Session 5 0900 – 1030
Integrated Emergency Management: Joined Up Perspectives
Professor David Alexander, CESPRO, University of Florence, Italy
Resilience begins at the local level with the protection of communities. However, in order to ensure that disaster risk reduction is a system rather than a loose collection of operatives, there need to be adequate connections and interactions between all the participants and providers of services, including different departments and levels of government, as well as between the public and private sectors. There also needs to be a strong connection between the planners and the beneficiaries of their actions, the citizens who are at risk of disaster. This session focuses on how to integrate the many tasks and functions involved in reducing disaster risk and how to create a coherent system that achieves good results.
From Citizen to Preparedness Planner
Kerstin Eriksson, University of Lund, Sweden
When a disaster strikes there is a need for the society at large to be involved in the response, this includes for example public authorities, private companies, NGOs and citizens. To better prepare for managing such situations there is a need to include all these actors during preparedness planning. This presentation explores how best this may be done and the challenges that it presents.
Emergency Managers Confront Climate Change
John Labadie PhD, CHMM, University of Washington, Strategic Advisor, Seattle Public Utilities, USA
This presentation explores the important intersection of emergency management, environmental management, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. It examines the different definitions of terms common to all three fields, the overlapping strategies used in all three fields, and the best means of collaboration and mutual re-enforcement among the three to confront and solve the many possible futures that we may face in the climate change world.
Shallow Water Rescue Service - Flooding in Italy
Fire Chief Ing Ennio Aquilino and Fire Deputy Chief Roberto Trapassi - Fire Department of Grosseto
In Italy, fire departments respond to public emergencies and also coordinate the management of response teams, especially in flooding - because of the Law on Public Safety and Civil Defence this is imperative. The response provided by the Fire Department over the years to extreme events of emergency, such as floods, has improved and become more efficent due to continuous development of technologies and standardisation of the organised response.
1030-1100 Break
Session 6 1100 – 1230
Vital Resources in Disaster Response
Craig A. Nemitz, CEM – Director of Field Services, The Global FoodBanking Network
The key resources needed in response to disaster include water, food and shelter. Prepositioning, stockpiling, transporting and distributing resources is a crucial part of disaster planning, response and recovery. How can this best be done and where is there room for improvement?
Developing individual responsibility and animal friendly preparedness in the face of disasters
Melissa Seide Rubin BA, Manager 5 Animal Care Centers and Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association, USA
In response to disaster, and equally important to government roles, individuals need to take personal responsibility for the well being of their family and their community, including their animals. This presentation will consider what type of disaster to plan for, who to network with, how to get the message out to the community, how to set up animal friendly preparedness, evacuation, and sheltering options, and what individuals need to do in order to be best prepared.
How can communities become more resilient
Benjamin Curran, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Headquarter, Washington D.C., USA
Communities around the world are affected by disasters throughout the year. The immediate effects are often devastating and the longer-term recovery process is a long and slow one. However, communities that are able to invest socially, programmatically, and in other ways in building community networks, community involvement, emergency management training and exercises find that a certain level of sustainable community resilience provides a valuable buffer in the event of a disaster. This presentation will focus on some of the ways communities can introduce community resilience into their everyday life, what the barriers and constraints may be, and how they may benefit from enhanced community resilience.
Preparing communities to face disasters
Kevin Smith, CEM, Director of Emergency Disaster Services, Florida Division, Salvation Army, USA
US Domestic guidance on appropriate disaster preparedness is founded on assumptions that the basic life sustaining needs were being met the day before the disaster began. The earthquake in Haiti shakes this message to its foundation. How do you respond to communities and individuals that were fighting for survival the day before the disaster? This presentation will identify the challenges faced regarding rebuilding existing infrastructure, organizationally and community wide with limited resources. Lessons learned in a global response to a local event will be explored with an opportunity for discussion and input from attendees.
1230 - 1400 Lunch
Session 7 1445 – 1545
Health Aspects of Disaster Response
Gillian Dacey - Emergency Response Department, Health Protection Agency, UK
The health requirements of communities affected by disasters are varied and dependant on a number of factors including the nature of the disaster and resultant injuries, underlying health issues in the population, and the socio-economic status of the population. Effective resilience and the response of health systems and communities to disasters is critical to ensure a reduction in mortality and morbidity following disaster. But how are these issues best planned for, coordinated and implemented?
Saving lives at the scene of a disaster: the development of the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART)
Jamie Fountain, HART project lead, Department of Health, UK
Experience has shown that many lives may be saved which might otherwise be lost if ambulance services personnel are trained to work in the ‘hot zone’ (inner cordon) of a major incident. This presentation will describe the development of the UK HART programme focusing on the evolving operational response, the training and equipment used and the benefits it brings.
Communities as sources of Psychosocial Resilience
Professor Richard Williams, University of Glamorgon, UK
Arguably, psychosocial resilience is core to people’s recovery after major incidents and disasters. This presentation will provide an overview of the topic and use experience from recent events to illustrate personal and collective psychosocial resilience. It will outline what can be done to promote resilience through communities and highlight the role of peer support in sustaining the staff of organisations that respond to emergencies.
1545 -1615 Break
Session 8 1615 – 1730
Disaster Management Case Studies
Per Øyvind Semb, Head of Section, Strategic Crisis Management and Emergency Planning, Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning, Norway
Recently there have been a number of disasters which have caused severe problems for the communities involved. Three of these disasters, the devastating bushfires in Australia in 2009, the volcanic eruption in Iceland in Spring 2010 and the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, have all resulted in new perspectives and improved mechanisms with regard to readiness, response and recovery within civil protection and crisis management.
Urban design to increase bushfire resilience - lessons from Australia
Dr Alan March, Senior Lecturer, Urban Planning and Design, University of Melbourne, Australia
There is currently little empirical knowledge using urban design thinking to reduce bushfire risks. This presentation will use data from the devastating 2009 bushfires in Victoria, Australia, employing a case-study approach to identify why certain parts of built-up areas are more susceptible to bushfire-attack than others and what lessons may be learned.
Emergency response to volcanic eruption in Iceland
Mrs Dóra Hjálmarsdóttir Msc, Electrical Engineer TU Karlsruhe, Germany and Department Manager for Safety and Quality and copartner at Verkís Consulting Ltd
On the 20th of March 2010 a volcanic eruption began in Eyjafjallajökull in the South of Iceland. Civil Emergency Plans were activated and the inhabitants evacuated in view of the danger of flooding. On the 15th of April the glaciers main crater started erupting pounding large amount of ashes into the atmosphere. This eruption caused a repeated evacuation of inhabitants, floods, devastation of farmland, response by utility companies and immense disruption of international air traffic. No deaths or severe injuries were directly related to the disaster. The presentation reviews the emergency planning and actions prior to the eruption, the response before and during the eruption and the aftermath with focus on the civil protection and utility response, including information on experience gained and lessons learned.
Conclusions from IDER 2011
Simon Langdon, Director CEDARthree Limited and Chairman of IDER 2011 Conference Committee
1730 IDER 2011 Ends
IDER 2011
CONFERENCE - Thursday 14th