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Spring 2006 | |
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Inside This Issue:
National Emergency Preparedness Week This week is National Emergency Preparedness Week (May 7-13). The theme for this year is "72 hours... Are you prepared?" It would be useful to read some tips listed below for workplace disaster planning. Remember, disaster preparedness saves lives
Top Tips For Workplace Disaster Planning:
Queen of the North: Insight into Communities and Emergency Preparedness 
MV Queen of the North Ferry EmergeX staff assisted in the response to the environmental issues related to the sinking of the British Columbia Ferry MV Queen of the North near Hartley Bay on March 22, 2006. During this response, they proved how important it is for everyone, not just responders, to become familiar with the Incident Command System (ICS).
“Stakeholders and community members attending meetings and briefings found themselves awash in the abbreviations and emergency response language we use,” said Stacey Chobotar, Manager of Corporate Services. “Having key knowledge of what ICS is would have been so beneficial to them.” Chobotar notes that people who want to be prepared for any emergency should consider some basic ICS training. “That way they will be able to focus on the emergency without struggling to understand what various agencies and responders are talking about.” The Incident Command System is becoming the Canadian Standard for every emergency. It allows agencies to respond to an incident and work together using common principles, roles and responsibilities. The goal is to have every responder trained in the ICS system. EmergeX acted as a component of the Burrard Clean Operations team and a member of the Canadian Spill Response Organization. EmergeX Senior Vice President, Dean Monterey worked as the Planning Section Chief and EmergeX Manager of Corporate Services, Stacey Chobotar held three Unit Leader positions; Resources, Situation and Documentation. They worked with Burrard Clean Operations at an Incident Command Post established in Prince Rupert. EmergeX’s role was to provide ICS advice, organize the gathering of intelligence, track resources and develop the incident action plan on a daily basis. EmergeX observes mock ‘dirty bomb’ exercise in Washington State 
Dirty Bomb from Kitsap County What is a Dirty Bomb? How do you safely manage hundreds of responders, rescue dozens of victims and decontaminate the environment after a dirty bomb has been detonated? EmergeX watched the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management answer that question on April 19th and 20th. A two-day mock exercise designed as a Weapon of Mass Destruction event was attended by more than 350 people from Federal and State agencies. EmergeX officials were invited to observe the simulation and they were granted free access to every portion of the event. To begin the exercise, a terrorist-placed dirty bomb was detonated. A dirty bomb, or Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD), combines a conventional explosive like dynamite with radioactive material. The responders to this event had to deal with the aftermath of the explosion, and during the two day-exercise many scenarios unfolded, including:
“The success of this exercise holds a number of lessons related to interagency cooperation. The agencies involved there have well-established, excellent working relationships,” said Roger Bresden, Vice President of EmergeX. “More than any other factor, this contributes to a region’s level of preparedness.” Bresden added that even though many regions may not have access to the same resources as Kitsap County to conduct exercises on this scale – they can access the information, photos and videos from this exercise by emailing Roger Bresden at rbresden@emergexplanning.com. The Responder is published four times a year by: This email is provided as a priviledge to all of EmergeX's current customers. If you wish to unsubscribe, please send an email to kdyer@emergexplanning.com with “UNSUBSCRIBE” in the subject line. Disclaimer: | |
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