Emergency preparedness

Community Partners helping residents develop their own personal emergency preparedness plan.

Every day, more than 700 Ottawa residents call 9-1-1 for help. 

An increasing number of these calls are non-urgent or accidental, made by unlocked mobile phones in pockets or purses. Every accidental and non-urgent call can steal precious time from a real emergency.

What is an emergency?

A 9-1-1 emergency is an immediate threat to someone's health, safety or property. Call 9-1-1 when there is a:

• Life-threatening emergency or medical situation
• Crime in progress
• Fire
• Serious accident
• Exposure to, inhalation or swallowing of a poisonous substance

Help us help you. Follow these tips to prevent the misuse of 9-1-1

• 9-1-1 is for emergencies only. There are other non urgent numbers to assist:
  • Visit the Ottawa Police Website for other police numbers, to report a theft, and other police non emergency questions you may have.
  • Call 3-1-1 for city services or find out other ways to contact the City of Ottawa
• Know your location. Be prepared to provide the 9-1-1 Operator with your exact address if at all possible. This can save valuable time which is critical in times of emergencies.
• Don't pocket dial. Store your cell phone carefully and never pre-program 9-1-1. Unintentional emergency calls from mobile phones can occur if you accidentally press a speed dial key that has been pre-programmed to call 9-1-1. In some instances, you may not even be aware that the emergency key has been pressed. Check your phone's manual or contact your retail dealer to ensure any pre-programmed emergency numbers have been disabled.
• You are encouraged to text during an emergency but DO NOT SEND TEXT MESSAGES TO 9-1-1. During a large-scale emergency, such as a natural disaster, voice networks can become congested or over-loaded with an influx of mobile voice calls. This can result in individuals not being able to speak with the people they want to contact. In rare instances, it can also hinder communications among emergency service personnel.
  Text messages, however, use less network capacity than normal mobile phone voice calls, and can be more reliable for brief communication with friends or loved ones during emergencies. So even if a network is congested with voice calls, a text message may have a higher likelihood of getting through sooner than a voice call. Equally as important, by texting during an emergency, you are freeing up the voice lines for emergency officials to use.
• Don't hang up if you dial 9-1-1 accidentally. If you dial 9-1-1 accidentally, please stay on the line and advise the Operator. If you hang up an Operator will have to call back or send the police to be sure that you are okay.
• Do not give old cell phones to children as toys. An out of service wireless phone can still call 9-1-1.

Why is prevention important?

Accidental and non-urgent calls have a significant impact on the day-to-day operation of a 9-1-1 centre. 9-1-1 operators are professionals trained to respond to emergencies. Non-emergency calls can often tie up valuable resources, including first responders such as police, fire and paramedics, who are essential in supporting emergency response.

• 97% of all 9-1-1 calls in Ottawa are answered within six seconds.
• Callers may not be aware of any impact on emergency response or customer service
• The high volume of non-emergency calls interspersed between true emergency calls can have a significant operational impact on the 9-1-1 centre, its professional operators and emergency service responders.

Mission and scope

Conscious of its potential vulnerability in emergency situations, the City of Ottawa has proactively initiated a comprehensive Emergency Management Plan [ PDF - 0.8MB ]. This plan is based on an all-hazard and multi-departmental approach. Each of the City of Ottawa's sections possesses its own formal or informal emergency system and corresponding response capability. The City of Ottawa's Emergency Management Plan is designed to be comprehensive and aims at heightening the combined level of response throughout the City of Ottawa's emergency response community. The plan is designed to:

“Provide an enhanced and co-ordinated level of planning and readiness to better respond to the needs of the community during a major emergency, while still ensuring the delivery of city services to the other areas of the City.”

The main sections of this document outline the overall municipal emergency management system, the general emergency functions common to all types of emergencies and disasters as well as specific emergency functions.

This document is available in accessible formats upon request.

Corporate and legal authority

The overall emergency management program is a Community and Protective Services (CPS) Standing Committee and Council initiative and was developed under the authority of the CPS Committee.

The development of this plan complies with provincial and federal legislation as well as generally accepted standards and good practices in risk and emergency management.

The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) ensures the safety of all residents and visitors by:

• planning, preventing and preparing prior to an emergency
• responding and ensuring the continuation of essential services during an emergency
• activating the Emergency Operations Centre Control Group (a multi-departmental Steering Committee) when needed and
• helping the city recover after an event.

How to Contact us

General Inquiries: 613-580-2424 ext. 29428

Are You Ready Emergency Preparedness Program:

E-mail: areyouready@ottawa.ca

Mandated by the province under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, R.S.O. 1990, the Office of Emergency Management is responsible for managing the:

• Emergency Management Program (EMP)
  • Initiated in 2002, EMP addresses legislative requirements under the act with the goal of enhancing collaboration between all emergency partners prior to, during and after an emergency.
• City of Ottawa Emergency Plan
  • Reviewed on an annual basis, the Emergency Plan governs the provision of necessary services during an emergency and the processes and procedures in which city employees and partners will respond to the emergency.
• Emergency Management Training and Exercise Program
  • Developed a multi agency training and exercise program for City of Ottawa staff and partners that manage, support and respond to emergencies for a period of several days or more. Regularly test the effectiveness of the City of Ottawa emergency plan at the multi-departmental level, to allow for continuous improvement of the City’s emergency response capacity.
• Are You Ready Program: Emergency Preparedness Public Education and Awareness Program
  • Launched in 2005, Are You Ready aims to educate community and businesses on the importance of emergency planning. The better-prepared people are for an emergency, the better the City is able to respond to the emergency.

Have a look at the following sites; they contain useful information on emergency management.

• Emergency Management Ontario
• Public Safety Canada
• Emergency Measures Radio Group (EMRG)
• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
• Canadian Red Cross
• Ottawa Humane Society

One way to keep flood water from affecting part of your property is to build a sandbag wall.

First, let's take a look at the bag. Empty sandbags can be purchased at most building supply stores in Ottawa. Only fill each bag two-thirds of the way as Overfilled bags are not as effective and become too heavy to remove later once saturated with water.

A propped ladder and a pylon makes for a stable workspace. Carefully cut the pylon to create a syphon for the sand.

To build our wall we created a base layer four bags wide, overlapping the sides slightly. When you lay your sandbags, make sure to overlap the seams. Position the bottom seam of the bag towards the water, and the tied end toward the shore. Then, stack sandbags in a pyramid style on all sides. With this pyramid design, if you want a higher wall, you will need to make it wider at the base to begin with. A ten-metre wall, two feet in height, would require approximately 100 bags. This is one way to build a sandbag wall.

For more information visit ottawa.ca