Disaster Response & Emergency Management Plans, "Greater Victoria Style"
The 6.6 earthquake off the west coast of Vancouver Island at about 8:40 pm on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 was another reminder of why preparation is required for an eventual earthquake in Greater Victoria. Emergency Program coordinators advise residents to be self sufficient for at least 72 hours post-disaster. That is, to acquire a comprehensive disaster survival kit and establish a communication plan to connect with family members as soon as possible after a quake.
And what is the probability of an earthquake affecting Victoria? Read this.
The BC Emergency Program Act requires each municipality and regional district to create a local emergency plan for disaster response and recovery. In the case of municipalities, these programs usually operate under the direction of the fire department. The mayor or a designate is ultimately responsible to ensure that a plan and program are in place. Mayors or their delegate(s) have the authority under Section 8(1) of the Act to implement a plan for their municipality.
What does emergency planning in Greater Victoria look like? How many plans are there for the 360,000 people living in the 13 municipalities and districts of the CRD?
In the case of a widespread disaster, such as an earthquake, tsunami or an extreme weather event (e.g. the snow storm of 1996), the following array of local emergency plans would come into play:
Twelve local emergency programs:
Thirteen mayors (or designates) with the authority to activate the respective emergency plan within their jurisdictions.
Thirteen fire departments, each with its own command structure.
Three independent fire dispatch centres:
Seven police agencies, each with its own command structure:
Three police 9-1-1 answering point/dispatch centres
The Provincial Ambulance Service, Vancouver Island Dispatch Communications Centre, located in Langford.
Nine public works departments:
This vast array of emergency plans and resources serve a population of about 360,000 people. There is no overlaying coordination for these separate and independent emergency programs. A region-wide disaster would lack any form of central control and coordination. The BC Provincial Emergency Program would be required to interface with 12 separate local emergency programs, 13 municipalities, the CRD, their coordinators and mayors.
The last substantial region-wide challenge was a major snow storm in December, 1996. More than two feet of snow blanketed Greater Victoria in 48 hours. The storm overwhelmed the resources of the 13 municipalities, who were forced to hire every available piece of equipment capable of moving snow. The Vancouver Island Health Authority, BC Ambulance Service, police and fire services worked with 13 municipalities to identify major routes for priority attention. The Government of Canada Department of National Defence assisted under the Aid to Civil Authority policy. However, they too had to deal with the vast array of municipal participants. Lacking a central coordination structure, CFAX radio became a communications clearing house. While lessons were learned during that weather event, no substantial changes have been implemented in the interim.
Imagine the consequences of a wide-ranging disaster – e.g. a large earthquake – that scientists predict with some certainty will occur within the next 50 years. For most people, this is not top of mind. It is reasonable to assume that the authorities have a seamless plan in place to work across the region. Unfortunately, this is a false assumption..
The worst case scenario would be a major earthquake during daytime hours. Families would be separated – parents at work in one or more municipalities and not necessarily within their home municipality – while their children could be attending school in another municipality. Normal communications could be disrupted or overwhelmed during a quake.
Local emergency plans in each municipality are autonomous, and are not coordinated across jurisdictions. Reception centres would be set up for disrupted people to seek refuge, however they would not be linked together. Schools would ensure the safety of children, if the Province has completed all earthquake upgrades in regional schools.
Municipal emergency plans would attend to needs within municipal boundaries. However, urban search and rescue resources available in one municipality might be more urgently required elsewhere but not made available due to a lack of overall prioritization. An effective area-wide plan is needed to control resources across the region. This would ensure that the regional allocation of resources are properly coordinated and prioritized, regardless of where that need exists.
How would the two major regional hospitals, Royal Jubilee and Victoria General, interface with the core municipalities and west shore municipalities emergency plans?
Another scenario would be a major quake occurring during evening or early morning hours. Victoria attracts younger people from throughout the region to the downtown nightclubs and bars. Imagine a major bar or nightclub collapsing with many people inside. This could severely tax the resources of the Victoria Fire Department and Emergency Program. Also, consider the number of heritage buildings in the region, particularly those constructed of brick, many of which have not been structurally hardened to resist earthquake damage to a Richter Scale 7.
It would be simpler and more effective if the region had, e.g. three municipalities, and they in turn collaborated by establishing a single hardened emergency coordination centre. Consider how much more effective it would be to have a centralized 9-1-1 service established and co-located in the same building as an emergency coordination centre. All police departments (currently dispatched from Saanich PD, Victoria PD and West Shore RCMP) as well as fire departments (currently dispatched by Saanich, Victoria and Langford fire departments), would be housed under one roof in a purpose-built building. Redundant connections (meaning desirable additional connections to guarantee failsafe communications) to Capital Regional Emergency Services Telecommunications (CREST) system and the Telus Network would provide survivability and more effective utilization of staff would be achieved. The facility could emulate the very successful E-Comm operation in Metro Vancouver.
Victoria and West Shore RCMP have had preliminary discussions about combining 9-1-1 and police dispatch operations. However, former Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard rejected this idea on the basis that Saanich had already spent $800,000 several years ago to create an earthquake hardened 9-1-1 dispatch centre. Instead, he invited Victoria and West Shore to locate at the Saanich facility that is much too small to accommodate the additional staff.
This is the type of stalemate that usually ends such discussions. It is another reason to consider amalgamation, as the greater public good is often lost in self-interested small town politics. Such compartmentalized inward focus ignores the fact that Greater Victoria residents live their lives across the region, not just in their home municipalities. As such, they have the right to expect emergency services be provided seamlessly across the region.
The current multiplicity of municipalities spawns parochial decision-making at its worst. Meanwhile, the CRD structure also has inherent disadvantages. CRD directors, in their duplicate roles as municipal councillors or mayors, are only accountable to their respective municipalities for their decisions at the CRD table. The only role for the CRD is to provide emergency planning and response to the unincorporated areas of Salt Spring Island, Juan de Fuca and Southern Gulf Islands.
The 6.6 earthquake off the west coast of Vancouver Island at about 8:40 pm on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 was another reminder of why preparation is required for an eventual earthquake in Greater Victoria. Emergency Program coordinators advise residents to be self sufficient for at least 72 hours post-disaster. That is, to acquire a comprehensive disaster survival kit and establish a communication plan to connect with family members as soon as possible after a quake.
And what is the probability of an earthquake affecting Victoria? Read this.
The BC Emergency Program Act requires each municipality and regional district to create a local emergency plan for disaster response and recovery. In the case of municipalities, these programs usually operate under the direction of the fire department. The mayor or a designate is ultimately responsible to ensure that a plan and program are in place. Mayors or their delegate(s) have the authority under Section 8(1) of the Act to implement a plan for their municipality.
What does emergency planning in Greater Victoria look like? How many plans are there for the 360,000 people living in the 13 municipalities and districts of the CRD?
In the case of a widespread disaster, such as an earthquake, tsunami or an extreme weather event (e.g. the snow storm of 1996), the following array of local emergency plans would come into play:
Twelve local emergency programs:
- Peninsula Emergency Management Organization (PEMO) - includes Central Saanich, Sidney & North Saanich 1
- Saanich Emergency Program
- Victoria Emergency Management
- Oak Bay Emergency Program
- Township of Esquimalt Emergency Program
- View Royal Emergency Preparedness
- Colwood Emergency Plan
- Langford Emergency Preparedness
- Metchosin Emergency Program
- Highlands Emergency Preparedness
- Sooke Emergency Plan
- CRD Emergency Program (for unorganized electoral areas of Juan de Fuca, Salt Spring and Southern Gulf Islands)
Thirteen mayors (or designates) with the authority to activate the respective emergency plan within their jurisdictions.
Thirteen fire departments, each with its own command structure.
Three independent fire dispatch centres:
- Saanich Fire Dispatch
- Victoria Fire Dispatch
- Langford Fire Dispatch
Seven police agencies, each with its own command structure:
- Victoria PD, for Victoria & Esquimalt
- Saanich PD
- Oak Bay PD
- Central Saanich PD
- Sidney/North Saanich RCMP, also responsible for Willis Point and four First Nations
- West Shore RCMP, responsible for Colwood, Langford, View Royal, Highlands, Metchosin and a portion of electoral areas and two First Nations.
- Sooke RCMP, also responsible for the western portion of the Juan de Fuca Electoral area and three First Nations
Three police 9-1-1 answering point/dispatch centres
- West Shore RCMP
- Victoria PD
- Saanich PD
The Provincial Ambulance Service, Vancouver Island Dispatch Communications Centre, located in Langford.
Nine public works departments:
- Sidney
- North Saanich
- Central Saanich
- Saanich
- Victoria
- Oak Bay
- Esquimalt
- Colwood
- Langford, View Royal, Highlands, Metchosin and Sooke contract out much of their public works services to private contractors
This vast array of emergency plans and resources serve a population of about 360,000 people. There is no overlaying coordination for these separate and independent emergency programs. A region-wide disaster would lack any form of central control and coordination. The BC Provincial Emergency Program would be required to interface with 12 separate local emergency programs, 13 municipalities, the CRD, their coordinators and mayors.
The last substantial region-wide challenge was a major snow storm in December, 1996. More than two feet of snow blanketed Greater Victoria in 48 hours. The storm overwhelmed the resources of the 13 municipalities, who were forced to hire every available piece of equipment capable of moving snow. The Vancouver Island Health Authority, BC Ambulance Service, police and fire services worked with 13 municipalities to identify major routes for priority attention. The Government of Canada Department of National Defence assisted under the Aid to Civil Authority policy. However, they too had to deal with the vast array of municipal participants. Lacking a central coordination structure, CFAX radio became a communications clearing house. While lessons were learned during that weather event, no substantial changes have been implemented in the interim.
Imagine the consequences of a wide-ranging disaster – e.g. a large earthquake – that scientists predict with some certainty will occur within the next 50 years. For most people, this is not top of mind. It is reasonable to assume that the authorities have a seamless plan in place to work across the region. Unfortunately, this is a false assumption..
The worst case scenario would be a major earthquake during daytime hours. Families would be separated – parents at work in one or more municipalities and not necessarily within their home municipality – while their children could be attending school in another municipality. Normal communications could be disrupted or overwhelmed during a quake.
Local emergency plans in each municipality are autonomous, and are not coordinated across jurisdictions. Reception centres would be set up for disrupted people to seek refuge, however they would not be linked together. Schools would ensure the safety of children, if the Province has completed all earthquake upgrades in regional schools.
Municipal emergency plans would attend to needs within municipal boundaries. However, urban search and rescue resources available in one municipality might be more urgently required elsewhere but not made available due to a lack of overall prioritization. An effective area-wide plan is needed to control resources across the region. This would ensure that the regional allocation of resources are properly coordinated and prioritized, regardless of where that need exists.
How would the two major regional hospitals, Royal Jubilee and Victoria General, interface with the core municipalities and west shore municipalities emergency plans?
Another scenario would be a major quake occurring during evening or early morning hours. Victoria attracts younger people from throughout the region to the downtown nightclubs and bars. Imagine a major bar or nightclub collapsing with many people inside. This could severely tax the resources of the Victoria Fire Department and Emergency Program. Also, consider the number of heritage buildings in the region, particularly those constructed of brick, many of which have not been structurally hardened to resist earthquake damage to a Richter Scale 7.
It would be simpler and more effective if the region had, e.g. three municipalities, and they in turn collaborated by establishing a single hardened emergency coordination centre. Consider how much more effective it would be to have a centralized 9-1-1 service established and co-located in the same building as an emergency coordination centre. All police departments (currently dispatched from Saanich PD, Victoria PD and West Shore RCMP) as well as fire departments (currently dispatched by Saanich, Victoria and Langford fire departments), would be housed under one roof in a purpose-built building. Redundant connections (meaning desirable additional connections to guarantee failsafe communications) to Capital Regional Emergency Services Telecommunications (CREST) system and the Telus Network would provide survivability and more effective utilization of staff would be achieved. The facility could emulate the very successful E-Comm operation in Metro Vancouver.
Victoria and West Shore RCMP have had preliminary discussions about combining 9-1-1 and police dispatch operations. However, former Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard rejected this idea on the basis that Saanich had already spent $800,000 several years ago to create an earthquake hardened 9-1-1 dispatch centre. Instead, he invited Victoria and West Shore to locate at the Saanich facility that is much too small to accommodate the additional staff.
This is the type of stalemate that usually ends such discussions. It is another reason to consider amalgamation, as the greater public good is often lost in self-interested small town politics. Such compartmentalized inward focus ignores the fact that Greater Victoria residents live their lives across the region, not just in their home municipalities. As such, they have the right to expect emergency services be provided seamlessly across the region.
The current multiplicity of municipalities spawns parochial decision-making at its worst. Meanwhile, the CRD structure also has inherent disadvantages. CRD directors, in their duplicate roles as municipal councillors or mayors, are only accountable to their respective municipalities for their decisions at the CRD table. The only role for the CRD is to provide emergency planning and response to the unincorporated areas of Salt Spring Island, Juan de Fuca and Southern Gulf Islands.