From April 17 to 19, 2011, leading practitioners in Emergency Management, Business Continuity and Critical Infrastructure Protection will meet in Montreal to discuss new partnerships and collaborations that will strengthen Canada's publidc safety network, resources, and programs
The Partnership Towards Safer Communities has been built on the notion that emergency management, business continuity planning and critical infrastructure protection are shared responsibilities. Modern thinking about public safety describes it as not just the role of the 1st Responders but also that of many others like trade organizations, volunteers with the Red Cross and other national aid organizations, private security personnel, emergency managers within government at all levels and many others. The new, more inclusive public safety environment is on us as the activity within the various PTSC-Online forums and collaborations can attest. New collaborative initiatives are being developed and shared within the PTSC-Online Community and new groups are spawning to take on local projects with collaborators sources from the PTSC-Online Community.
A leading initiative in the area of emergency management development in Canada is being organized by the heads of the Tri Services chiefs' associations: the Emergency Medical Services Chiefs of Canada (EMSCC), the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP). The initiative is about the 1st Responders sharing their deep expertise in emergency management with all EM/BCP/CIP practitioners across Canada.
As a benchmark event to mark the beginning of this overall program of cooperation, the Tri Services Chiefs are organizing a conference, 'Emergency Services Management in Canada.' This essential event will take place April 17th-19th, 2011 in Montreal, Quebec at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth. As the Chiefs say, "This event is a collaboration among these three associations, along with protective services and government. We have been working together like never before on emergency service management issues - issues at the very core of public safety that are important to every Canadian."
The discussions in Montreal will be led by leading national and international experts in the area of emergency management. The topics will target the multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional emergency service management issues many services are facing. The discussions will be practical and intended to create potential solutions to improve public safety through operational effectiveness. Central to the operational effectiveness will be consideration as to how the many sectors of public safety can work together for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
'Emergency Services Management in Canada' will provide a wide variety of invitees with contacts, resources, and solutions that they can take away and integrate into their home based EM/BC/CIP programs. For anyone in the following categories, this should be a conference that is not to be missed: Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services Executives, First Responders, Emergency Managers, Military, Coast Guard, NGOs, Government Officials (Federal, Provincial, Territorial, Municipal, and Regional), Private Sector Executives, Researchers and Academics, Professional and Industrial Associations & Industry Representatives.
Together, these public safety practitioners will tackle issues such as
¨ The challenges of multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional emergency management to ensure public safety agencies and our communities are prepared and equipped to respond timely and effectively to any emergency;
¨ Improving first responder and public safety capabilities by enhancing operational effectiveness;
¨ Leveraging effective governance, strategic leadership and a tri-service perspective, designedto:
o reduce duplication of effort
o optimize research data and promote new knowledge
o improve the ability to prioritize and allocate resources
o improve interoperability and safety amongst all first responders.
o Implementation of the Incident Management System
The Emergency Services Management in Canada conference is a foundational event in the ongoing development of public safety and emergency management capability in Canada. To ensure you are in on the ground floor, contact the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police at the following web site and sign up for this important event.
http://www.cacp.ca/index/eventscontent?contentId=1034
Link to PTSC-Online calendar article on the conference.
6 Comments
Thanks for posting this information! As a member of the organizing committee I appreciate the support from PTSC-Online and hope to meet many of our members in Montreal in April.
Lance Valcour
CITIG
Great article Ed, PTSC-Online is pleased to be able to promote this conference but I think we can do a lot more, leading up to, during the conference and especially following the conference.
If you plan to attend please post a comment and possibly include a brief note about the topic which most interests you.
During the conference it would be helpful if a few PTSC-Online members would post some highlights from the conference to share with those who were not able to attend.
Following the conference is where I believe PTSC-Online can help the most by providing a forum to facilitate follow up on action items identified during the conference. I am asking conference organizers to consider how PTSC-Online can help by providing a neutral forum for communication and collaboration following the conference. PTSC-Online can provide a combination of secure private and public forums (group spaces, blogs, discussion forums, wiki knowledge bases etc.) which can be used to continue discussion in a cost effective manner following the conference. These can be set up in advance so they can be announced at the conference or set up as needed following the conference. Please post your thoughts on how we can best help.
I learned of this conference earlier from Bill MacKay in his question on 'maintenance' of PTSC and how it can be funded.
It is my opinion that at this conference it is time for the BIG 3 associations to waltk-the-walk and earmark funding from each and every branch, station and hall across our country. If each of these entitites contributed $200 then a substantial budget would be available for the continuance, marketing and acceptance of PTSC as "THE" link bewteen all communities.
In this way the associations will be championing PTSC through a collaborative effort demonstrating that individual response agencies can marshal and work towards the betterment of every citizen in Canada - whereever they live.
At the same time, I am urging IAEM-Canada to step-forward and endorse PTSC thus enabling IAEM-Canada members with another medium that provides a share-site of collaboration. This is vital for the continuance and acceptance of the emergency management discipline as a true profession dedicated to their goals and objectives.
While each independent 'association' and entity is striving to enlist members and gain fees and funds, PTSC provides a method of linking amongst and across lines-of-authority and turf. Rather than 'sit back' and wait and watch; let us - each and everyone of us - 'sit up' and champion this concept that was initiated by our colleagues in the first responding industry - no matter what uniform they wear.
As previously suggestd, posting highlights from the conference for those unable to attend would be great. Also, technology makes it easy to webcast some the sessions live and also record them for future viewing.
Thanks to Ed Meyers for posting this to the PTSC Online Website great information for the first responder community across the nation!
The follow up Bill MacKay is suggesting would be great and thanks also to Pat Harkness for his great comments, that really we should make a collaborative effort at the conference (for those who can attend) to promote and support PTSC together as the rsponse community (BIG 3).
Web casting would also be great for those who can't attend in person as Art Osborne is suggesting, it is becoming easier!
Cheers, Dan Metcalfe, EW-EMS, VP OAEM
Having attended the first day of this "first of its kind" event in Canada I can honestly say that I have been very impressed with the speakers, their desire to change to continuously improve the services they provide and their awareness of how mobile communication devices and social media has changed the environment in which we work. Here are a few key points:
These are just a few of the items raised. We need to stay tuned for post conference follow up.
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