The provision of vital humanitarian assistance at home and abroad
by the CF Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and other CF units.
OCIPEP
operates a 24-hour, 7-day/week emergency operations centre to monitor
emergency situations both in Canada and abroad, and to co-ordinate GOC
emergency response and recovery activities. The operations centre collects,
verifies and distributes information amongst GOC departments and agencies,
provincial, territorial and municipal governments, emergency response
organizations, private sector, media and the general public. This information
pertains to real and imminent threats to the overall health, safety and
security of Canadians as a result of natural or human-induced hazards;
and includes steps to enhance emergency preparedness in Canada.
Internet
communication capabilities and government on-line solutions will significantly
increase the sharing and availability of operational and practical emergency
preparedness information. About 90 percent of Canada's infrastructure
is owned or operated by the federal public sector or by other governments
so the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness
(OCIPEP) must develop a means of effectively gathering and sharing information
from and among these diverse stakeholder groups. To facilitate this, the
Office is implementing web-enabled solutions that will foster and facilitate
information sharing among the key infrastructure sectors. On-line services
will consist of information sharing technology and on-line consultation
through secure web sites with those industries and government organizations
tasked with preparing critical infrastructure protection measures.
The DND/CF must continue to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Modern
emergency response operations are more complex, demanding and dangerous
than ever before and it remains in Canada's strategic best interest to
maintain combat-capable sea, land and air forces capable of contributing
to emergency response and recovery operations.
More information about the OCIPEP and its linkage to the Public Safety
gateway is available at: http://www.ocipep-bpiepc.gc.ca
You can obtain more information on NSS at: http://www.nss.gc.ca
For more information on the DART, check the following site: www.forces.gc.ca/site/operations/DART/index
For more information contact the National Defence On-Line Program
Manager
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