My view - tsunami reports

Both the internal and external reviews of the response to the Samoa earthquake and tsunami were released on Friday. The internal review is an honest attempt by MCDEM to improve internal systems and procedures. It doesn't really attempt to look at the wider CDEM sector and recommend improvements for the entire response. I guess that's fair enough although I do think MCDEM underestimate their sphere of influence sometimes.

There have been discussions within the Ministry about re-activating the Tsunami Working Group to help work through recommendations in a consultative manner - good on you MCDEM.

On the other hand... the external review is a waste of time. Not only does the report not address the questions raised in the terms of reference, it was whipped out in short order with unrealistic consultation. For example, the CDEM Groups and NZ Fire Service were not consulted but the National Foundation for the Deaf was - I just don't get that, especially when one of the points was to focus on the 'use of information and distribution of warnings, advisories and messages at the local level'.

The main focus was on public information and all of the sub-areas were to have this slant - but surely local use refers to how successful the Group and Local Public Information Managers and local media were at relaying critical advise and information to the affected communities? Sorry guys but this whopping 5-page report just doesn't cut the mustard.

The internal review is available here, and the external review here.

Mobile Command and HazMat

Mitchell Brown invited emergency managers and CEG members to visit one of the new NZFS command and hazmat vehicles as it was passing through Palmerston North yesterday. We've been hearing for a while now that the Fire Service is investing in 16 of these vehicles at around $1M a piece.

I've got to say, I'm impressed! The vehicle is well designed for its purpose and very well constructed. The tail-lifter on the back of the truck allows for quick removal of six large containers

of hazmat response equipment. This leaves a large open floor space for people to be briefed, whiteboards with status to be maintained and a very clever touch screen TV/monitor. The forward part of the unit has two work stations and quite a lots of the technology for patching radios and managing incidents.

On the outside of the vehicle there is a hydraulic mast for radio aerials, telescoping mast for the site camera and the IPStar satellite dish (clever enough to find the satellite on its own). The vehicle is stabilised to ensure a steady working platform. Total set up time was less than 10 minutes for one person.

Whilst this is a specialist platform for NZFS incident management there is provision for it to be used at other types of incidents. I suspect that due to its dual purpose though that this won't be left at incidents for extended periods of time unless there is a significant commitment by the Fire Service at the scene.

Any future developments we do with EOCs will take into account this significant investment by the Fire Service. Well done guys!

(Troy Gerbich and Tony Groome at the helm... whatever next?)

Blog report

It's hard to believe that the blog has been running for just over a year now. My first post was on the 5th June 2008. The whole idea was to make life a little easier for me in getting some of the messages out to anyone who is interested. Ged Shirley (my boss and chair of our CEG) suggested doing a regular newsletter to keep punters informed on Group Plan review progress. To be honest, this sounded like more work. So the question was: how do I do this without creating a rod for my own back? It took a few days, but then I figured out that we should try a blog!

While there was a little hesitation, the Group has trusted me enough to publish the blog without moderation. I'm careful to make it clear if the views being expressed are mine or have been agreed by the Group. So big thumbs up to the Group for this!!

I've been tracking the blog using Google Analytics since it started and have reported to the CEG from time-to-time on how things are going. Here's a summary of the first year and a bit...

• 1,011 unique visitors
• 3,958 page views
• Most searched = Wanganui camera bar
• Visits by country (46 in all) = NZ (1,852), US (87), UK (40), Aus (19), Canada (14)... right down to Jamaica (1)
• 48% of visitors are one-time visits, 25% though have visited between 9 and 200 times
• Apart from one-timers, most visitors are on site between 3-10 minutes per visit.

So - hopefully you have found the blog useful. If you have any suggestions for items you would like to see - just let me know. Finally, a big thankyou to those who have supported the site and provided feedback (either on the site or to me directly)... CHEERS!

My view - road closure info standards

Recent events have again highlighted the need for multiple roading authorities across the Group to collaborate on a system for integrated road status information - not just to emergency services but to the travelling public. A recent service offerd by the Police goes some way to solving this...

Get live updates direct from Police Communication Centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Updates include information on major events and incidents, road crashes, closures and conditions. You can sign up to receive updates from just one area or from all over the country.

The New Zealand Transport Agency (formerly Transit New Zealand) also provides information about State Highway status.

As a road user what I would really like is to view a map that clearly represents where roads are open, marginal or closed with an indication of delays or time to reinstate. During the recent storm event all roads in Horowhenua could have been considered marginal. I'd like to plan my route by zooming in and out of the map to look at detour options.

As an emergency manager I'd like this level of road information to be available within our GIS so that I might compare it with other information, such as flood plains, evacuated areas, welfare centres, emergency service locations etc. As a decision tool, knowledge of road status is essential. The current manual processes slow down the integration of this information and with the cooperation of roading authorities can be accelerated.

At upcoming Lifelines Advisory Group meetings I would like to address standards that can be adopted to facilitate information exchange and display. I'm sure many will agree that it is an area we can improve upon.

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.

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.