Intershutz 2010 photos

Intershutz 2010

It is like a pilgrimage, travelling to Germany to the world's largest Fire, EMS and Emergency Management exhibition. Held once every 5 years, Intershutz creates an excitement amongst emergency responders from across the world. It was an event that we had to experience so three of the Emergency Management & Training team members made the trek and our expectations were met and exceeded.

Intershutz 2005 attracted more than 135,000 attendees and after attending this week it is easy to believe that 2010 will have just as many.

There was more than 145,000 sq. metres (1.5 Million sq. feet) of indoor show space (yes, Indoor) in 7 buildings and 70,000 sq. metres of outdoor show space with 1,200 different displays. Demonstrations and competitions were scheduled throughout the event.

Dozens of fire apparatus manufacturers from around the world displayed hundreds of trucks including; a 350 ft tall Bronto (world record holder), airport crash trucks, pumpers, rescues, aerials, robot vehicles, mobile command centres, quick response vehicles and much more. The latest innovations in all types of firefighting, hazmat, rescue, training, and other equipment was on display.

For EMS professionals there were dozens of ambulances, buses, response cars and support units on display with the latest in medical and response equipment. Even Demiers, a Canadian ambulance manufacturer had a booth in the Canadian pavilion.

Emergency management displays included everything from water treatment equipment to SAR dogs, mobile hospitals to CBRN detection equipment, and much more.

The most advanced dispatch, communications, resource tracking and GIS systems were on display. Industrial and building fire protection technologies addressed everything from residential housing to large oil refineries and even transportation systems for railways, ships, and aircraft.

We had the opportunity to meet other professionals from all across Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.

Intershutz closes today after a week long run, but will return in 2015. Personally I'm marking my calendar.

With over 400 photos from Intershutz we will only post a few to get you thinking about attending in 2015.

Gulf Coast Disaster and Major Corporations

The continuing story of the BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf Coast is like a horror movie in slow motion. Workers killed and injured, clean up crew members becoming ill, environmental destruction of unimaginable proportions, and economic impacts that will be felt for years to come.

We rely on international companies to be good and ethical corporate citizens but their priorities are to maximize profits. Maximizing profits sometimes means taking risks, focusing on production over safety, and playing down the potential impacts of system failures.

When the Icelandic volcano erupted we included a link to a commentary about an airline flying directly into the closed airspace while petitioning governments to open the airports. The airports were opened while the fully loaded passenger jets were making approaches. Was this a calculated risk in minimize economic losses by the airline?

Automobile manufacturers have suppressed the reports of safety issues including accelerators sticking, fuel tanks subject to explosion, break system failures, etc.

Some coal mining companies have continued to operate with high levels of safety infractions.

Banks knowingly take bets against their own products and loan more funds than they have access to.

Food processing companies and recently a major pharmaceutical company have been in the media for poor quality assurance monitoring processes, poor housekeeping practices and producing products not fit for consumption.

And we could go on and on of major incidents that have occurred, most in North America, over the past couple of years.

A few years earlier, one of the most respected companies at the time, Enron, was creating massive power failures to create the appearance of electricity shortages in order to drive up the electricity rates for the power systems they controlled.

The lesson... just because there is a large, appearing successful corporation doesn't mean everything is above board - the resulting impact can be a Disaster.

For on-going updates on the gulf crisis check the Reuters media outlet:

http://www.reuters.com/subjects/gulf-oil-spill

Tornado's 25th Anniversary

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the F4 tornado's that struck Grand Valley and Barrie killing 12 people and injuring more than 240. The tornado had winds estimated at 400 km per hour.

That day a series of 40 tornado's struck Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Ontario.

The "Barrie Tornado" was a significant event in emergency management in Ontario as it brought to the forefront the dangerous potential tornado's in Ontario.

For additional information check out this link:
http://www.ontariostorms.com/1985/barrie/

Active Hurricane Season Predicted

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA) is predicting a busy hurricane season in the Atlantic.


“If this outlook holds true, this season could be one of the more active on record,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. “The greater likelihood of storms brings an increased risk of a landfall. In short, we urge everyone to be prepared.”

"it's important that families and businesses in coastal communities take steps now to be ready. These include developing a communications plan, putting together a kit, and staying informed of the latest forecasts and local emergency plans. You can't control when a hurricane or other emergency may happen, but you can make sure you're ready."

This is pertinent advice to coastal communities from Texas to Newfoundland and Labrador. Severe hurricanes can move inland hundreds of kilometers with heavy rain, high winds and even tornadoes causing extensive flooding, power failures and other related disruptions.

For the 2010 hurricane forecast and up to date Atlantic storm information check out the NOAA website at http://www.noaa.gov/

Road and Railway Blockades Threatened

Over the past few years, First Nations peoples have established a National Day of Action each summer to protest and make known their grievances with the provincial and federal governments. In previous years these protests have included blocking traffic on Hwy 401 and other highways along with blockages of rail lines.

This year, coinciding with the G8/G20 a group called Red Power United is calling for First Nations communities to protest on June 24 (Thursday before the G8/G20). A website and Facebook page have called for demonstrations at Queens Park in Toronto, the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, and to shut down highways and railways across the province. One entry states that a highway between Hamilton and Toronto will be closed and calls for First Nations people to coordinate other highway closures with each other.

Anger over the HST and its impacts to First Nations people, land claim disputes, fishing / hunting rights, natural resource disputes etc. will be some of the issues being publicized with the protests.

Travel plans in Ontario for June 24??? Bring your patience and alternate route map along with you...

Small Volcano Teaches Big Lessons

When Emergency Planners in Europe were developing their business plans it is unlikely that they were considering a volcano in Iceland. It is not actually critical to identify each and every risk... but to consider the operations that your organization depends on and their disruption.

European planners could have easily examined various transportation disruptions (for whatever reason) and looked at the implications. What if there is no air traffic for a week? What if there is no train traffic for a week? What if the main highway is blocked for a week? Regardless of the cause, one can start to look at the business continuity implications of various transportation risks, communications risks, other infrastructure failures, etc.

Attached is a link to an interesting article in the New Zealand news about an African organization looking at the impact of the Icelandic volcano on European business continuity planning (now if that is not a truly international series of linkages...).

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article466210.ece/Small-volcano-teaches-world-big-lesson


"The only thing that is certain is that there will be more crises, whether due to natural causes, climate change-related or man-made ones such as the recent financial crisis."

G8 / G20 Costs Reach $833 Million

The largest security exercise in Canadian history will cost more than $833 Million dollars. With security concerns ranging from protests to terrorists all efforts are being taken to ensure that the summits are safe.

Some have suggested that such a meeting should be held on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean which might have been far less expensive and have less security issues.

For a video news clip on the newly released security budget go to:


http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100525/g8-g20-security-bill-100525/20100525?hub=TopStoriesV2

Photo: June 17 2002, Kananaskis AB - G8 Summit

Air Defence Anti Tank system and Bombadier Tyler Twohig of 4 AD Regiment based out of Moncton NB deployed as part of Operation GRIZZLY. Operation GRIZZLY was the name of the Canadian Forces support to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the RCMP for the G8 Conference in Kananaskis AB in 2002.
Photo: Sgt. David Snashall Canadian Forces Combat Camera

G8 Transforms Huntsville

Eight of the world's most powerful leaders will be arriving in Huntsville (pop. 19,000) in less than 4 weeks, transforming the quiet vacation destination into a world stage. Along with the leaders, their entourages, thousands of security personnel, media, protesters and those who are just interested in seeing what is going on will descend on Huntsville more than doubling the small communities population.

For an interesting article on the impacts that Huntsville is seeing

http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/813043--g8-brings-trepidation-in-huntsville

Anarchists bomb bank - threaten G8/G20

Back on May 1st we wrote about Anarchists and Black Bloc protest tactics and how some groups were preparing for the G20.

Canada has seen protests before and small riots before, but some groups are proclaiming that they are going to take things up a notch... and they set an example in Ottawa by fire bombing a bank accusing the bank of supporting the Winter Olympics (yes, this is now May and the Olympics ended in February) referring to the disagreements that some First Nations people had with the land claim issues in British Columbia.

Emergency planners for Huntsville and Toronto take note.

You can be sure that security planners are taking this threat very seriously... and you can be sure that a very small portion of the anarchists are looking for confrontation and will create it.

Here is a story on the Ottawa fire bombing.


http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/811291--anarchist-group-claims-responsibility-for-ottawa-bank-firebombing


http://www.ottawasun.com/news/ottawa/2010/05/18/13988216.html

Florida Trip Turns Tragic

This past week I had opportunity to travel to Florida to inspect a new mobile command post / emergency support unit before it is delivered to Ontario. While on the trip we had opportunity to meet up with a group from Ottawa Fire who were at the same manufacturer and were staying at our hotel. They were there inspecting and training on a new Bronto fire apparatus.

We had opportunity to go out to dinner with the Ottawa team the first night, swap stories around the pool, and meet for breakfasts. Unfortunately on the 3rd day of the trip one of the Ottawa contingent passed away in the night.

Maynard McEwan was well respected by his peers who were devastated by his passing.

Our deepest sympathies to Maynard's family and co-workers. He was only 59.


http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Fire+service+suffers+loss+mechanical+officer/3020820/story.html

G8 / G20 - Where will the protests be?

With the G8 in Huntsville and the G20 in Toronto - protest groups have to determine where they will get the most attention and most are choosing Toronto.

With the potential of 40,000 protesters people in Huntsville are breathing a little easier. It doesn't mean that there won't be issues, but the large numbers of people initially expected at the G8 will be significantly reduced.

An interesting article on the decisions being made by protest groups can be found at

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/810103--leaders-papier-mache-heads-to-appear-at-g20-not-g8

Bomb Threat on Vancouver Bound Jet

Canadian Forces CF18s escorted a Cathay Pacific jet with 200 passengers to the Vancouver airport following a bomb threat.

For the story go to thestar.com link below.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/810111--bomb-threat-forces-fighter-jets-to-escort-plane-to-vancouver?bn=1

Canadian Technology to save lives in earthquakes

In collaboration with the University of Ottawa, National Research Council Canada (NRC) is developing high performance structures that incorporate high performance concrete and advanced composite materials to help make critical structures more shock-resistant. The materials are made of fibre-reinforced polymers. By adding a shock absorber, the new construction materials could improve the safety of critical infrastructure in Canada and around the world.

As well as developing new technology, NRC indicated that they are developing a risk management approach, which involves identifying public infrastructure that is critical. The goal would then be to incorporate shock-resistant materials into key structures at critical stress points—such as the load-bearing columns holding up a highway overpass—in order to provide adequate strength and safety margins, and extend their service life.

After NRC's new building materials and systems have been fully evaluated, including testing that simulates the effects of blast or heavy impacts, they will be made available to Canadian companies and critical infrastructure owners.

Check out the NRC website at http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/index.html

Haiti earthquake: Update on Canadians

On May 4 Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada indicated that 1,911 Canadians have been located; 0 Canadians are unaccounted for; 4,620 have been evacuated on 49 flights; and 58 have been confirmed dead.

In other news today: CBC reported that high winds and blowing snow on May 4 & 5 again knocked out power to southern Alberta, this time, 50,000 homes were without electricity. The storm affected Calgary and surrounding areas with Taber and Medicine Hat experiencing the most blackouts.

G8/G20 and Protesters

"Day to day, the tentacles of global capitalism threaten to choke the life from us, and opportunities to attack its nucleus rarely present themselves. Rest assured that when the G20 comes within striking distance this June, we won’t miss."

The above quote is from an anarchist website promoting protests in Toronto this June.

Major meetings of global leaders also bring protesters of many different causes, most peaceful but others intent on creating confrontation. A movement of protesters referred to as the Black Bloc has appeared at major events including previous G8 and G20 meetings and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, dressed in black with their faces covered. (The photos attached are from the Vancouver Olympics earlier this year.)

Black Bloc is not a group, but a method of protest. Internet website provide instructions for Black Bloc protesters including: clothing recommendations to participate in the Black Bloc, “unarresting” or freeing someone who has been arrested, “de-bloc’ing” (tactics to change appearance and fade into the background), defeating police tactics, defensive weapons, etc. Instructions on attacks of police lines, counter-attacks, diversionary moves, flanking, creating barricades to stop police (including burning vehicles), and other tactics are also on these websites.

While, confrontational groups make up a small percentage of the 40,000 anticipated protesters, that still leaves a significant potential for violence, vandalism, and crowd management issues.

And don't expect it to be a one day event. One website states "We strongly encourage all those who would fight alongside us to also support the other actions called for from the 21st through the 27th."

It may be a long hot week in June...

Fuel truck explosion

We see them driving up and down the highway everyday, refueling our local gas stations. Fortunately the safety record is extremely good. But when something does happen it can be a major event. Today in Montreal they were lucky... one injury.


http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/04/27/13740416-cp.html

Volcano Impacts - an intersting perspective

This week Rosie DiManno, a columnist with the Toronto Star published an interesting article on the Volcano in Iceland and the impacts it has had. She has some interesting comments on British Airway's decision to fly when other airlines were grounded. Risk vs Revenue...

Check out the article at
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/798364--dimanno-british-airways-took-a-risk-sending-planes-to-the-u-k

California Quake Warnings Getting Closer to Home

Authorities have warned that if Sunday's earthquake along the Mexican / US border struck in Los Angeles there would have been hundreds of fires and immeasurable losses.

Check out the New York Times article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/us/06plan.html

Canadian Air Marshals

Today's Toronto Star has an interesting article on the RCMP's Canadian Air Carrier Protective Program - better known as Air Marshals.

While the US Air Marshal program has been well known and publicized, the Canadian equivalent has been kept low key.

To read the article go to:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/789883--air-marshals-canada-s-secret-weapons-in-war-on-terror?bn=1

Durham Region Train Derailments - 6 in 6 years

There has been another train derailment in Durham Region this week. It is the 6th in 6 years along the 401 corridor from Pickering to Oshawa.

While railways are generally safe, when there is a derailment it has the potential to become a significant event. 12% of rail traffic carries dangerous goods.

Even with the number of train derailments in the area, we would ask how many organizations including schools and daycare, businesses and families have a plan to evacuate.

If you live within 1.6 km of a high speed railway you should be thinking about your evacuation plans including weekdays, evenings, nights, etc.

For the Toronto Star article go to: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/transportation/article/788421--durham-s-derailment-dilemma

Radio System Failure

How would your organization cope if your primary communications system failed?

Won't happen?

The Washington, D.C. Police, Fire and EMS (EMS operated by Fire) radio system failed for several hours this week. While officials in the US Capitol attempted to tell the media that it was basically business as usual, we know the chaos that this would cause.

Fire fighters operating at a structure fire suddenly without radio communications...

Police officers doing a traffic stop having to call for assistance by making a cell phone call... and hoping the line isn't busy.

Paramedics enroute to a hospital attempting to provide an update to ER staff.

How would your organization react? What are your back up plans? Is everyone familiar with them? How quickly could they be implemented? Do you practice using your back up systems? What resources would you need?

Here is the story in the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/29/AR2010032904028.html?referrer=emailarticle

CANWARN Volunteer Storm Spotters

CANWARN volunteers are storm spotters who report specific weather observations to Environment Canada. Even with high tech computers, radar and satellites, first hand observation of cloud formations and storm activity is still a necessary part of the severe weather warning system.

As a CANWARN volunteer you attend a 3 hour training session once a year. Information on CANWARN training is below along with some interesting facts from Geoff Coulson, Meterologist with Environment Canada.




"Folks…hope everyone has been enjoying the amazing start to the month of March. The warm, sunny weather is a prelude to what we will be seeing a lot more often by late April. The return of warm and humid weather in April will also herald the start of the spring/summer severe weather season in Ontario. This severe weather will take the form of powerful thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds, flooding rains, large hail and tornadoes. The 2009 season had a number of significant events. On July 9th three American tourists lost their lives in a fishing camp in Northwestern Ontario north of Dryden when a Fujita Scale 2 tornado moved through the camp. On August 20th, 18 tornadoes were spawned from a series of supercell thunderstorms that moved over southcentral and eastern Ontario. These 18 tornadoes represented a new Canadian record for most tornadoes in one day. Yet another milestone will be reached this spring, May 31st, 2010 will be the 25th anniversary of the Barrie and Grand Valley tornadoes…the last confirmed Fujita Scale 4 tornadoes to occur in Ontario…that, between them, took 11 lives.

CANWARN volunteer storm spotters continue to play an integral role in Environment Canada's severe weather watch/warning program. I would encourage you to come out to a training session near you...

On behalf of my colleagues at the Ontario Storm Prediction Centre, I would like to thank all of you for being a part of this very important program. Your timely reports of severe weather are greatly appreciated and help in increasing the safety and security of the people of Ontario. I look forward to seeing some of you at the training sessions this year. So without further ado…here are the list of this year's sessions as things stand now…"

Windsor - Monday, April 12th 7 PM - Caboto Club 2175 Parent Avenue

London - Tuesday, April 13th 7 PM - Four Points Sheraton Hotel 1150 Wellington Road

Hamilton - Saturday, April 17th 9 AM - Nash Auditorium, Wilcox Building, Chedoke Hospital, Sanitorium Road

Sarnia - Tuesday, April 20th 7 PM - Kinsmen Centre (Oakroom Room) 656 Lakeshore Road

Peterborough - Tuesday, April 20th 7 PM - Canadian Canoe Museum 910 Monaghan Road

Kitchener - Wednesday April 21st 7 PM - Bingemans Conference Centre - 425 Bingemans Centre Drive

Orillia - Saturday, April 24th 9 AM - Highwayman Inn - 201 Woodside Drive

Toronto - Saturday, May 1st 9 AM - Environment Canada Headquarters 4905 Dufferin St (Dufferin south of Steeles Avenue)

Cornwall - Saturday, May 1st 9 AM - Cornwall Legion 415 Second St. W.

Ottawa - Saturday, May 8th 9 AM - Kanata Legion 70 Hines Road

Sudbury - Saturday, May 15th 9:30 AM - Lionel E. Lalonde Centre 239 Montee Principale, Azilda

Sault Ste Marie - Sunday, May 16th 7 PM - Waterfront Inn - 208 St. Mary's Drive

Timmins - Monday, May 17th 7 PM - Days Inn - 14 Mountjoy St. South

North Bay - Wednesday, May 19th 7 PM - Ontario Provincial Police Communication Centre - 877 Gormanville Road

Northwestern Ontario - week of June 7th - exact dates/locations to be determined

Regards,

Geoff Coulson
Warning Preparedness Meteorologist
Météorologue de sensibilisation aux conditions menaçantes
Ontario Region Client Services
Service à la clientèle, Région de l'Ontario
Environment Canada Environnement Canada
Goverment of Canada Gouvernement du Canada

Profound Insights From Day Dreaming

Emergency service workers and emergency planners focus on the hard facts. What are the hazards and risks, how do we prevent or mitigate them, what is the response plan, implementing command and control, dealing with victims and the displaced, implementing a recovery plan and so on.

But sometimes the best planning comes from sitting back and allowing you mind to wander. Our brains have an amazing ability to gather facts, recover information stored long ago, and come up with creative solutions.

A friend has sent me the following link; a very interesting read about the creative benefits Day Dreaming.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/08/31/daydream_achiever/?page=1

Gordon Lightfoot Dead???

Would the media always ensure they were publishing accurate and confirmed information on your organization? We all hope so, but if they don't do you have a plan?


Gordon Lightfoot learned of his death this past week while listening to the radio in his car. One of his first concerns was that his daughter, who was at school, would hear of his death.

A reporter for a national media chain received a "twitter" and immediately sent out his own twitter and published a story on the media website advising of Gordon Lightfoot's death. Within minutes media outlets were circulating the story.

One of the purposes of a crisis communications plan and strategy is to assist in correcting inaccuracies.

Gordon Lightfoot's correction plan was pretty simple, call the radio station and do an impromptu interview. Unfortunately it is not always that straight forward.

But the lesson is clear, you may need to use your crisis communications plan even when you do not have a real crisis.

Getting the Message Out!

Drinking and driving kills, maims and changes lives forever.

In my 28 years in emergency services I have been at far to many collisions caused by impaired drivers resulting in deaths, permanent injuries and never ending pain for family members. We must continue to educate youth, stop friends / family from driving while impaired, and call the police when we see an impaired driver.

Impaired driving is a crime! It is the leading cause of criminal death in Canada.

Attached is a link to a very dramatic public education video from Australia.


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Z2mf8DtWWd8

And here is a link from a documentary that we were able to have a small part in assisting - After The Crash. This documentary follow ups on the impacts of actual crashes caused by impaired driving.

http://www.rogerstv.com/option.asp?lid=237&rid=23&mid=52&gid=54041#89_168_3321

Crisis Communications & Toyota

We have long been focused on ensuring our clients have a crisis communications strategy. With Terry Blace, former media manager for the OPP, joining our team we brought in top notch expertise to assist our clients.

We can often look at examples in the current spotlight for lessons to be learned.

Newsweek has published an interesting article called "Toyota's Digital Disaster", a look at how the Internet, social media etc. has impacted Toyota's challenge in addressing their communications crisis.

The subtitle is "In the Google era, how do you manage a product recall and a public-relations fiasco? Don't do what Toyota's done."

The article can be read at http://www.newsweek.com/id/232962/page/1

While your organization may not have a world wide recall of products you still should be prepared with a crisis communications strategy for issues that may impact your public support in your community and with your stakeholders.

Industrial Safety Trainers

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Randy and Cathy Dignard of Industrial Safety Trainers on having their company selected by the Ministry of Labour to make an announcement about a provincial safety blitz.

Labour Minister Peter Fonseca attended the Industrial Safety Trainers offices and training facility in Barrie to reaffirm the province's commitment to reducing workplace injuries and deaths. Several television, newspaper and trade magazines had reporters at Industrial Safety Trainers while Minister Fonseca made his speech, showed an new public awareness video, and toured the Industrial Safety Trainers "Safety Bus" (a mobile class room).

Industrial Safety Trainers with a team of 15 serves more than 5,000 client organizations (including Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire) and has trained tens of thousands of workers.

Randy and Cathy have been business role models and examples for Darryl Culley in building Emergency Management and Training. Darryl frequently applies Randy's advice and examples in marketing and other business issues.

Having the Ministry of Labour make an announcement at your business is a huge recognition of the respect that Industrial Safety Trainers has in their field.

Congratulations to Randy, Cathy and the team at Industrial Safety Trainers.

For more information on workplace safety training go to: http://www.thesafetybus.com/

Social Media and Disaster Response

New technologies and social media are providing for more rapid and unfiltered communications from the earthquake ravished Haiti.

USA Today has published an article that examines one way in which Twitter and other social medias have changed the way disasters are responded to.



"WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department has joined the social-media movement and for the first time is reading Twitter posts, blogs and Internet forums to learn instantly about conditions in Haiti and send alerts to government agencies in the country.

The department's Haiti Social Media Disaster Monitoring Initiative is designed to get information more quickly to people involved in recovery efforts by tracking up to 60 Internet sites including Google Blog Search, The Huffington Post and Twitter, according to a department report."

Read the full story at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2010-02-01-haiti-monitor-social-media_N.htm

Live Call-In Television

It was an honor to be a guest on the Rogers TV live call-in show Talk Local to discuss the earthquake in Haiti. Lucy Purdy is a talented host, and it was great to have a friend, Peter McGuinniss, Regional Disaster Coordinator (Simcoe / Muskoka) of the Canada Red Cross on the show. He is a wealth of knowledge and a very dedicated volunteer with the Red Cross. It is volunteers like Peter who make the Red Cross such an effective (and cost efficient) organization.

The work in Haiti to bring relief continues and there is still a need for donations - http://www.redcross.ca/

Thank you for your generosity and out pouring of support for the people of Haiti.

Guest on Talk Local, Rogers TV

This evening Darryl Culley, President of Emergency Management & Training Inc. will be a guest on Talk Local, Rogers TV along with Peter McGuinniss, Regional Disaster Coordinator for the Red Cross to talk about the earthquake in Haiti.

Darryl is honored to be invited to be a guest for his 4 appearance on this live call in television show. The last appearance was to discuss H1N1.

Darryl is looking forward to being joined by Peter, who has been spearheading fundraising for the Haiti earthquake recovery in Simcoe County and Muskoka District. The Red Cross gets 93% of its donations on the ground in Haiti and is the largest NGO relief responder in the world. More information on the Red Cross response to Haiti and other areas of need can be found at www.redcross.ca.

Watch for us at 9:00 pm EST on Rogers TV.

Hundreds volunteer to go to Haiti

As the images of devastation unfold over the Internet, on television and print media there is a great desire stirred within people to help.





Recently on the television news there was a story about a group of caring individuals volunteering to go to Haiti but not finding a way to get there. They talked about the people who were dying while they were waiting here for someone to fly them to the Caribbean island. Unfortunately it is not that easy.





Tens of thousands of personnel from dozens of countries around the world have arrived in Haiti to perform rescue, medical aid, provide food and water, re-establish communications networks, clear debris, re-establish a viable government, and start rebuilding.





The earthquake knocked the main airport out of service and closed the main shipping port. American air force personnel arrived to set up a portable radar and control centre. Hundreds of military and charter flights started to arrive immediately bringing highly trained urban search and rescue teams from the USA, Europe, and even Iceland. Medical teams were arriving from Canada, USA, Mexico, Europe, the United Nations. Various NGOs (non-government organizations) that have been operating in Haiti for many years such as the Red Cross, World Vision, Salvation Army and others were ramping up their response. Other experienced and equipped groups such as Global Medic, with significant experience in responding to disasters sent teams down.





With so many responders and an even greater need the area is divided up geographically with teams assigned specific neighbourhoods and communities to operate in. Travel is difficult with road blocked by debris and a lack of fuel for vehicles.





But there is a very important point: all of these teams are self sufficient - they bring their own food, water, accommodation (tents), rescue/medical equipment, communications, translators, security, transportation and even fuel.





One cannot just pack their suitcase, ask for a flight and expect a hotel to accommodate them when they get there. If you are not properly equipped, trained and self sufficient, you then become more of a burden than a help.





I recall a media story after Hurricane Katrina, where a well meaning and caring Canadian woman loaded the trunk of her car with blankets the day after the Hurricane and headed south. She was upset that she was stopped at the US border as they told her that her good intent wasn't sufficient, so she went to the media who gave her 5 minutes of fame.





If you are serious about making a commitment to respond large scale disaster then make a commitment to an organization who responds: Canadian Red Cross Disaster Relief, Global Medic (http://www.globalmedic.ca/), World Vision, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam International, etc. Find out what the prerequisites are, volunteer for the training and put the preparation in now.





What can you do right now? Donate!





Make a donation to an organization who is actively involved in the Haiti recovery. http://www.globalmedic.ca/, http://www.redcross.ca/, http://www.worldvision.ca/, http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/,





Rebuilding Haiti will take many years. There will be a need for volunteers with construction experience, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical, small engine repair, solar/wind power generation, etc.





A long term demand for nursing and medical assistance will continue for those who are recovering from injuries and in stabilizing the medical system again as several hospitals were destroyed.



There are many groups who operate orphanages, schools and community supports that will require volunteers.

Just because you can't go today doesn't mean you can't make a difference later. But start planning, training and preparing now.

Earthquakes - there are faults everywhere

Frequently when I am speaking about a HIRA process (Hazard Identification and Risk Analysis) I will mention the fact that the Ottawa river is on a fault line and that hundreds of very minor tremors occur every year. This should and does cause architects to design buildings with some ability to withstand a degree of earthquakes.

Attached is a link to an interesting story in the Toronto Star about faults.


http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/751748--our-fractured-planet-s-faults?bn=1



Photo is of the San Andreas Fault in California which caused the 1906 San Francisco earthquake which killed 3,000 people and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake which resulted in 63 deaths.

Social Media - Real Time Reporting From Haiti

Terry Blace, a communications and media expert with Emergency Management & Training has been watching, like all of us, the devestation in Haiti. But one of the major changes, quickly identified by Terry, was how Twitter, Facebook, and "I" reports using cell phone cameras etc. have brought us to the scene quicker and without editing. Often very graphic pictures and stories have awakened the world to the desperate struggle for survival of many Haitians.

Terry has forwarded this CTV news article reinforcing his early observations.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100113/haiti_citizenjournalism_100113/20100113


Citizen journalism is changing the way we view events and the world.

Public Health Issues and Priorities for Haiti

The US Center for Disease Control has issued a short update on the public health issues and priorities for Haiti following the earthquake.


http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/earthquakes/healthconcerns_haiti.asp

Following the earthquake, most pressing public health concerns in Port-au-Prince and surrounding affected areas will include:

• Adequate quantity and quality of water
• Food security
• Appropriate shelter and protection from the elements
• Prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal, respiratory, and vector-borne illnesses
• Provision of health services to prevent maternal and infant deaths
• Prevention of violence and further unintentional injury
• Treatment of kidney failure due to crush injuries
• Prevention of deaths from infected wounds
• Prevention and treatment of inflamed lung tissue caused by concrete dust

The CDC also note that dead bodies rarely spread disease and that epidemics are rarely caused by earthquake.

For more information check out the link above.

Impacts of H1N1 on Productivity

Statistics Canada is reporting that 1.5 Million people booked of sick in November 2009 as a result of H1N1 resulting in 29.5 Million hours of lost work time in Canada. Approximately 9% of workers booked off sick, averaging 20 hours of lost work time.

Employees with children living at home were off sick twice as much as employees without children. Employees with children under 12 had the highest absentism rates at 15%.

During the same time, 600,000 health care workers put in an additional 8.6 million work hours in November 2009 responding to the demands of H1N1.

More information is available at the Stats Canada website:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100115/dq100115c-eng.htm

The economic and financial impacts of H1N1 are signifant. If the influenza had been more serious the strain on the economy would have massive impacts on every Canadian. Are companies truly prepared?

Earthquake in Haiti

Our thoughts go out to the millions of people in Haiti affected by Wednesday's earthquake. At the moment the death toll is more than 50,000 and rising. Injuries and illness caused by the earthquake combined with tropical diseases, lack of clean water and sanitation systems, and a collapse of the hospitals may result in many more deaths in the days and weeks to come.

According to news reports 4 Canadians have been confirmed dead and several are still missing at this time.

Governments from around the world along with NGOs (non-government organizations such as the Red Cross, World Vision, and Global Medic) are responding to the suffering of this impoverished nation. Canada is mobilizing the Canadian Forces Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART), as well as additional medical teams and two navy ships; HMCS Halifax and HMCS Athabaskin.

We would encourage donations through reputable agencies: www.redcross.ca, www.globalmedic.ca and www.worldvision.ca.

Unfortunately there are may unscrupulous people out there making it difficult to determine who is collecting for ligitimate relief and who are taking advantage of the outpouring of support. If you aren't sure, stick with a reputable agency.

News reports are being updated regularly at www.ctv.ca/news

Terrorism - closer than you might think

Attached is a link to an interesting article for the Toronto Star on potential terrorism links in Toronto.

"Five ethnic Somali men disappeared from Scarborough this fall, all friends believed recruited into Al-Shabab. Three are said by family associates to have since phoned home from Somalia."

"For Torontonians, al-Shabab recruitment presents another terrifying possibility: A fanatic returns to explode himself in a crowd."

"Or as RCMP Commissioner William Elliott put it in October: "The potential follow-on threat is Somali-Canadians who travel to Somalia to fight and then return, imbued with both extremist ideology and the skills necessary to translate it into direct action.""

For the full article go to:




http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/745524--fanatic-convert-to-terrorism-spent-year-in-toronto

Interesting Contacts

Earlier this month I had opportunity to take an amazing Tony Robbins' DWD course at the Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix AZ.

First, let me say DWD was the most dynamic course I have ever taken and would highly recommend it. It is an inspiring way to get one's life in focus. http://www.tonyrobbins.com/

Secondly, what an incredible reminder of the small world it is. While standing near the front with a new friend, an investment banker from Chicago, there was a tap on my shoulder. "Are you from Canada" was the question. It turns out, Dr. Russ Irwin, now a psychiatrist and professor at McMaster University Medical School was in my paramedic class in Niagara College many years ago. It had been more than 25 years since we had last been in touch.

And third, with 2000 people from 49 different countries it was an opportunity to meet many new friends, one of whom is Rodney.

Dr. Rodney Payton OBE (Order of the British Empire) has a Masters in Education, a Law Degree and is a highly decorated consultative surgeon, author and speaker. One of Rodney's specialties is in the motivation, training and appraisal of medical staff. His books include "Best Practices in Surgical Education", "Appraisal and Assessment in Medical Practice", and "Teaching & Learning in Medical Practice".

Check out his website and online book store at http://www.jwrodneypeyton.com/

Olympic Security Must Tighten

A story published by The Canadian Press today examines some of the Olympic security issues over past events and how the lessons must apply to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.


http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/12/26/12272271-cp.html

Toronto 3rd Most Vulnerable City

Toronto maybe the third most vulnerable city in North America to disease exposure acording to a Toronto Star article.

Pearson International Airport sees more than 32 Million passengers a year with direct international flights accounting for more than 10 million passengers. The potential of bringing disease along with the passengers is signficant.

Read the article at: http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/722788--pearson-airport-flu-magnet?bn=1

Olympic Torch Run Protests

On the first day of the Olympic Torch Run hundreds of protesters in Victoria BC disrupted the planned run and celebrations.

The Canadian Press reported protesters representing a variety of causes were there, from environmentalists to anti-war demonstrators to native-rights advocates.

Several anti-Olympics groups have sprouted up as the Games approach, promising to protest not just the torch relay but the Games themselves. The Olympic Resistance Network has sent out a call for activists across the country to use the relay to protest the Winter Games or other issues.

While the protest was generally peaceful protesters used marbles to put police horses, which were present to monitor the crowd, at risk of injury by falling.

Some activists have said they were inspired by the protests along the international torch relay ahead of last year's Beijing Olympics, primarily targeting China's human rights record. Those demonstrations showed the torch presents a useful podium for getting a message out to the world.

For the full story from the Canadian Press go to: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091031/national/oly2010_torch_protests

While we hope that the Olympic Torch Run is seen as a celebration as it crosses our great country, communities where it is passing need to be prepared for the protests that may accompany it.

Provincial Emergency Management Conference

An amazing success.

After EMO cancelled their plans to host the annual Provincial Emergency Management Conference, the Red Cross (Ontario Zone) stepped in with only two months to go and they did a great job. Having been at many emergency management conferences, this one would rate at the very top. The organization was well done, the speakers were interesting, the program was jam packed, and the networking was great. Of course, Deerhurst is a wonderful place for a conference.

Congratulations to John Saunders (conference advisor), Annie Burke (conference chair), Tammy Fedick (registration), Jean Lodge (program), and Jack Lodge (logistics) and all of their volunteer support for a job well done. Special thanks to Jean and Jack Lodge for the evening of entertainment. Annie deserves a special round of applause for her leadership.

The Red Cross demonstrated in so many ways, through the successful rescuing of this conference, how they can be counted on. Ron, you have a great team.