Trust in our Institutions

[YZT580]

Most emergency responses have to start locally, where the situational knowledge is best.

Pandemics by definition are not local.

but the sharp edge of the response is local. All responses, even for COVID, are administered at the local level. National or provincial can mandate certain processes or be the go-to agency for resources as mentioned above but it is your neighbours who will be tasked with compliance. So collaborate with the provinces to identify the processes and supplies, establish a caretaker process and then leave it.
Consider, we have requirements annually for systems in place what with floods and fires but the response from OW always appears to be too little and too late. So buy the 515's we should have ordered a dozen when DeHavilland first said they would open an assembly line. Buy bulldozers and RIBs and any other gear necessary for flood response and train up the crews. Those processes don't require a committee. Leave health to the provinces. Even a pandemic is simply a local problem in a lot of locales simultaneously

 

[Brad Sallows]

Even a pandemic is simply a local problem in a lot of locales simultaneously

Pretty much every problem decomposes into small pieces, and the execution has to be decentralized. But disjointed responses are no way to deal with a pandemic. A thing about most public emergencies - which is playing out in the southeast US now - is that resources from all over can easily be concentrated with at worst inconveniences to those temporarily deprived of the services of their "local" assets (eg. line crews). During a pandemic, resources have to be allocated carefully.

 

[mariomike]

but the sharp edge of the response is local.

Locally ( municipal ), we have HUSAR CAN-TF3.

CAN-TF3 is operated by Toronto Fire Services, in collaboration with Toronto Police and Toronto Paramedic Services.

CAN-TF3 can respond to situations outside of the city, and offers provincial, national and international assistance.

 

[Furniture]

Locally ( municipal ), we have HUSAR CAN-TF3.

CAN-TF3 is operated by Toronto Fire Services, in collaboration with Toronto Police and Toronto Paramedic Services.

CAN-TF3 can respond to situations outside of the city, and offers provincial, national and international assistance.

It's one of the six locally led, and federally supported HUSAR teams in Canada.

One of the few things Canada seems to have done right with emergency preparedness.

 

[kratz]

Pretty much every problem decomposes into small pieces, and the execution has to be decentralized. But disjointed responses are no way to deal with a pandemic. A thing about most public emergencies - which is playing out in the southeast US now - is that resources from all over can easily be concentrated with at worst inconveniences to those temporarily deprived of the services of their "local" assets (eg. line crews). During a pandemic, resources have to be allocated carefully.

A couple of the tenets of disaster and emergency management is to foster collaboration and cooperation between all stakeholders, prior to an event. When this is achieved, local responses are more effective and potential hazards are greatly reduced. Recent Canadian experience demonstrates we benefiting from our current response , either by accident of fortune. Compared to American disasters, we are experiencing substantially lower loss of life and less damages...so far. One example referred to last week was how the annual evacuation exercise assisted in the recent Jasper AB wildfires. In this example, local residents and responders knew what to do, saving more lives, rather than waiting hours for others to arrive from outside to assist.

The discussion last week centred on holding current organisations accountable for their responsibilities instead of creating more bloat. For more then 20 years, the emergency stockpile has been mismanaged, with no modern logistics or technology introduced, despite several reports making these very commendations. Instead of a new organization, one suggestion is to follow FEMA's "on-call" contract method. While the discussion acknowledged "on-call" contracts are an expensive tool, they provide solutions to some of the issues being argued for continuing to do what we are already doing.