FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (May 11, 2016)
Greater Victoria is not prepared!
Why the CREST newspaper ad tells only part of the story
Last week the inter-municipal agency Capital Region Emergency Service Telecommunications (CREST) funded a full page ad in the Times Colonist with the large headline “MORE PREPARED THAN EVER”.
The message is misleading in several respects because local governments in the CRD are not ready for emergency response.
But first, CREST is commended in two respects: Its ad raised public awareness of Emergency Preparedness week May 1-8, and the fine print informs readers of the January approval of a 5 year $25 million investment to upgrade the CREST radio communications system.
CREST includes membership from municipal and public agencies to provide a coordinated means for personnel to communicate for ambulances, police and fire.
But CREST does not include the front end of how municipalities receive and handle 9-1-1 calls, and where and whom to dispatch. While CREST allows for first responders to communicate, 9-1-1 calls are routed through 7 separate dispatch centres: three fire, three police and one BC Ambulance dispatch.
For example, a Westshore RCMP dispatcher is required, under pressure of time, to determine which of 12 different fire departments to refer a call. Similarly, a call via Saanich Police must be routed to one of 8 different fire departments. Does this make sense? In Metro Vancouver 23 agencies all function with one dispatch centre.
Why does this situation exist in the CRD? While the establishment of CREST signaled a common interest in emergency response, municipal officials have continued to retreat to their local units and established independent fiefdoms, each with police and fire chiefs. Surely elected officials should recognize that response to emergencies requires a regional scale approach?
At the back end of the emergency call, how prepared are these agencies to respond when there are four police departments and 17 separate fire departments? And we continue to pretend that a majority of our fire departments has the capacity to respond to real emergencies when in reality they are only equipped to handle a burning house, a brush fire, or a cat in the tree.
What happens with a major chemical spill, earthquake, a high rise or multiple fires? Who would lead the command response to co-ordinate allocation of personnel and equipment? Yet the reality is that we reside in a heavily forested region and major earthquake zone.
In practical terms, only two fire/emergency departments, Saanich and Victoria (plus DND and the Victoria International Airport) have trained personnel and the specialized equipment necessary to respond to major emergencies. The remainder of the local fire departments are inadequately equipped and recognize this by mutual aid agreements. In a real emergency those urban departments will be busy with local situations and unable to assist.
Surely we can do better and the first step is to recognize the need for regional fire and police services common in most cities. Can we learn from the recent news and praise for the leadership of the regional fire chief of Fort MacMurray? We need one too!
Backgrounder: 9-1-1 Call Flow in the CRD
Media contact:
Contact Information:
Jim Anderson, Director
AmalgamationYes
Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation SocietyTel: 250.477.8255
[email protected]
www.amalgamationyes.ca
Greater Victoria is not prepared!
Why the CREST newspaper ad tells only part of the story
Last week the inter-municipal agency Capital Region Emergency Service Telecommunications (CREST) funded a full page ad in the Times Colonist with the large headline “MORE PREPARED THAN EVER”.
The message is misleading in several respects because local governments in the CRD are not ready for emergency response.
But first, CREST is commended in two respects: Its ad raised public awareness of Emergency Preparedness week May 1-8, and the fine print informs readers of the January approval of a 5 year $25 million investment to upgrade the CREST radio communications system.
CREST includes membership from municipal and public agencies to provide a coordinated means for personnel to communicate for ambulances, police and fire.
But CREST does not include the front end of how municipalities receive and handle 9-1-1 calls, and where and whom to dispatch. While CREST allows for first responders to communicate, 9-1-1 calls are routed through 7 separate dispatch centres: three fire, three police and one BC Ambulance dispatch.
For example, a Westshore RCMP dispatcher is required, under pressure of time, to determine which of 12 different fire departments to refer a call. Similarly, a call via Saanich Police must be routed to one of 8 different fire departments. Does this make sense? In Metro Vancouver 23 agencies all function with one dispatch centre.
Why does this situation exist in the CRD? While the establishment of CREST signaled a common interest in emergency response, municipal officials have continued to retreat to their local units and established independent fiefdoms, each with police and fire chiefs. Surely elected officials should recognize that response to emergencies requires a regional scale approach?
At the back end of the emergency call, how prepared are these agencies to respond when there are four police departments and 17 separate fire departments? And we continue to pretend that a majority of our fire departments has the capacity to respond to real emergencies when in reality they are only equipped to handle a burning house, a brush fire, or a cat in the tree.
What happens with a major chemical spill, earthquake, a high rise or multiple fires? Who would lead the command response to co-ordinate allocation of personnel and equipment? Yet the reality is that we reside in a heavily forested region and major earthquake zone.
In practical terms, only two fire/emergency departments, Saanich and Victoria (plus DND and the Victoria International Airport) have trained personnel and the specialized equipment necessary to respond to major emergencies. The remainder of the local fire departments are inadequately equipped and recognize this by mutual aid agreements. In a real emergency those urban departments will be busy with local situations and unable to assist.
Surely we can do better and the first step is to recognize the need for regional fire and police services common in most cities. Can we learn from the recent news and praise for the leadership of the regional fire chief of Fort MacMurray? We need one too!
Backgrounder: 9-1-1 Call Flow in the CRD
Media contact:
Contact Information:
Jim Anderson, Director
AmalgamationYes
Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation SocietyTel: 250.477.8255
[email protected]
www.amalgamationyes.ca