EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In accordance with the Ontario Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act every municipality is required to develop and implement an Emergency Management Program that includes a public education and awareness program, a training and exercise program, an emergency plan with a requirement to report annually to Committee and Council on the progress and level of compliance with the provincial program.

Using a multi-departmental approach, the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is responsible for administering the City’s Emergency Management Program and is committed to maintaining compliance with the Act.

This report provides a review of 2009 OEM activities with a focus on 3 areas: Emergency Management Program legislative requirements; addressing the recommendations from the OC Transpo Service Disruption and Significant Rain Event After Action Reports; and outlining the OEM’s 2010 Work plan.

With respect to the Emergency Management Program, the City is required to maintain a public awareness and education program, implement a training and exercise program, and an annual review of the emergency plan. In 2009 the City: expanded and enhanced the “Are you Ready Program” that provides residents and businesses with the necessary information to prepare for emergency situations; and also provided basic emergency management training to 85 internal and external partners to enhance mutual understanding of roles and responsibilities to ensure a more integrated response to emergency situations. The City also conducted separate training exercises for the Emergency Operations Centre Control Group as well as the City’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive (CBRNE) specialty teams.

In 2009, three events; the OC Transpo Service Disruption Winter 2009, the Significant Rain Event of July 2009, and, the H1N1 Mitigation Planning and Response Fall 2009 required the OEM to fully mobilize the Emergency Operation Centre Control Group.

A third party reviewer, Lansdowne Technologies Inc, was contracted to conduct the OC Transpo Service Disruption and the Significant Rain Event (July 2009) after action reviews. The Lansdowne reports contained several recommendations, which can be summarized under the following themes:

· Development of an integrated response including enhanced information sharing, escalation, and coordination to ensure that emergency responders are made aware of incidents sooner, and have a better understanding of the incident.

· Review emergency management activities including all emergency plans, roles and responsibilities to ensure that the right resources are performing the right activities.

· Emergency Management Training to all departments from the Emergency Operations Centre Control Group Member, their alternates, Service Duty Officers and front line responders to ensure that responders are able to spot potential issues, and respond in an efficient and effective manner.

Significant progress has been made on implementing the report recommendations, and effort will continue until fully implemented.

It should be noted that the work completed to date has resulted in extensive work and participation by all City departments resulting in a more enhanced level of planning and readiness to better respond to the needs of the community during disasters and major emergencies.

Details of the OEM’s 2009 activities and 2010 workplan are outlined in the following report.

RÉSUMÉ

Aux termes de la Loi sur la protection civile et la gestion des situations d’urgence de l'Ontario, chaque municipalité est tenue d'élaborer et de mettre en œuvre un programme de gestion des situations d'urgence comprenant un programme d'éducation et de sensibilisation du public, un programme de formation et d'exercices et un plan d'urgence dont l'état d'avancement et la conformité aux exigences provinciales doivent faire l'objet d'un rapport annuel au Comité et au Conseil.

La Ville ayant adopté une approche multi-services, c'est le Bureau de gestion des mesures d'urgence (BGMU) qui est responsable d'administrer le Programme municipal de gestion des situations d'urgence et de veiller à ce qu'il soit conforme à la Loi.

Le présent rapport passe en revue les activités du BGMU en 2009, notamment sur trois points : les exigences légales visant le Programme de gestion des situations d'urgence, la suite donnée aux recommandations contenues dans les rapports sur l'interruption de service d'OC Transpo et sur les interventions à la suite de pluies abondantes et les grandes lignes du plan de travail de 2010 du BGMU.

Dans le cadre du Programme de gestion des situations d'urgence, la Ville est tenue d'avoir un programme d'éducation et de sensibilisation du public, d'appliquer un programme de formation et d'exercices et de faire l'examen annuel du plan d'urgence. En 2009, la Ville a élargi et renforcé le Programme « Êtes-vous prêt? », qui donne aux résidents et aux entreprises les renseignements nécessaires pour se préparer aux situations d'urgence, et a aussi assuré la formation de base en gestion des situations d'urgence pour 85 partenaires internes et externes, afin d'accroître la compréhension mutuelle des rôles et responsabilités de façon à assurer des interventions mieux intégrées. Elle a également mené des exercices distincts pour le Groupe de contrôle du Centre des opérations d’urgence ainsi que pour les équipes municipales spécialisées de recherche et sauvetage en milieu urbain (RSMU) et d’intervention en cas d’incidents chimiques, biologiques, radiologiques, nucléaires et explosifs (CBRNE).

Au cours de l'année, trois grands événements – l'interruption de service d'OC Transpo à l'hiver de 2009, les pluies abondantes de juillet 2009 et la pandémie de grippe H1N1 à l'automne de 2009 – ont amené le BGMU à décréter la mobilisation complète du Groupe de contrôle du Centre des opérations d’urgence.

La firme Lansdowne Technologies Inc. a été retenue pour mener l'examen par un tiers de l'interruption de service d'OC Transpo et des interventions à la suite de pluies abondantes (juillet 2009). Les rapports de Lansdowne Technologies comprennent de nombreuses recommandations, qui peuvent être regroupées sous les thèmes suivants :

· Intégration plus poussée des interventions, y compris l'amélioration du partage, de la transmission hiérarchique et de la coordination de l'information pour faire en sorte que les intervenants d'urgence soient avertis plus tôt des incidents et les comprennent mieux.

· Examen des activités de gestion des situations d'urgence, y compris tous les plans d'urgence et les rôles et responsabilités, pour s'assurer que les ressources sont bien consacrées aux activités correspondantes.

· Formation en gestion des situations d'urgence assurée par les membres du Groupe de contrôle du Centre des opérations d’urgence, leurs suppléants, les agents de service et les intervenants de première ligne de manière à ce que les intervenants soient en mesure de détecter d'éventuels problèmes et d'y répondre avec efficacité et efficience.

Des progrès notables ont été accomplis dans la mise en application des recommandations des rapports, et des efforts continueront d'être déployés jusqu'à leur mise en application complète. Il importe de signaler que le travail réalisé jusqu'à ce jour a nécessité beaucoup de travail et la participation étendue de la part de tous les services de la Ville, avec pour résultat un niveau plus élevé de planification et de préparation qui permettra de mieux répondre aux besoins de la communauté en cas de catastrophes ou de situations d'urgence majeure.

Les activités du BGMU en 2009 et son plan de travail de 2010 sont présentés en détail dans le rapport qui suit.

BACKGROUND

The City of Ottawa’s Emergency Management Program (EMP) is managed by the Office of Emergency Management.

As legislated by the Ontario Emergency Management and the Civil Protection Act every municipality is required to develop and implement an Emergency Management Program that shall include at a minimum, a public education and awareness program, a training and exercise program, an emergency plan, and is required to report annually to Committee and Council on the progress and level of compliance with the provincial program. Using a multi-departmental approach, the Office of Emergency Management is responsible for administering the City’s Emergency Management Program and is committed to maintaining compliance with Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. An emergency management program provides an integrated approach to emergency management activities that enhance the city’s ability to prevent, mitigate, plan, respond and recover from disasters and emergencies, while ensuring continuation of core services.

This report will provide a review of the 2009 Office of Emergency Management activities with a focus on 3 areas:

A. Emergency Management Program – Maintaining Legislative Requirements and Completing Active Projects

B. Recommendations from the OC Transpo Service Disruption and Significant Rain Event After Action Reports – Addressing Recommendations

C. Next Steps - 2010 Office of Emergency Management Work plan

DISCUSSION

A) Emergency Management Program – Maintaining Legislative Requirements and Completing Active Projects:

Ontario’s Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act requires that each municipality identify, implement, and maintain a broad range of initiatives in order to maintain legislative requirements. The main components include, delivery of the Are you Ready Public Education and Awareness Program, delivery of a Training and Exercise Program to senior managers and front line staff including an annual Emergency Operations Centre Control Group Tabletop Exercise, a review of the Emergency Plan, and report to Council.

‘ Are You Ready’ Public Awareness and Education

Launched in 2005, the City of Ottawa’s Are You Ready Program is targeted towards residents and businesses providing them with all the necessary information to prepare in the event of an emergency or disaster. Program success is based on community involvement using a grass roots approach to messaging and training. The Are You Ready Program now includes a volunteer engagement program. With a cadre of 14 trained and screened volunteers who can now be deployed into the community to provide emergency preparedness training on behalf of the City of Ottawa, the Are You Ready Program will continue to expand.

2009 was another stellar year for the Are You Ready Program and successes included:

The implementation of a comprehensive Communication Plan that proactively promoted the Are You Ready Program resulting in a significant increase in demand for the Train the Trainer Sessions and Community Sessions (from 19 to 27) and in program participation (from 29 to approximately 200 workshop participants)
The launching of the Emergency Preparedness e-newsletter (spring and fall) to over 100 community partners has created a network of engaged communication partners who are interested in knowing what the city is doing in terms of emergency management.
A continued increase in demand for distribution of program materials (from 25,972 to 31,310).

Training and Exercise Program

The Emergency Management Training and Exercise Program was developed to meet legislative requirements and to provide key decision makers, emergency response personnel, and critical external partners with the requisite training on their roles and responsibilities in responding to and managing emergencies.

Training courses such as the Ottawa Basic Emergency Management Course are designed to educate emergency response personnel on the core concepts of emergency management and to provide information that is specific to Ottawa’s Emergency Plan. In 2009, the Office of Emergency Management offered 4 Ottawa Basic Emergency Management courses, providing training to 85 internal and external partners including the Ottawa Police, RCMP, US Customs, Canadian Border Security, Commissionaires, the Ottawa Hospitals, Salvation Army, and the Ottawa Airport Authority. The value this program provides is a cadre of trained city responders and partners who have a mutual understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities leading to a more integrated response.

Under legislative requirements, each municipality must exercise its Emergency Operation Centre Control Group at least once annually. On December 10th, 2009 the Office of Emergency Management held the annual exercise. Following this exercise and in light of the recommendations from the OC Transpo Service Disruption and the Significant Rain Event of July 2009, the Emergency Operations Centre Control Group provided the Office of Emergency Management with the following direction:

v Review the membership of the Emergency Operations Centre Control Group and it’s terms of reference

v Adopt the provincial standardized emergency coordination structure: Incident Management System

v Implement a monthly Training and Exercise Program for the Emergency Operations Centre Control Group and their alternates to include Incident Management System

v Review the membership, the process and the protocols of all Service Duty Officers

These activities have been incorporated into the Office of Emergency Management’s 2010 Work Program, identified below.

Emergency Plan

In November 2009 the Office of Emergency Management conducted a review of the City of Ottawa Emergency Management Plan. The review focused on the Emergency Functions contained in the plan and was updated to reflect the City’s New Organizational Structure that was realigned in November 2009. With the implementation of Incident Management System, the changes to the role of Duty Officers, and the introduction of the new Emergency Information System Software, the 2010 plan review will require significant changes and will impact all the Service Emergency Plans.

Completing Active Projects

In 2009/10, the majority of work effort focused on completing the following projects:

Emergency Information:

Emergency Information is a requirement of any Emergency Plan and is defined as a means to communicate information in order to protect health, safety, welfare, and property and contributes to a well-managed emergency. In 2009 the City acquired two software programs (1) Emergency Management Information System and (2) Everbridge to support the management of information across the corporation and with external stakeholders during an emergency event. . This system will provide a more robust and reliable means of rapidly notifying Service Duty Officers, to an emerging incident, ensuring that services can be mobilized, if required. As this is a web-based technology, it allows service Duty Officers to collaborate virtually and share information in real time, instead of relying on email or cellular phones, which have proven to be less effective in past responses. It is through this comprehensive situational awareness and coordinated resource management that responders will be enabled to improve decision-making and response.

The Emergency Management Information System and Everbridge were successfully launched on April 9^th2010allowing for a significantly improved and more enhanced situational awareness process in the early warning phases of an event resulting in a change to the City’s current notification practices and procedures. As of May 2010, over 200 staff has been trained on the Emergency Management Information System and Everbridge systems equating to 1400 hours of training.

Service Duty Officers – Review and Formalizing New Process

Service Duty Officers were initially established in 2004 responsible for being the single point of contact for their service in the event of an emergency. The recent City realignment required a review of the Service Duty Officer Network to ensure a continued integrated emergency response.

In order to ensure the integrity of the Duty Officer network the following steps were taken:

Clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of Service Duty Officer as follows:

Acts as the single point of contact on a 24/7 basis for a service or branch in response to an event.
Has the ability and service expertise to make decisions on behalf of their service or branch.
Responds to Office of Emergency Management Duty Officer notifications and assesses the requirement for their service’s involvement
Possesses a solid understanding of their respective Emergency Plan, ability to activate their service or branch Emergency Plan and inform their management team according to established protocol.
Acts as initial Emergency Operation Center member until relieved and/or until the appropriate Incident Management System Structure is established

Identified appropriate staff to be Service Duty Officer
Implemented new processes and protocols
Formalized mandatory training

This trained network of Service Duty Officers allows for the sharing of information for a more complete understanding of the event, its impact on the citizens and businesses, providing for a more responsive and coordinated City response.

Specialty Teams

The Office of Emergency Management is responsible for the development and management of two Specialty teams: Urban Search and Rescue Task Force (USAR TF) and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive Task Force (CBRNE TF).

The City’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force specializes in rescuing victims from major structural collapse or other entrapments and is comprised of personnel skilled in search and rescue, medical, and structural assessments. In 2009, continued effort focused on developing the Ottawa team by implementing an aggressive training and exercise plan. In July, 2009 Ottawa participated in an exercise, Operation Capital Response, with the Canadian Federal Heavy Urban, Search and Rescue Team and the Ontario Provincial Police, Provincial Emergency Response Team at the decommissioned Laurentian High School.

This exercise was an excellent opportunity for the Ottawa Urban Search and Rescue Task Force to practice the skill sets learned, while interacting with other partners.

The Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive Task Force is comprised of members from Ottawa Police, Paramedic Service, Fire Services, Public Health, Public Works and Services, Transit Services and the Hospitals of Ottawa. This team participated in two exercises during 2009. The first exercise held in May titled Operation Maple Leaf, was sponsored by the Defence Research and Development Canada’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological-Nuclear and Explosives Research and Technology Initiative. Participants were deployed to assist a select group of international police explosive technicians from around the world and had the opportunity to apply their skills in rendering safe explosives in a variety of scenarios hosted throughout the City. In June, the National Research Council of Canada hosted Project Kaboom, which provided task force members theoretical and practical instruction in explosive and chemical threats to the aviation industry.

Business Continuity Management

The Office of Emergency Management has been identified as the lead to develop and implement a Business Continuity Management Framework corporately and will engage each city service to take a critical look at each of their business lines, their interdependencies, and points of criticality. This framework will include the development of plans, protocols, and processes that will ensure continuation and delivery of critical services in an emergency and resumption to normal operations. The implementation process will integrate planning activity into regular business practices and existing management structures, thereby aligning corporate continuity planning across the corporation. In February 2010, 20 City staff attended a Disaster Recovery Institute – Associate of Business Continuity Planner Certification Course preparing participants to develop their service business continuity plans using an integrated approach.

B) Recommendations from the OC Transpo Service Disruption and Significant Rain Event After Action Reports – Addressing Recommendations

Throughout 2009, the Office of Emergency Management was responsible for corporately monitoring, planning, and/or coordinating city services in 13 separate events. Fortunately, the majority of these events did not surpass the warning and monitoring stages and only required a partial mobilization of city resources. However, three of these events: (1) the OC Transpo Service Disruption Winter 2009, (2) the Significant Rain Event of July 2009, and (3) the H1N1 Mitigation Planning and Response Fall 2009 required the Office of Emergency Management to fully mobilize the Emergency Operation Centre Control Group as well as a sustained response from many city services/departments. Not since 2005, when the residents of Kashechewan were evacuated to Ottawa, has the city been required to provide such a robust and lengthy response. In 2009, the Emergency Operation Centre Control Group was mobilized for a total of approximately 20 weeks.

Following any significant emergency events, the Office of Emergency Management is responsible for facilitating a corporate wide debriefing with all participating agencies. The purpose of these debriefs is to review activities taken by all City departments in accordance with City and Departmental emergency plans and procedures and to identify recommendations based on best practices and current standards, that will address and enhance the city’s overall emergency response. The Office of Emergency Management ensures that the lessons learned are formally documented and implemented within a reasonable time frame. Recommendations from the debriefing are also used to improve emergency plans and identify future training and exercise needs.

Keeping with the established debriefing process, the Office of Emergency Management contracted a third party reviewer, Lansdowne Technologies Inc, to lead both the OC Transpo Service Disruption and the Significant Rain Event (July 2009) after action reviews. Combined, the reports contained several recommendations that can be summarized under three key themes:

· Review emergency management activities including all emergency plans, roles and responsibilities to ensure that the right resources are performing the right activities.

It should be noted that Lansdowne Technologies Inc concluded that the City of Ottawa’s Emergency Management strategy and plan are based on sound fundamentals. It is anticipated that by implementing these recommendations, the City of Ottawa will be able to respond to emerging incidents in a more robust manner, mobilizing all required services in a timely fashion.

Significant progress has been made on implementing the report recommendations, and effort will continue until fully implemented. It should be noted that the work completed to date has resulted in extensive work and participation by all City departments resulting in a more enhanced level of planning and readiness to better respond to the needs of the community during disasters and major emergencies.

Some of the key activities that the Office of Emergency Management has undertaken to address the recommendations are:

· Development and initial implementation of a corporate emergency management training program for all levels of responders within every department to ensure our responders and partner agencies understand the City of Ottawa’s Emergency Plans, and their accountabilities within it.

· A complete review of all service emergency plans and the roles and responsibilities of those involved in all levels of response to ensure that the city is providing an effective and efficient response.

· Development and implementation of a monthly training and exercise program for Emergency Operations Centre Control Group members and their alternates with mandatory participation to ensure key decision makers during an emergency understand and exercise their critical role.

· Adoption and implementation of the Emergency Management Information system.

The Office of Emergency Management has developed a detailed work plan and a status tracking process for the implementation of the recommendations and reports progress to Senior Management Committee on a quarterly basis.

C) Next Steps: 2010 Office of Emergency Management Work plan

The City of Ottawa’s Emergency Management Program has enabled the municipality to maintain and be compliant with current legislative standards, while addressing Ottawa’s specific emergency management needs. In 2009, the Office of Emergency Management is pleased to report that the City of Ottawa met all legislative requirements. In 2010 the Office of Emergency Management will continue to maintain legislative compliance, while seeking to implement best practices and to complete the implementation of all recommendations from the After Action Reports. Some of the 2010 key activities include:

· A thorough review of the City’s Emergency Management Plan to align with the Incident Management System. This review will have a significant impact on all Service Emergency Plans.

· Implementing an Incident Management System (IMS). Incident Management System represents a significant shift in how the City of Ottawa structures itself during an emergency and will impact all levels of the organization. A Core Advisory Group representing all City Services will lead the Incident Management System change management process and will advise on how the City moves forward towards a state of readiness.

· Staffing the positions for Training and Exercise Program Coordinator and the Specialty Teams Coordinator for the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Explosives and Urban, Search, And Rescue Programs. Having these positions filled will enable the successful implementation and progression of these programs.

· Continue to build an integrated risk based emergency management program by:

o Developing and maintaining a monthly training and exercise program for Emergency Operations Centre Control Group members, and their alternates

o Reviewing and updating the City’s current Vulnerability Analysis

o Identifying and training Service Duty Officers on the new processes and protocols that include enhanced awareness

Building a culture that understands the need for Business Continuity Management.

Reviewing the Emergency Management Program governance structure and terms of reference to incorporate Business Continuity Management and Incident Management System

CONCLUSION

Since the creation of the City’s Emergency Management Program in 2002, the City of Ottawa has developed a very robust program, and is seen as a leader across Canada. As the landscape of emergency events continues to change and become more complex resulting in the use of City assets and resources over longer periods of time as was demonstrated and experienced during the OC Transpo Service Disruption, the Significant Rain Events of the Summer 2009, and the H1N1 Response, there is a definite requirement for the City to move towards continuing to develop and enhance its risk and business continuity management plans.

While it is highly desirable to avoid emergencies, the reality is that events will occur even when the most robust emergency management plans, mitigation measures, and training are in place. The ultimate goal is the ensure the City and its residents are prepared to respond

CONSULTATION

No consultation was required as this is an administrative report.

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:

As per the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, every municipality shall ensure that their emergency management programs and emergency plans conform to the standards set under Regulation 380/04. On an annual basis, the Office of Emergency Management is required to conduct a review of its emergency management program and to report to Committee and Council on the progress and level of compliance with the provincial program. The submission of this report completes this legislative requirement.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no financial implications associated with these recommendations as the costs are included in capital budgets, 901037 Emergency Management Plan and 904942 Emergency Management Plan 2009, in the Integrated Public Safety Unit.

DISPOSITION

Upon approval of this report by Committee and Council, staff within the Office of Emergency Management will maintain and administer the Emergency Management Program and the associated Emergency Management Plan including conducting an annual review and update to Committee and Council.

Report to/Rapport au:

SUBJECT:

OBJET :

DISCUSSION

While it is highly desirable to avoid emergencies, the reality is that events will occur even when the most robust emergency management plans, mitigation measures, and training are in place. The ultimate goal is the ensure the City and its residents are prepared to respond

CONSULTATION

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS