Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: The Emergency Management Committee ( City Manager, Police Chief, General Manager VF&RS, General Manager Engineering Services and General Manager Park Board)
SUBJECT: Development of Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team
 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

In 1990, Council identified Emergency Preparedness as one of the City's seven corporate priorities and supported the continuation of an expanded work program in this area.

In 1995, Council approved the development of a Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team at a cost of $624,000 funded by the City with support from the Federal Joint Emergency Preparedness Program in the amount of $312,000.

SUMMARY

This report seeks additional capital funds to continue development of the Heavy Urban Search & Rescue Team. This team, consisting of members from all City departments and the B.C. Ambulance Service, is being developed to assist citizens trapped in collapsed structures in the event of an earthquake or other disaster. To date, the team has received training, purchased equipment and is able to respond with a limited capability. For this team to respond effectively with the capability required to deal with a large scale disaster will require additional specialized training and equipment. Details of these needs are contained in the body of this report.

Funding for the development of the team, over a three year period, was approved by Council with support from the Federal and Provincial Governments through the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP). In 1997, the final year of the project , $262,000, of which $131,000 was recovered from the JEPP grant, was used for the final phase of team development with an additional $25,000 to be budgeted annually to maintain equipment and support ongoing training sessions. With the addition of new team members and purchase of additional equipment, it has been identified that the 1998 operating budget be increased to $36,000 to reflect the increased costs to maintain equipment and provide training support.

Development of the Heavy Urban Search & Rescue Team continues to receive strong support from both the Federal and Provincial Emergency programs. Additional capital funds in the amount of $200,000 are required to support the specialized training and equipment needed to enhance the capability of this team to deal with disasters. The City HUSAR program has applied for a JEPP grant in the amount of $100,000. This grant will offset the cost of the training and equipment requested and the total net City contribution will be $100,000. This 50/50 formula is consistent with the previous JEPP grants received to develop the team over the past three years.

The Vancouver Heavy Urban Search Team is the first in Canada and will enhance the City's ability to deal with emergencies. With the addition of the funding requested to provide specialized equipment and training, the team will be better prepared to respond to large disasters.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council's approval for additional funds in the amount of $200,000 contingent on receiving financial support in the amount of $100,000 from the Joint Emergency Preparedness Program. These funds will be used to continue thedevelopment of the Vancouver Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team.

BACKGROUND

In 1995, development began on the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team (HUSAR). Development of this team has taken place over a three year period with financial support from the Federal Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP).

The development of the HUSAR team was to be modelled after the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) guidelines. The team would consist of 62 members with a variety of specialist skills to perform rescues in the event of a disaster requiring heavy rescue capabilities. The Vancouver Team would consist of staff from all Departments and B.C. Ambulance members.

During the first year of the project, 25 members of the team received training from the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management. Pierce County has developed a HUSAR training site and was able to supply basic training for the team as well as train five team members to be trainers for the Vancouver Team. The goal was to be able to deliver in house training to meet the needs of the team, deliver training to neighbourhood groups on search & rescue techniques and supply training for other search and rescue agencies on a cost recovery basis. Basic equipment required was also purchased for team members to continue development of their skills.

During the second year. the team continued development by supplying additional training to the 25 members as well as the identified team trainers. Equipment purchases enabled the team to further develop working toward the goal of the FEMA standard. During this period a training site was being developed to enhance team training and to begin to prepare for the team to train additional members at a Vancouver site.

In the third and final year of the project the balance of team members were selected for training. This training took place at the Vancouver Training site and working in conjunction with the Pierce County trainers,Vancouver team trainers delivered training to approximately 50 additional members. During this time period the bulk of the remaining equipment was purchased along with a 48-foot trailer both to store the equipment and to assist the team to deploy where needed.

DISCUSSION

Development of the HUSAR team has taken place over the last three years and by the end of 1997, development of the team will, for the most part, be complete with the exception of training in specialty areas and purchasing some specialized equipment needed to ensure the team is able to deal with disasters requiring HUSAR capability.

In a report to Council in 1995, it was identified the anticipated cost of developing a HUSAR capability would be $624,000. This amount was based on information received from preliminary figures on developing a FEMA team in the United States. Since that time it has been identified that the cost to develop a HUSAR team in the United States to meet the FEMA standard could be as much as $1,500,000. From the experience gained during the development of the Vancouver Team we have reason to believe that this amount is probably excessive and in fact a more realistic figure would be between $750,000 and $1,000,000. It should be noted that these costs estimates do not reflect the staff time required to attend training sessions and only reflect the training course and equipment costs

To continue development of the Vancouver Team it has been identified $200,000 in additional funding will be required. A detailed list of the specialized equipment and training shows the breakdown of expenditures:

Technical Search Specialists Training

1. K-9 search - 4 specialists trained

2. Search Camera - 4 specialists trained

3. Acoustic Listening - 8 specialists trained Training costs $6,000.00

Technical Search Specialists Training Total $29,500.00

Specialized Training

1. Heavy rigging - 8 specialists trained

2. Logistics - 8 specialists trained

3. Communications - 6 specialists trained

4. Structures Specialists - 6 specialists trained

5. Task Force Leader - 6 specialists trained

6. First Responder - 44 trained

7. Emergency Building Shoring - 20 trained

8. Incident Command Training - 50 trained

9. Hazardous Material training - 70 trained

Specialized Equipment

Search Camera $16,500.00

Acoustic Listening Device $15,500.00

Fork lift/crane $26,000.00

Deployment Packaging $ 8,000.00

Specialized Equipment Total $66,000.00

Total Specialized Equipment and Training $200,000.00

CONCLUSION

Development of the Heavy Urban Search Team has significantly increased the City's overall ability to respond to emergencies. This project has received strong support from both Federal and Provincial emergency management agencies and these agencies have indicated their continued support for the development of the HUSAR program. With the additional funds requested to complete development , a HUSAR team based in Vancouver will be capable of providing full emergency support for the City. The team will also be able to support other areas of the Lower Mainland, B.C. and Canada on a cost-recovery basis.

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