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1 Building CapacityUnderstanding GoalsMeasurable, sustainable resultsAdded valueGain Advantage

Capacity Building defined is understanding the obstacles that inhibit organizations from realizing their developmental goals while enhancing the abilities that will allow them to achieve measurable and sustainable results. For those that are planning strategically, as we all should be this concept dovetails.

Govt of Nfld defines Community Capacity Building (CCB) as a process whereby local partners add value to communities. It is about developing the capacity of communities to respond to their own challenges and opportunities.

Adding value is gaining an advantage. A challenge is presented, and the outcome is more than what was anticipated or the effort to achieve the expected results requires less resources.

In terms of a municipal emergency that may mean a quicker mitigation, a shortened recovery, less tax dollars used, improved life safety, better optics, less strain on your personnel

Our theory is that building partnerships, builds capacity. Building and fostering partnerships allows your municipality to do more with less, to spread the workload and specialize, to aquire a system of experts that are familiar with your systems.

2ExpectationsRelevant, comprehensive planBusiness continuity programExercisesEffective EOCRelevant resourcesControl riskMake bosses look good

If a blimp carrying tubs of cyanide and manned by homicidal elvis impersonators crashes in the middle of town, your plan is expected to have provisions. My city manager asked me what in my estimation was our percentage of readiness?

Pandemic, labour shut down, power outage, computer compromise all very specialized fields, but its your job to plan for them

Must exercise your plan, do the powers that be have any idea how hard it is to develop measurable objectives, coordinate the groups, etc etc?

Lets pick the crappiest, dingiest spot the municipality owns and call that the EOC.

Relevant resources. Do you update your plan monthly? Out of date.

What hazards do you know about? What can you control? Transfer, avoid, reduce, share, accept.

What do politicians want? Peace of mind and no surprises. 3The ConsequencesUnacceptable RiskLoss of controlOpticsFinancialLoss of trust

Death, injury, property damage, infrastructure loss, environmental impact? Part of what you are selling your council and citizens is peace of mind, can you do that alone?

Type A creed: I only want to control every aspect of every persons or organization with whom I am in any way affiliated. Not to much to ask? Mindless obedience is all we ask. When you start to infringe on others sense of control is when conflict develops. If you can delegate control, then you still retain some of that control.

Perception is reality, The optics of a situation are the reality. The media play on the perception, the what ifs. What was it like not what were the measurable indicators. Have you been interviewed before?

Potential is huge for big losses.

How do you gain that back? Are you prepared to make decisions without consultation, without peers to survey and elicit feedback from?

4The RealitiesNorth BattlefordNo full time EPONot a priorityUncontrolled risksTime managementBuy inEgos

Fire chief, director of safety and standards, 40 employees, member executive, council has agenda, planning and growing departments, dad, husband, amateur rock star

Busy with operations, preventions, managing, putting out literal and figurative fires

Immediate needs.

Highway, railway, weather, human stupidity are all risks cant control

Not just EPO, executive staff who function as emergency control group., busy people, accountants, engineers,

Really what is the likelihood? I have roads to fix, flowers to plant, inspections to do..

Are your executive like minded, do they think emergency preparedness is as important as you do?

You wouldnt think that people with huge egos would have huge inferi

Our philosophy 5Guiding PrinciplesPlan strategicallyDo what we do wellFind others to fill the gaps

Flood 2010

Flood 2010July 2267 mm PrecipitationStorm drains pluggedConcurrent emergencies250+ houses floodedPower outages

Flood 2010

Some pics

9Flood 2010

Notice how it is around intersections, low lying areas, scatteredHasty teams went out and meighbours would have one flooded, one not, difficult to get a tally10Flood 2010State of Emergency 45 minEOC Activated 1 hourReception Center 2 hoursPartners on site 2 hoursHasty teams 1 hour

State of Emergency 45 minEOC Activated 1 hourReception Center 2 hoursPartners on site 2 hoursHasty teams 2 hours

11Flood 2010Task force Information lines manned 24 hrsRelief and Recovery CenterAccommodations for debrisEOC active

Flood 2010LessonsAll hazards information packetsUpdate resource lists Mutual aidPracticeICSMediaCultural

Premake some info sheets with generic info that you can fill in. Important phone numbers, utilities etc

Resource lists 6 months old are too old. Have your partners lists available?

Do you have signed agreements? Do you know what to expect from them?

Tabletops and paper exercises serve as teaching tools and allow roles to be consolidated.

Do you have an ICS? Do they? You need to.

Whats your relationship with the media?

We have many Serbian, filipino, mexican residents. A crisis to them is not the same as to you and me. They are more resilient and less likely to bring forth concerns. Language can be a barrier, do you have translateors? 13Wildfire 2011September 28, 201170 km / hr windsVery dry conditionsRapid fire spread1.8 km in 15 minutes

Wildfire 2011

Wildfire 2011

Wildfire 20113rd alarm and mutual aid9 agencies involvedEvacuationConcurrent emergenciesFire spread across barriers

As opposed to the flood this was an incident that was over very quickly and did not have long term consequences.

NBFES, BFD, NBSC, Police, RM, WPD EMS, Highways, Highway Patrol, 17Wildfire 2011SuccessICSAccountability DelegatingCommunications

Partnershipsthe whole is more powerful than the sum of its parts

Collaboration can help you better align resources with needs, reduce competition, increase effectiveness, and make your results more sustainable.

ChallengesWork outside historical boundariesDedicate people, skills, energy Diversity of priorities and culture; andAlign their organizational plans and operations as part of a system that needs to function seamlessly and harmoniously

Building CapacityCollaborative effortsAddress a specific problem or opportunity.Work on a broad agenda of mutually beneficial goals.Provide a forum to vet and respond to community concerns, interests, resources.

Building CapacityOur partnersMutual AidNGOsMedia

Moving ForwardIncident CommandEOCAgreementsReducing responsibilityResilient populaceSocial mediaMedia use

CollaborationWeyburn

Swift Current