|
CITY OF VANCOUVER Administrative Report |
Date: |
April 27, 2004 | |
Author: |
Brian Inglis | |
Phone No.: |
604-654-0616 | |
RTS No.: |
04211 | |
CC File No.: |
3651 | |
Meeting Date: |
May 18, 2004 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
General Manager of Fire and Rescue Services |
SUBJECT: |
Funding Application for Storage/Training facility for the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Team |
RECOMMENDATION
THAT City Council authorize the General Manager of Fire & Rescue Services to make application to the federal Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP) for cost sharing of up to $3.0 million to provide a storage/training facility in the City for the Urban Search and Rescue Team.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.
PURPOSE
This report seeks approval for the General Manager of Fire and Rescue Services to make application to the federal JEPP program for cost sharing to purchase or build a storage and training facility for the City's Urban Search and Rescue Team.
BACKGROUND
The USAR team was formed in 1995 as a part of the emergency preparedness initiatives identified in a 1990 report to Council. This team is a multi-service, multi skilled and multi-functional task force developed within the framework of existing response agencies. The primary function of the team is to deal with structural collapse; however, the team has the capability to deal with almost any type of incident either man made or natural. Other functions of the team are in part; confined space rescue, mass casualty decontamination, surface water rescue, logistical support and incident management. The team may be used in part by local, provincial or federal emergency services or as a whole, depending on the requirement and is available on a 24/7 basis.
Since 1995, the team has grown from 25 members to approximately 70 regular members and has trained over 180 members. The annual operating budget of $70,000 and the matching funds for capital grants since 1995 have been from, and administered by the Fire & Rescue Services budgets.
The City's team is the only heavy urban rescue team in Canada. In 2001 it became officially certified by the United Nations for deployment internationally and is currently being used as a model by the federal government for the development of other teams across Canada.
The City of Vancouver USAR team has been providing training to outside agencies for several years now, generating $30,000 to $70,000 annually for training services. The basic rescue training program it has developed has also been adopted by the federal government as the national standard for core training in this highly specialized field.
The team currently owns approximately 30 tons of rescue equipment valued at over $1.2 million dollars; however, it does not have a proper facility to store, inventory and maintain this equipment. The area it currently utilizes for monthly training is soon to disappear as a result of the construction of a roadway to serve the new National Works Yard.
DISCUSSION
Of the 28 teams throughout Canada and the USA, including the two emerging teams in Calgary and Toronto, Vancouver is the only team without a storage/training facility necessary to maintain the on-going demands of a functional heavy rescue team.
The recently re-created Federal Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (PSEP) have made considerable effort to promote the development of heavy rescue teams in strategic locations throughout Canada. These teams will closely follow the existing model developed by the Vancouver team and will likely receive their basic training from the Vancouver team.
Recognizing the enormous commitment that is required by a municipality in developing a USAR team, PSEP have utilized the framework of the existing Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP) to provide grant funding to assist with the development of this program. Funding of $20 M over six years plus $3M annual on-going was allocated to PSEP in the 2001 Federal budget, with $7.8M of that funding allocated to the 2004-05 year. The grant program, specifically designed for USAR development, provides for a 75-25 % cost sharing between the federal government and the City.
PSEP realizes that the need for a dedicated storage/training facility is an essential component for the development and maintenance of these teams. They have funded the construction of such a facility in Calgary and Toronto and are prepared to fund such a request from Vancouver providing it meets the criteria established under the JEPP program. Senior officials at PSEP have indicated that a project in Vancouver could be viewed favourably for cost sharing.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Approval of the recommendation in this report does not result in any financial commitment being made by the City. However, it can be anticipated that the City will be required to provide cost sharing for any federal funding approved. The Director of Real Estate Services is currently searching for an appropriate site to locate the proposed storage and training facility for the team. Once a site has been located and federal grant funding is in place, the General Manager of Fire and Rescue Services will report back to Council with the appropriate financial arrangements.
CONCLUSION
Recent world events have shown that emergency preparedness and urban search and rescue are extremely important. This is especially true in today's global political climate combined with the region's vulnerability to natural disasters. The City of Vancouver USAR team is at a critical point in its development where it needs to have a permanent, dedicated facility to store and maintain its cache of rescue equipment and to continue providing training to new team members and offer training for a fee to outside agencies. The timing of the federal program to fund the majority of this project coincides with the requirement of a warehousing facility coupled with the need for a permanent training area.
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