Microsoft funding gets closer

A while ago now we put in an application to Microsoft Innovation Centre for some development funding. The application was about getting a tab designed inside MS Groove that provides us with the functionality of SMARTboard's notebook and Bridgit conference capability. This means that you could share the information on your SMARTboard with people you have invited to your Groove workspace. This is just another way of providing for that information exchange. Being a SMARTboard of course doesn't put the information into a database type environment for use in other applications but it does mean we can see each others handwritten notes on the board.

Canterbury are also doing some work in developing forms for use in SharePoint and I can see us working closely with the Canterbury Group on future developments.

Both the Canterbury Group and our Group have been successful in having our proposals get through to the second round for funding. Hopefully sometime in the future I'll be reporting our success.

Keeping a finger on the pulse

Ruapehu had a bit of a hiccup in September last year and since that time things haven't really returned to normal background levels. In fact some of the volcanic indicators that our volcano experts keep an eye on have remained elevated or even increasing.

Given this snippet of information, we thought it appropriate to have a bit of a get together of some of the members of the Central Plateau Volcanic Advisory Group. Yesterday, we had a meeting in Taupo to make sure that our co-ordination plans were up to date and we were all on the same page. The snow storms of Tuesday night resulted in many of the roads around the region being closed and Annie (Ruapehu District) was unable to get through. We did have reps from DoC, GNS Science, Police, Waikato CDEM Group EOC, Horizons Regional Council (and Manawatu-Wanganui CDEM Group), Environment Waikato, Taupo District Council and the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management.

The meeting was very focused after an update from Brad Scott and I'm please to say that coordination arrangements are good to go. The agreement around the table about roles and responsibilities is excellent. Police are clearly the lead agency and the incident control point will be at Whakapapa. Good coordination of response agencies on the mountain is in place and an annual check of response plans has already been undertaken for the ski season.

We have tweaked the coordination arrangements and have agreed to exchange plans and improve inter-agency communications. Expectations on the CDEM Groups will also be minimal unless we have a volcanic event in conjunction with other incidents. The CDEM Groups will largely take a monitoring role and support the Incident Controller where requested.

So, for all those keen skiers and trampers out there, we are keeping our fingers on the pulse of the Central Plateau volcanoes and are confident that our emergency co-ordination arrangements are ready if they are needed. In the meantime though it looks like a fantastic season ahead so enjoy!

Group Plan mini workshops

At yesterday's meeting of the Co-ordinating Executive Group the revised timeline for the review of the Group Plan was agreed to and the conduct of mini workshops supported. The CEG also recognised this blog as an official, albeit informal, means of communication for the Group.

Members have asked me to publish the dates for the mini workshops in the blog. The idea behind these workshops is for smaller focus groups of the CEG to debate and discuss best practice for the Group and how we go about achieving that through our Group Plan. We would like to maintain a consistent core of 4-5 people across the workshops to avoid going over old ground. Other Group members are welcome to participate in areas that particularly interest them.

The mini workshop dates are:
July 28 - Strategic direction
August 28 - Management & governance
September 11 - Risk profile
October 16 - Readiness & response #1
November 18 - Readiness & response #2
February 25, 2009 - Recovery
April 8 - Monitoring & evaluation
May 14 - Reserve workshop

Emergency Management Officer workshops are also scheduled to either 'operationalise' the discussions of the mini workshops or to inform discussions prior to the workshop. Discussions will also be had during regular EMO meetings. Either way, local EMOs will be fully involved in the redevelopment of our Plan. EMO workshops are scheduled for:
July 29 - Strategic direction
October 16 (pm) - Readiness & response
November 19 - Readiness & response
March 9 - Monitoring & evaluation

Meet the gang

Welcome aboard to Ross Brannigan. Although I'm in Gisborne for a family funeral today, Ross #2 starts with the team today. Ross Fothergill started with us a few weeks ago and has taken up his role as Principal Rural Fire Officer for Manawatu (and Rangitikei in July).

So... Ross Fothergill is ex. NZ Defence Force and will be known to many for the role as Fire Master at Waiouru.

Ross Brannigan is ex. NZ Police and will also be known to many (for all the right reasons I hope) for his role as sole-charge officer at Foxton Beach. Ross B will be undertaking the role of Emergency Management Officer for Manawatu and Rangitikei Districts.

We will definately be giving someone a nickname in the near future. So the two Ross' join Evan and me in the Emergency Management Office but they will also be working out of the Marton office. Evan continues in his role as Risk Management Coordinator for Horizons and as Harbourmaster. My role will change slightly with more consideration being given to operational delivery of CDEM Group business and not just the strategic stuff.

Regroup relief

Well it's been a couple of days since my last message. The Group ECC and five of the local EOCs have been busy with Exercise Regroup. A pandemic influenza exercise with a focus on the CDEM Group activities.

On the whole I think the exercise was worthwhile. The aim and objectives have been achieved and a little bit more to boot. The formal debreif is not until 4th July but already a few things are standing out for me. We will be adjusting the CDEM Group's Pandemic Plan to reflect changes in communications process between the DHBs and the local EOCs. For routine matters that are best dealt with at a local level, this should be direct rather than via the ECC (which deals with more strategic issues).

The ECC will be refreshing some internal procedures in particular to build on the technological advances in our processes. I think we have enough training recommendations to last a year or more - at least now we can write the 08-09 training programme!

All in all - good job everyone. Thanks to all who participated and especially those who came in to assist us in running and assessing the exercise and the Group's capability.

Science Alert Bulletin - White Island & Ruapehu

GNS have issued a new Science Alert Bulletin for White Island. No change in alert level though. Read the bulletin here.

GNS have also issued a new SAB for Ruapehu. No change in alert level. The bulletin is not yet on the GNS site but reads as follows...

GNS scientists are continuing to monitor Ruapehu. Elevated gas output and high lake temperatures continue, while volcanic tremor has declined. Unrest continues at Ruapehu and it remains unclear if this is a sign of further eruptions. The volcano last erupted on 25^th September 2007.The Alert Level remains at Level 1.

Ongoing monitoring at Ruapehu, including a Crater Lake visit to measure the lake temperature and collect water samples, data from airborne gas measurements and seismic activity have continued to show variations. The airborne gas plume measurements show the SO₂ emission has gradually increased since last year’s eruption and the CO₂ flux has varied. The emission rates of both SO₂ and CO₂ gases, have shown significant increases since April 2008, being about ten times above the typical background. Our latest measurements on June 12 remains high. The Crater Lake temperature has remained elevated and fluctuates between 34 and 37° C. The latest measurement was 35.2° C (12 June). Sustained heat from depth is required to keep the temperature this high, for this length of time. It is believed that the source of this heat is magma within the volcano conduit. This magma is also producing the higher than normal gas flow and other chemical changes in the lake. The slight increase in the background level of volcanic tremor we previously reported has now declined to typical background levels. These observations remain consistent with the volcano-hydrothermal system responding to recent eruptions and ongoing interaction with magma in the volcano conduit. The volcano remains in a state of unrest and the possibility of further activity remains at the volcano. If further eruptions occur, they may occur without warning. The Alert Level remains at Level 1 (Departure from typical background surface activity, signs of unrest) and will continue to be re-assessed regularly.

My view - thumbs up

This weekend I was on the receiving end of an EMANZ course in Taupo and like all good emergency managers I was excited about giving up some of my weekend. In reality the fact that the course was on a Sunday, in Taupo, in the middle of winter was a bit of a pain. By lunchtime however I had thawed to the idea and in fact had a bit of a reality check.

The course was well run - thumbs up Steve Glassey & EMANZ and well attended - thumbs up response teams. For the last few years I have been removed from the volunteer aspect of civil defence and this course proved to me that vollies play an important part in our organisation. The fact that about 20 response team staff have given up their weekend to come to Taupo from as far as Auckland and Wellington was evidence enough to prove that volunteerism is alive and well in CD. What did impress me was the capability of these team members. If this is what NZ-RTs are about then I'm all for it. As full-time officers we need to be aware of this capability and incorporate them into our plans.

Phil Parker's set up in Taupo is pretty good too. Phil has been creative in his use of 'hand-me-downs' and proudly showed off his make-over of the old Central Zone publicity trailer (now a support unit complete with kitchen) and two fire engines (one shown here has been converted for flood response). This got me thinking that once we've identified a need, we can take advantage of opportunities as they arise... we don't need to wait for the Guicci gear all the time. Phil has been right on the money with his focus on response capability.

Thanks to all involved for a great day.

IRIS - an eye to the future

Many of the CDEM Group managers will be aware that there is quite a big project underway at the moment called IRIS. This project is looking at ways that regional councils can collaborate on the development of software applications for use in local government (among other things).

From a CDEM perspective, I am aware that an emergency management module has been discussed as a possible project for IRIS and that some members of the team will be visiting me shortly to find out what I would want from a software package for CDEM. For me the big three are accountability, consistency and best practice. If we can achieve this in an environment of collaboration and information exchange (vertically and horizontally) then we will be significantly further down the track than we are today.

In preparation for their visit, I would welcome feedback from anyone about how you see the software future of CDEM at Group strategic and operational levels. I'll keep you posted on discussions.

Council staff moving to high alert

THIS IS AN EXERCISE STORY

As part of Exercise Regroup Horizons staff will today move to high alert. Emergency Management staff yesterday reviewed the Council's Pandemic Influenza Plan and checked arrangements should the current outbreak reach New Zealand shores.

Arrangements for the redeployment of pandemic response resources are underway, instructions on personal and family preparedness offered and programmes for reducing face-to-face work requirements investigated. Additional measures are being taken to safeguard key staff and ensure that an ability to work from home is available.

The CDEM Group's Emergency Coordination Centre at Horizons has been activated but will be operational only during work hours at this time. The normal Council duty officer system remains in effect.

A Groove workspace will be created today to enable agencies to share information with agencies who have installed this tool already.

Some Group members have already addressed issues with their pandemic plans in anticipation of the exercise activation dates of 18-19 June.

New National Controller

Following a visit by Keith and Ian this afternoon, I have learned that David Coetzee has been appointed to the position of National Controller. I am sure that David will move over to the role with ease and wish him all the best in the new role.

Plan review timeline extended

At the Co-ordinating Executive Group meeting last month members asked that we revise the timeline for the CDEM Group Plan. A small working group was formed to undertake this and considered the following requirements:

• Adequate time be provided for discussion by representatives of the CEG
• The no more than one ‘mini-workshop’ be conducted per month
• That the review be based on the sections of the Plan
• That readiness and response be combined for consideration
• That reduction did not warrant a mini-workshop
• That Emergency Management Officers be guided by CEG recommendations to ‘operationalise’ arrangements
• That a focus on response be emphasised in discussions

The CEG will be receiving an item with the draft timeline (Gantt chart attached) on the 24th June and will also be advised that the MCDEM Guideline on Group Planning may not be available until December (reported to the Joint Committee on the 6th June).

MCDEM Tsunami Information Seminar

You will be aware of the importance the current Government has placed on the tsunami threat over recent times. The Ministry and a number of Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups have committed to a variety of programmes aimed at improving New Zealand’s resilience to this threat.

A great deal of work has been completed under the auspices of the Tsunami Working Group nationally and the Ministry is committed to a programme of updating the widest spectrum of the CDEM sector on the progress of such projects as tsunami warning systems, signage and research. These seminars will also include updates on related areas such as Evacuation Guidelines and 2^nd generation planning for CDEM Groups and its constituent members.

The objectives for the programme are :

1. To inform Groups of tools for tsunami risk management

2. To encourage group planning for tsunami

As part of the national rollout of these seminars (there will be six nationally) MCDEM invite the widest spectrum of our Group membership to a seminar to be conducted on the 26^th June 2008 at the Palmerston North Convention Centre, Gallery Room, 354 Main St, Palmerston North between the hours of 0930 and 1330. We anticipate the attendance of all members of the Group, the CEG and a wide selection of CDEM stakeholders i.e. Regional/District hazard planners, emergency services etc. MCDEM will precede the seminar with tea/coffee and conclude with the provision of a light lunch.

Members of the Manawatu-Wanganui CDEM Group are requested to confirm attendance by e-mail to keith.evans@dia.govt.nz

North Island CDEM Conference 2008

Here is a brief heads-up about the conference this year. Greg Wilson from Environment Bay of Plenty is organising this year's conference and details of our CEG and EMOs have been forwarded to Greg.

The theme for the conference is 'Emergency Managers of the Future: Something for Everyone'

The conference will be held at the Novotel, Rotorua on December 4th and 5th. More details will be coming soon but put these dates in your diary now.

Groovey man

Many of you will be aware that I've been looking at Microsoft Groove as a solution for inter-agency collaboration and information sharing. Well, I'm pleased to report that the CEG recently agreed that Groove and Google Earth are central to collaboration. We considered including Skype in that category too but decided that this was an optional extra.

Members of the Manawatu-Wanganui CDEM Group are therefore encouraged to install MS Groove 2007 in their EOCs. As we get used to this technology, I understand that limited installations will be carried out - probably on stand-alone machines. I'm confident though, that as things develop we will find day-to-day uses for these tools and integrate them into our daily work routines. You can view a video of Groove here.

We have created several Groove, G-mail and Skype accounts that follow a theme of generic naming. Funnily enough, all ours start with Horizons. They then describe positions EM, RMC, PRFO, EMO, ECC, MOB1, MOB2, MOB3 (MOB = our mobile office), CE, GMRSI, GMCG, PIM. We may also look to develop CIMS titles such as LOG, PI, OPS, H&S for use within the ECC. In the meantime we will set it up so that emergency communications go to the Group Emergency Co-ordination Centre (ECC) - HorizonsECC. I suggest we work on a consistent naming theme as we start implementing Groove across the Group.

We will be doing some rudimentary tests of the system during Exercise Regroup next week but it will take several months to roll out the software to be a comprehensive tool for collaboration. In the meantime, please give some thought development of the system, installation and inter-agency involvement - we'd love to hear your views.

My view - Group level v's local level

I guess it's important in these early posts to say that opinions expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of the CDEM Group. I'll head up posts with 'my view' when you're getting my opinion. I'm certainly up for healthy debate on these things.

So here's the first one... Right across the CDEM sector we talk about national, group and local level CDEM. I think this is a hang-over from the days before CDEM Groups were established and we had national, regional and local civil defence organisations. In those days, the regional and united councils had little influence over how civil defence was delivered at the local organisation level as each organisation was autonomous and required by law. This resulted in nearly 100 civil defence organisations around the country doing similar things but in a variety of ways. In part, this disparity was the reason for about 15 years of civil defence review and the eventual formation of CDEM Groups.

Too often I hear from local EMOs (from all over NZ) that something is 'Group' or 'local' business and they're not involved in that. Nothing could be further from the truth - we're all local EMOs - local means our Group (that's why we can only declare a local emergency).

I'd like to suggest that we change the way we talk (and write) about our CDEM Groups, from Group and local level to strategic and operational level activities within the Group. The operational level includes territorial authorities, Regional Council, local Police, Fire, health providers and community groups. Strategic level includes the Regional Council, regional level government departments, District Police, Regional Fire, District Health Boards, and regionally significant organisations as well as strong links to the territorial authorities.

So let's talk about the strategic and operational activities of the Group and not continue the thinking of the 1983 Act, that promoted separate regional and local civil defence organisations.

Feel free to post your opinions in response - I think it all helps to move the sector forward.

Green RIG and EM activities

The Horizon's Green RIG and emergency management team will be working together on a couple of activities in the next few months.

Evan will be accompanying the RIG to the Field Days in Hamilton next week. Our earthquake cubes will be front-and-centre with the other Regional Council display material. Our cubes are sufficiently generic that they can be used anywhere in the country.

In July, the RIG will be heading to Parliament to the forum run by the Minister of Civil Defence for the CDEM Group chairs and CEG chairs. We'll be parked on the forecourt of the Beehive for the day and will demonstrate our ability to deploy a mobile EOC using the Green RIG as the hub. Our mobile office and PABX will also be deployed - the office will be fully operational through the RIG's satellite connection but the PABX will be for demo purposes only (we won't ask Telecom to sling lines into the RIG for the day). We'll also show off the GPS camera and how we can send photos from the field, use of Microsoft Groove, and Google Earth. Our earthquake cubes will also be on display.

A new form of newsletter

Hi everyone,

I thought we'd give this a crack and see how it goes. The blog is a nice informal way for me to keep you in the loop with some of the thoughts, ideas, discussions and developments of our emergency management business - without having to bombard your e-mail accounts.

I'll use it to keep you up to date with the Group Plan review and other Group activities as well as links to things I've found that may be amusing or interesting... with a bit of a CDEM flavour.

I've never done one of these before so it's going to be a bit of a new thing for me too. I welcome any feedback you might have.