In case of an emergency
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
The second week of January found the Town of Strathmore opening an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for the second time in two years.
In 2011, a severe snowstorm resulted in area highways shutting down, which required an EOC and a reception centre to be established. Emergency crews were called to locate and assist those stranded on the highway.
The most recent emergency was on a much smaller scale, but still required the establishment of an EOC.
In mid January, Jesse Parker, Director of Engineering and Operations, was informed of a water line break event. Once the extent of the break was discovered, Parker called Linda Nelson, Deputy Director of Emergency Management. Her decision was to establish an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), and a fan-out call was made to Fire Chief Muir Furzer.
“At this point, the three of us reported to the EOC to make a decision on next steps, and determine what level of EOC was required,” said Nelson.
“Once it has been determined that an EOC is necessary, the Emergency Management team looks at the potential impact to the community; based on the scope of the emergency, and whether or not there is an immediate risk to human life, property or environment, they will determine the level of the emergency event.”
There are three different levels of EOC that can be established. Level one is an information only level; the stakeholders in the situation are called in, and will then decide if the situation requires greater resources than are available to handle the situation.
“For example, when we responded to the call on Friday night, (January 11, 2013), the Fire Department size-up resulted in additional resources being called, which meant contacting EPCOR.” said Furzer.
The situation then expanded beyond the scope of EPCOR, and the Emergency Management Team needed to bring in experts to deal with the situation, at which point the situation moved into a level two event.
“We had to formally set up a structure and begin coordinating all of the information coming in, and to coordinate all of the teams required to handle each different task,” said Nelson.
“A level three means it’s an immediate threat to the community; a tornado for example. A tornado moves through town, destroys the community, and we immediately go to a level three; there’s no discussion, we set up an EOC and we start taking immediate action.”
In the case of the water main break, the decision was made to go to level two, as there was a potential threat to property, and the fanning out process to bring in the teams required to resolve the event began.
When the EOC team stated they were going into meetings, there seemed to be a perception that everyone was being called in from the field. This was not the case; the EOC is a pre-designated facility established by the Town to coordinate the overall agency or jurisdictional response and support to an emergency. It is the role of the EOC Management Team to ensure that site support activities are coordinated, and that departments and agencies have sufficient resources and direction to accomplish their missions.
“The structure of an EOC is like a pyramid, regardless of the level. For example, there is always a senior official in charge of an event, with support staff reporting up,” said Furzer, “It is basically an information transfer, with one person in charge the whole time.” Once the situation is resolved, the demobilization phase begins, which means that all assigned positions are deactivated, log books are closed, all required forms, reports, and other documentation are complete. Preparation is made to provide input to the After Action Report, and so on.
The guideline for how to handle an emergency comes from the Alberta Emergency Management Act. More information about emergency’s and procedures in Alberta can be found at www.aema.alberta.ca.