Emergency Review Highlights

One of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) the Town has as part of its emergency procedures is to conduct a post event review to determine what went well and identify opportunities for improvement (OFIs). The review was conducted this past Tuesday with participation from every department including the province. Many people, including me, participated via conference call.

Here is an incomplete overview of the review:

• Without exception everyone commented on how well things went.
• Appreciation was expressed for the hospitality displayed by our town and staff. For example the 'hot shots' and their ground crews were able to focus on the fire because all of their off site worries such as food and accommodations were addressed.
• Spectator control was good so viewers were not in harms way or in the way of men and machine.
• Cooperation amongst the various departments and between the Town and Province were very good.
• The command structure worked well and it was commented that they were able to make the necessary adjustments to adapt to changing circumstances.
• The response times from provincial experts and personnel was excellent with some arriving a couple of hours after the declaration of the state of emergency.
• The State of Emergency was declared in a timely fashion. Some communities wait until it is too late. Further, Council was united in the decision.
• The Mobile Air Quality Monitoring unit arrived before supper and provided ongoing readings.
• Some of the opportunities for improvement include:
• Communication
• For example the first alert for "Shelter in Place" was written about 45 minutes before it was handed out. It could have been clearer.
• Creating and implementing templates for a variety of notices and types of communication could have ensured better understanding.
• The radios used by various departments and the province were on different frequencies.
• Smart phones had to be purchased so the command centre could receive emails and texts. However, during extreme traffic communication was interrupted
• Creating and implementing some more SOPs for the Emergency Operating Centre would be helpful.
• On suggestion was the involvement of Health Region's public health doctor to address any health concerns. The doctor was brought in late rather than early.
• Standardizing some types of equipment for easier use.
• The inventory of local resources was incomplete and out of date.
• This list is already being updated.

I didn't take notes so that is about all I recall off hand. Some of the details were of a technical nature and lost me.

As I have said before: it was a good operation and I am proud of it. I am also glad to say that we learned things from it that will make us better and perhaps help other jurisdictions.

If you would like to hear my comments in conversation with Brendan Hein of Golden West Radio click here.