About the Burnaby Emergency Program
Community Emergency Programs are responsible for coordinating the systems and processes for mitigating against, preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies and disasters.
The City maintains an Emergency Program office to work with city departments, local businesses, other emergency service agencies, schools, post-secondary institutions, utility providers and all levels of government, including neighbouring municipalities, provincial and federal governments. This office ensures that Burnaby is resilient, and helps us prepare for and deal with emergencies.
Burnaby’s Emergency Program involves more than just preparing plans and ensuring adequate numbers of people, facilities, equipment and supplies are available to meet the requirements of the various emergency situations it may be faced with. It is a very active and progressive program, which consists of a number of strategies and initiatives.
These strategies and initiatives fall into one, and frequently cross into two or more, of the four pillars of emergency management:
- Mitigation and Prevention
- Preparedness
- Response
- Recovery
Mitigation and Prevention
Mitigation and Prevention include activities designed to eliminate or reduce the impacts and risks of hazards before an emergency or disaster occurs. Prevention and mitigation may be considered independently or one may include the other.
In Burnaby, land-use management, building and maintenance of protective structures, such as flood dykes and public education campaigns, are examples of these activities.
Preparedness
Being prepared means being ready to respond to a disaster and manage its consequences through measures taken prior to an event.
In Burnaby, we prepare through business continuity planning, and by developing, reviewing and updating a variety of emergency response plans. We create and enhance mutual aid or assistance agreements, establish memorandums of understanding for goods and/or services, prepare inventories of resources and equipment, and conduct a training and exercise program.
Response
Response refers to the actions taken during or immediately after a disaster to manage its consequences and to minimize suffering and losses.
Police, fire, ambulance and city engineering services respond to emergencies every day. But disasters could also involve a wide range of response agencies including federal departments, provincial ministries, neighbouring municipalities, a multitude on non-government organizations and our own emergency volunteers.
In Burnaby, examples of response activities include emergency public communication, search and rescue, planned evacuations, sand bagging and emergency social services (also referred to as personal disaster assistance).
Recovery
Recovery encompasses the measures needed to repair or restore conditions to an acceptable level following a disaster.
In Burnaby, this includes the return of evacuees to their homes and businesses, trauma counseling, reconstruction, economic impact studies and financial assistance.
There is a strong relationship between long-term recovery and prevention and mitigation of future disasters.
