Press Release for Immediate Release
12 May, 2014
The TEN33 Inc. Disaster Preparedness Consulting
Resilient Communities Initiative
INTRODUCTION
Every
year across the globe, Disasters and Emergency situations occur. The
vast majority of them are repetitious, and of natural causes; the floods
of Southern Albertan the spring of 2013, the ice storms in Southern
Ontario this past winter.Others have man-made or human negligence
origins, such as the train derailment in Lac Megantic, while others are
the result of human indifference, intolerance or despair such as the IED
bombing at the last years Boston Marathon, the stabbings at a Brampton
Ontario high school and at a mall in Regina. With every occurrence, the
devastation mounts and the toll on lives and peace of mind.Sadly, many
of the losses could have and can be reduced or prevented, and many more
mitigated if only we as a society had a stronger will to do so.
In
every sector of Community, Business and Public Service (our Government)
life, there are those who do have the will to initiate change. They are
far too few, and are often overwhelmed by the enormity of the task and
challenges of making change. The result is that the will for progress
and change in the area of Emergency and Disaster Preparedness is seldom
if not never acted upon, and little or nothing changes for the positive.
The time for change is well overdue, and we believe at TEN33Inc. this is that time!
THE INITIATIVE
This May (TEN33Inc.’s Emergency Preparedness Month) marks the beginning of the TEN33 Inc. RESILIENT COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE;a
concept program requiring the inclusion of all levels of business,
government and the populace to come together and assure that we as a
people, a nation, as a global community are prepared and capable of
surviving Emergencies and Disasters and to be as Resilient as possible
by; 1) Understanding those hazards and threats present in our
communities, 2) Educating ourselves on preventative and mitigative
techniques, and 3)Having the tools, supplies and will and knowledge to
use them to overcome adversity. In this way we mitigate or prevent the
devastating effects of Emergencies and Disasters, allowing a more rapid
and thorough return to “near normalcy” in our daily lives; the very
definition of Resilience.
The Initiative is divided into three categories, each with areas and functions that they can perform and adopt
1) RESIDENTIAL:
Residents
This
includes residents, owners and renters alike. We encourage residents to
seek out the knowledge, training, equipment and supplies they require
to be able to respond on a personal and familial level to protect
themselves as best they can during Emergencies and Disasters.While
sometimes difficult to find, there are courses they can take that will
give them the key tool, knowledge, in responding. Supplies and equipment
to shelter, feed, clothe and rest their families. These supplies need
not be expensive, rather many can be gathered together from the contents
of an average home and require little more than storage containers,
bags and boxes to store them in. The same can be said of the equipment,
consisting of simple things such as flashlights, batteries, toiletries
etcetera. And of course the most important tool or supply of all, a Home
Emergency Plan. These plans are easily found free of charge on many
government websites, including that of Emergency Management
Ontario/Office of the Fire Marshal, or can be purchased from many
consulting organisations customised to a specific residence and
neighbourhood.
With such little cost in money anytime,
we believe it is reasonable to ask all families to acquire a Plan, to
get training, to put together Emergency or 72 Hour Kits for their
families containing the tools and supplies they will need, and then to
regularly review their plans, revise their plans as needed in order to
keep them as current as possible. This is self advocacy, the most
important part of Resilience.
Builders/Contractors/Architects/Developers
Structures
hold a vital key to the Resilience of any person, family or community.
Well built and designed residential and commercial buildings should be a
place of refuge, of safety, of security and hope.
The
Initiative calls out to Builders,Contractors and Architects to become a
front line force in creating resilient communities by; designing homes
and other structures with a new attention given to the Evacuation of
homes easily, safely and quickly, and to including in the price of homes
evacuation equipment such as 2nd and 3rdstory
escape ladders when necessary; with a new look at Shelter in Place
considerations when Evacuation is not an option; with a new sense of
surroundings and making neighbourhoods easier to evacuate from of
necessary; and to doing a more in depth Hazard Identification and Risk
Analysis on a property before development to mitigate or prevent threats
and risks to new communities. Further, we believe it would be prudent
to begin inclusion if “dry sprinkler systems” into the construction of
all new development, from single family standalone dwelling to
multilevel multifamily high rises, and everything in between.
Realtors
Realtors
can play a major role in the development of a “Prepared Culture”.
Approximately 95% of all resale properties sold in Canada are sold
through a realtor. As such, Realtors have the ability to assure that
every resale they prepare for the seller, and every purchase they
arrange for their buyers includes a Home Emergency Plan, and that the
plan stays with the home because the plan is specific to that home,
needing only the resident information changed (a simple prospect).
2) Business
Business
is apart of the community at large. It employs, it serves, it funds.
Business is the heart of a thriving city or town. As such, Business
should be committed,more than ever before, to sound and solid Emergency
& Disaster systems and programs:
a) Systems
for the protection of all employees at all levels; having mandatory
Evacuation Plans and Protocols, with mandatory drills on a regular
basis, preferably twice annually, and to be followed by evaluations of
the drills and revisions of plans and protocols. Make training for all
employees on the established protocols mandatory and additional training
for volunteers to act as Evacuation Wardens. Special attention to
Shelter in Place planning; it is not always possible or appropriate to
evacuate a facility, and therefore Shelter in Place programming needs to
be established in all places of employment, including public facilities.
b) Systems to render Community Aid.The link between a community and the
businesses within is undervalued by business. Business needs the
community to utilise the products and services they provide. They need
the community to provide the labour to generate the goods and services.
Business needs the loyalty, brand loyalty, to remain healthy. In no
better way can a corporation garner this loyalty than by being part of
the solution to any major problem the community has. Many
businesses,from the largest to the smallest have something they can
offer to the community during a crisis; they can provide temporary
shelter, feed the displaced and the responder teams, they can even be a
central location for the reuniting of family members. Many can also
operate as operations centers for response and recovery activities. In
all these ways the business becomes not just another corporation, but
also part of the solution.
Government
All levels of
Government, for all potential threats, risks and hazards, need to change
their thinking in Emergency and Disaster Preparedness.
a)Municipal Government:
the first line of the solution. From Public Education programs being
delivered, to the initial response and the last part of the recovery.
They have also been the first to reduce their programs due to budget
restraint. The programs can be improved by working together with other
non-profit and for profit organisations in their communities that can
handle the public education, train volunteer responders in programs such
as CERT and TeenCERT and many other programs. Municipalities need to
improve communications before the events with the community to keep them
informed and aware. They can also be more inclusive in Community
Emergency Exercises. Municipalities should also be more cooperative with
their neighbouring municipalities in their public information and
education programs to ensure continuity of operations and mutual
cooperation.
b)Provincial Government
needs to begin to establish better legislation around Emergency
Management to include requirements on business, to encourage at risk
communities to create Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT and
TeenCERT),to improve awareness in high risk communities and help the
Municipal governments prepare their communities. Provincial governments
need to improve building codes in areas with specific threats and risks,
to be able to meet the danger levels and mitigate the effects, if not
prevent them entirely.Provincial governments need to make better
affiliations with private corporations that work in Emergency
Preparedness and Response, who like TEN33Inc. can help them educate,
train, identify threats and then work to create programs to meet them,
and thus streamline the costs these programs have.Consider offering tax
incentives to residents and businesses that take Emergency Planning and
Preparedness steps at certain levels, and consider insurance rate breaks
as well.
c)Federal Government is
ultimately responsible for creating a resilient nation,and as such
should consider reinvesting in recently cut programs and funding.Federal
government needs to take a stronger position, becoming a true
associative through agencies that can cooperate with private sector
organisations in Emergency Management. Where Emergency Management is
concerned, and the implementation and continuation of programs, there
needs to be a completely non-partisan attitude so that programs
continue, grow and improve with time to meet the increasing threats and
risks in order to create a National Resilience.
In all cases, the
General Public must be made more aware and better educated regarding
self protection, family protection and community protection.The
common misconception is that people, when given too much information,
will react prematurely and in fact over-react to potential threats. This
is just not so. Through education, through awareness true preparedness
can begin, and with it better response, recovery and resilience.
Knowledge is Resilience, it’s not dangerous. People want to know what to
do, how to respond, where to seek shelter and safety and when they know
what to do, lives are saved, recovery comes faster and more complete
saving millions of dollars.
It is with all of
the above in mind, that TEN33 Inc.now calls on all these sectors,
Residents, Business and Government to now join us in the Resilient
Communities Initiative.
We will be calling on the
politicians, their governments and administrators to review current
legislation and programs, and initiate the changes that have been
recommended in the past and either been reduced, cut or never enacted in
the first place. We will call on them to restore those programs that
were begun in days and weeks following 9/11, and then put aside in
recent years due to budget cuts. We will call on them to pick up on and
join our call for improved legislation in the area of Emergency
Management, Disaster Preparedness and Prevention.
We
will be calling on Builders, Developers, Architects, Designers and
Realtors to step up prior to any legislative intervention to help us
ensure that Residential,Commercial and Industrial designs are not only
beautiful and functional, but provide the protection to occupants
needed, to make safe and rapid evacuation a greater consideration
beginning at conception and to provide for the occupants a safe and
secure Shelter in Place standard when evacuation is not prudent. We will
call on them to ensure that every new structure, regardless of purpose
of use, includes Emergency Response Plans, based on the architectural
drawings and environmental considerations prior to occupancy. Realtors
especially should be aware of including a Home Emergency Plan that is
specific to that building and community when selling a new or resale
home, and have them provided prior to listing or at the very least
closing of the property, not because it is unsafe,but rather to ensure
the safety of the occupants and their resilience to major disruptive
events.
We will be calling on Business leaders from
every sector to initiate Emergency Management and Business Continuity
Plans into their organisations that go above and beyond data and IT
considerations, to ensure they can respond quickly and effectively and
then retain critical operations that would allow them rapid recovery
and return to near normal operations. To prepare suitable Emergency and
Evacuation Plans for their facilities, to train Evacuation Wardens
thoroughly with refresher courses every second or third years, to have
suitable Emergency and Evacuation policies and plans and then train all
employees on those policies and plans with suitable remedial action
policies in place to ensure compliance for their own protection. To
truly become part of their communities and develop programs to assist
the community in its response and recovery, to offer temporary shelter,
food, and relief.
The TEN33 Inc. Resilient Communities Initiative
is not designed to point fingers of blame at any one or any one
organisation, nor to shame any one. The goal of the Initiative is to
reaffirm our commitment as a society to the principles of preparedness
and awareness to disasters, and to making our communities safer and more
resilient. The goal is to educate people every where of the simple and
cost effective steps they can take to make themselves resilient. The
goal is to change our human mindset from “It could never happen to me”
to one of “If and when it happens, I’m ready!”.
Canadians
don’t need and don’t want to be protected from Disaster and Emergency
warnings;they want to know how to, when to and where to respond.
Canadians
do not “freak out”; they do not run around aimlessly nor lay down and
curl up in he fetal position when faced with crisis. Canadians are
strong enough to respond with purpose when they are given the knowledge
and the facts of a situation. Canadians are a hearty people with a
strong desire and capability for resilience. All Canadians need is the
truth of any given situation, to be presented the options, and the
education and tools to meet the situation.
TEN33 Inc.’s corporate philosophy is simple: “Salus Populi, Suprema Lex Est”, a quote from Roman Emperor Cicero. “The Safety of the People is the Supreme Law”. Combine that with our other truism, “Knowledge IS Resilience”,and
the path to a truly disaster and emergency resilient Canada is clear.
So we call out to the private sector Emergency Management, Disaster
Preparedness,Business Continuity and Resilient professionals around the
Province and Nation and ultimately the Continent and Globe, to join TEN33 Inc.
in promoting the Resilient Communities Initiative, as we have presented
here and will continue to present over the coming months and years, and
the goal of creating a better prepared and more resilient World.
S. Gregory(Greg) Long,
President
TEN33 Inc.Disaster Preparedness Consulting
905 809 5440
May 12, 2014
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