Emergency Management

Perth County’s Emergency Management program is a unified program for the County, and the Lower-Tier member municipalities of North Perth, Perth East, Perth South, and West Perth.

The City of Stratford and Town St. Marys have their own programs, coordinated through their respective fire departments, however, work closely with the County’s Community Emergency Management Coordinator (CEMC) on projects and initiatives. Click the links below to find more information about Emergency Management in the County:

About Our Program

The aim of the Emergency Response Plan (ERP) is to outline actions the County, or a Municipality/Township may take to deploy resources, equipment and services. In addition, identify responsibilities to guide the County, or a Municipality and its response partners through a coordinated emergency response, declared or not, in order to;

The five components of emergency management.

protect the health, safety and welfare of residents, businesses and visitors,
safe guard critical infrastructure,
protect the environment,
ensure future economic vitality, future resiliency and reduce vulnerabilities.

The emergency management program is aligned with Emergency Management Ontario’s risk-based management approach to management and response.

Emergency management is compromised of the following five interdependent foundational components: Prevention, Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery. These five components of emergency management are implemented by all emergency management practitioners and organizations in Ontario to ensure a safe, secure and resilient Ontario.

These five components may be implemented in sequence or at the same time, but they are not independent of each other. Under most circumstances the components overlap as emergency management activities frequently fall under more than one component, and the boundaries between components are rarely distinct.

Prevention

Actions taken to stop an emergency or disaster from occurring. Such actions may include legislative controls, zoning restrictions, improved operating standards/procedures and critical infrastructure management.

Prevention strategy objective

It is important to address whether hazards can be stopped or avoided and be aware of any vulnerabilities. In cases where hazards cannot be stopped from occurring, the use of appropriate avoidance measures can protect life, property, infrastructure, the economy, the environment, and social and governance systems.

Prevention strategies and activities could include the following:

Hazard-specific control programs:
- Activities to avoid the adverse impacts from potential flooding events including building levees, dams, floodways, spillways, hydraulic control structures, control gates, flood detention basins and performing drainage system improvements such as river-dredging to prevent floods.
- Building design practices and the utilization of construction materials that increase the capacity of a structure to resist extreme weather events and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, explosives (CBRNE) as well as other physical security threats.
- Preventing forest fires through regulating personal fires, conducting controlled burning and mechanical treatment activities to improve forest health.
Critical infrastructure protection and management: Ensuring that disaster risk reduction priorities drive emergency management programs with a clear understanding of the impact of climate change on natural hazards.
- Designing critical infrastructure to withstand adverse conditions or technical failures.
  - Critical Infrastructure consists of:
    - Food and Water
    - Telecommunication Systems
    - Electrical Power System
    - Gas and Oil
    - Financial Services
    - Health System
    - Transportation Networks
    - Public Safety and Security
    - Continuity of Government
Legislative and Regulatory Controls:
- Land-use planning
- Building codes
- Zoning restrictions
- Improved operating standards/procedures.
Cyber security initiatives
Public health strategies
Warning systems
Public education and training
Hazardous material safety initiatives
Financial support through grants, subsidies and preferential tax codes and deductibles.

Mitigation

Mitigation includes actions taken to reduce the adverse impacts of an emergency or disaster that cannot be reasonably prevented. Mitigation strategies can be undertaken by any individual or organization. Mitigation strategies are based on the results of a risk assessment and may include short-term and long-term plans and actions.

Mitigation strategy objective

Mitigation works to lessen, or if possible, diminish the impact of disasters by using strategies that reduce risk and vulnerability. Climate change adaption initiatives should be considered to enhance community resilience and sustainability.

Mitigation strategies and activities can include the following:

Hazard-specific control programs:
- Reduce the impact of floods by building levees, dams, floodways, spillways, hydraulic control structures, control gates, flood detention basins and performing drainage system improvements including river-dredging.
- Conduct controlled burning and mechanical treatment activities to improve forest health to ensure small fire incidents do not develop into major, uncontrollable fires.
- Monitoring waterway conditions for ice melt/jams and flow rate and taking appropriate actions such as controlled dam releases to mitigate flooding.
Critical infrastructure protection and management:
- Reducing vulnerabilities of entities by utilizing designs and material capable of withstanding extreme weather or technical failures.
  - Critical Infrastructure consists of:
    - Food and Water
    - Telecommunication Systems
    - Electrical Power System
    - Gas and Oil
    - Financial Services
    - Health System
    - Transportation Networks
    - Public Safety and Security
    - Continuity of Government
Ensure that disaster risk reduction priorities drive emergency management programs with a clear understanding of the impact that climate change has on natural hazards.
Legislative and regulatory controls:
- Land-use planning
- Building codes
- Zoning restrictions
- Improved operating standards/procedures
Public health strategies
Warning systems
Community education and training
Hazardous material safety initiatives
Financial support through grants, subsidies and preferential tax codes and deductibles.

Preparedness

Actions taken prior to an emergency or disaster to ensure an effective response. These actions include the formulation of emergency response plans, continuity of operations plans and programs, training and exercises, and public awareness and education.

Preparedness strategy objective

The objective is to ensure appropriate actions are taken within the components of prevention and mitigation, and where necessary, ensure an effective response to, and recovery from incidents. The goal continues to be to protect life, property, infrastructure, the economy, the environment, and social and governance systems and increase the speed of recovery activities.

Preparedness strategies and activities could include the following:

Develop and implement strategies and plans for prevention, mitigation, response, recovery and continuity of operations planning.
Complete a hazard identification and risk assessment and identify critical infrastructure to develop a risk profile.
Implement continuity of operations planning that outlines how critical services will be delivered during a disruptive event as well as the recovery of critical activities.
Prepare and maintain emergency procedures and standards.
Conduct emergency training and exercises.
Implement public awareness and educational initiatives on personal preparedness, hazard identification and how to access assistance during an emergency.
Establish and utilize alerting and notification systems.
Implement resource management procedures to ensure that adequate personnel, physical, informational, and financial resources are available as required.
Install hazard monitoring devices to enhance early warning.

Response

Response refers to measures taken immediately before, during, or immediately after an emergency for the purpose of managing the consequences. This may require the implementation / activation of appropriate response plan(s) as well as the provision and pre-positioning of resources (such as personnel, services and/or equipment), the establishment and staffing of a response structure, the activation of information collection and sharing protocols, and the development of an incident-specific action plan to address the emergency.

Response strategy objective

The objective is to ensure that a controlled, coordinated, and effective response is quickly undertaken at the outset of the emergency to prevent loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, and/or environmental damage.

Response strategies and activities could include the following:

Implement emergency response plans and continuity of operations plans.
Implement operational procedures to support the activation and execution of the response plans.
Implement a coordination mechanism for all stakeholders involved in the response.
Use a standardized incident management system.
Ensure procedures are in place to conduct situational awareness that includes threat and impact assessments and the identification of the resources needed to support and manage emergency and continuity operations.
Develop and maintain procedures that establish clear leadership roles and a chain of command/response hierarchy with identified alternates.
Ensure ongoing evaluation of the response, and as required, modify the response plan.
Ensure lessons-learned are recorded and corrective actions are taken post-incident.

Recovery

Recovery refers to the process of restoring an affected community to a pre-disaster or higher level of functioning. This may include the provision of financial assistance, rehabilitation of critical infrastructure and habitats, return of evacuees, restoration of the environment or critical incident stress counseling. Recovery components also involve risk reduction components that encourage all levels, including communities and residents to build back better.

Recovery strategy objective

The objective is to deliver effective, immediate and on-going support to people, and the community/organization for emotional, social, physical, environmental and financial well-being. Recovery should use a risk reduction framework to incorporate prevention and mitigation components and ideally, a higher level of preparedness.

Recovery strategies and activities could include the following:

Implement recovery plans for short-term and long-term priorities for restoration of functions, services, resources, facilities, programs and infrastructure.
Implement psycho-social recovery plans.
Implement procedures to restore and return operations from the temporary measures adopted during an incident to support normal operations after an incident.
Ensure a proactive communication strategy is in place to keep the community aware of actions being taken.
Recognize the importance of a systematic approach to incorporating prevention and mitigation strategies into recovery programs.
Re-evaluate the recovery plans and strategies to ensure that risk reduction priorities of prevention and mitigation strategies remain relevant and effective.

Development of the Perth County Emergency Response Plan (ERP), and overall management of the emergency management program for the County, including the Lower Tier Municipalities is done in coordination with the County’s primary Manager of Community Emergency Management (CEMC).

Perth County's Emergency Response Plan is a comprehensive Plan, inclusive of Perth County, and the following Lower-Tier Municipalities.

Municipality of North Perth
Township of Perth East
Township of Perth South
Municipality of West Perth

Supporting plans and/or appendices developed by with the County or Municipalities do not form part of the publicly accessible ERP. Such documentation may be confidential and/or provide more detailed information that may require frequent updating, be of a technical nature, or contain sensitive or personal information which could pose a security threat or violate privacy legislation if released.

County of Perth Emergency Response Plan

Legislation & Regulations

Perth County’s Emergency Management Program is guided by the following pieces of legislation:

Emergency Management & Civil Protection Act
Ontario Regulations 380/04
Perth County & Municipal bylaws