The District of Sooke is pleased to announce the launch of a new Emergency Management Plan for the community that will provide an overall direction and guidance for the district’s actions to prepare for, respond to and recover from major disasters.
“In 2013, our council took the progressive step to review the Sooke Emergency Plan which had become outdated due to the major growth in the community and fundamental changes in emergency management systems.” said Mayor Wendal Milne. “After familiarizing many of our departments and local emergency agencies with their roles in the new Sooke Emergency Management Plan, we are pleased to launch the new plan for the community.”
The public are invited to hear a presentation and discuss with council the new emergency management plan at an upcoming Committee of the Whole meeting.
What: Sooke Emergency Management Plan Presentation
When:
Monday, February 3, 2014 at 6 p.m.
Where: Municipal council chambers, 2205 Otter Point Road
The new Sooke Emergency Management Plan is formatted as a two-part system containing the Sooke Emergency Operation Centre Manual with a corresponding Emergency Response and Business Continuity Plan. The emergency plan identifies the key hazards which threaten our community, priority actions to be taken by threat, roles and responsibilities of staff and key response agencies responsible for managing the District’s response and recovery from disasters.
The district engaged a consultant, Ms. Debora Exelby, Triangle Mountain Solutions, to review the district’s emergency plan and who was willing to develop the new emergency plans for only the cost of the material. Ms. Exelby completed the plan on time and about 35 per cent under the projected budget. Approximately 605 hours of work were required to complete the final product.
“The new CSA compliant Sooke Emergency Management Plan integrates three major components: an Emergency Response Plan, a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and an Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) User Manual.” said Ms. Exelby. “The District is well prepared to respond to any overwhelming incident, using an all-hazards approach that is supported by two e-learning modules, a set hard copy documents and a variety of decision and performance support tools.”
The District of Sooke, including the members of the district’s Emergency Planning Committee, the Sooke Emergency Program and staff are extremely pleased with the quality of the emergency plan and its user friendly format. Council will approve the plan after public input has been received.