Emergency Program

The City of Abbotsford has addressed all five phases of emergency management and is continually updating plans. Our goal is to be ready for anything! The five generally recognized phases in emergency management:

Prevention activities reduce the potential for emergencies.
Mitigation planning reduces the impact of emergencies that we cannot prevent.
Preparedness management ensures we have all the tools required to respond to emergencies.
Response is what we do when an emergency occurs.
Recovery efforts start where the response ends and sometimes even before.

Program Structure

The Emergency Planning Committee is composed of key partners and stakeholders in emergency management within the City of Abbotsford. The committee meets regularly to discuss issues common to emergency measures in our community. The Terms of Reference has details of roles and responsibilities of the committee.

Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is normally activated at the request of the Incident Commander or senior municipal officials to provide overall jurisdictional direction and control, coordination and resource support. The City of Abbotsford Emergency Program EOC utilize the British Columbia Emergency Response Management System (BCERMS) principles for organizing and managing EOC operations and activities. When an EOC is activated, local authorities may establish a policy group comprised of the head of the local authority (e.g. Mayor) and other elected officials and senior executive officers in order to provide the EOC Director with policy direction. An example of this level of policy direction is the declaration of a “state of local emergency.”

The Five Emergency Operations Centre Functions:
1. Management - Responsible for overall emergency policy and coordination; public information and media relations; agency liaison; and proper risk management procedures, through the joint efforts of local government agencies and private organizations.
2. Operations - Responsible for coordinating all jurisdictional operations and support of the emergency response through implementation of the jurisdictions action plan.
3. Planning - Responsible for collecting, evaluating, and disseminating information;
4. Developing the jurisdictions action plan and situational status in coordination with other functions; maintaining all EOC documentation.
5. Logistics - Responsible for providing facilities, service, personnel, equipment and materials
6. Finance/Administration - Responsible for financial activities and other administrative aspects.

Related Contact

Abbotsford Emergency Program

Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service

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Emergency Program

Program Structure

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