Ottawa Fire Services Standard Operating Procedure

Issue Date: September 28, 2006 Last Revision: Page 1 of 4

Classification

Subject

Authority

Policy

The Personal Disaster Assistance (PDA) program in Ottawa grew out of a concern by Members of Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) who witnessed residents being left on the streets following fires. To address this concern, the Canadian Red Cross Ottawa Branch and the Salvation Army, Booth Centre, formed a unique partnership that provides volunteers on a 24/7 basis to answer calls for assistance from OFS.

Purpose

To inform staff about the procedures for call out for victim support

Scope

All Communications’ and Suppression personnel

Procedure

A pilot project was launched on April 1, 2000 to cover the then cities of Ottawa and Vanier as well as Rockcliffe Park. Arrangements were finalized with hotels, grocery stores, pharmacies and The Humane Society to provide services and material upon request of the Red Cross on the basis of a voucher system. Over the two-year period following the pilot, PDA attended roughly 60 incidents and assisted approximately 370 people with temporary accommodation, clothing, food and other basic personal needs.

The PDA program fills an important niche between the time of a personal disaster and the commencement of the recovery process. The success of the pilot project resulted in a formal memorandum of understanding between the original partners and the Ottawa Fire Services, the Ottawa Police and the Ottawa Police Victim Crisis Unit. The program has now expanded its reach to the city limits of the amalgamated city of Ottawa and also extended its services beyond the southern border to provide assistance to the county of North Dundas.

In addition to providing support to victims of fire, there was also a need identified to provide assistance to First Responders who were on scene during harsh weather conditions or situations when staff will be on location for an extended period of time. In these situations, the PDA teams are also equipped to provide food, water and or hot beverages to first responders when required.

Ottawa Fire Services

Issue Date: September 28, 2006 Last Revision: Page 2 of 4

Summary of Victim Support program and services: To Victims:

• Shelter

• Food

• Clothing

• Emotional Support

• Post incident assistance in accessing the different emergency community services when required.

To Partners

• Food

• Water or Warm Beverages

Partners who may call Ottawa Fire Dispatch requesting PDA support:

• Ottawa Fire Services

• Ottawa Police Service

• Ottawa Police – Victim Crisis Unit

• Fire Services in the County of North Dundas

How to reach the Canadian Red Cross and Salvation Army PDA team:

In June of 2006, the Salvation Army and Canadian Red Cross migrated to the OFS paging system.

Both organizations are reachable simultaneously through a page to the Victim Support callout group (VS) in the OFS CAD system.

Canadian Red Cross and Salvation Army PDA Team Configuration

How the groups are configured to respond to incidents and how they answer pages from Ottawa Fire Dispatch:

All members of the PDA response teams are volunteers. Response times range depending on location of the incident and time of day but average response time is likely to be around 30 to 60 minutes. The sooner PDA teams are notified to respond during an incident, the sooner they can be on scene to provide support to victims and first responders.

When a callout is made through the paging system, all members of both the Salvation Army and Canadian Red Cross PDA teams are paged.

Issue Date: September 28, 2006 Last Revision: Page 3 of 4 As such, any callouts will result in two calls into OFS Dispatch, one member from the Salvation Army and one member from the Canadian Red Cross.

The Canadian Red Cross and the Salvation Army schedule their Team Leaders on a rotational basis. At all times, there is a primary and secondary responder available to respond to all pages that are sent out.

Primary Team Leaders of an organization will contact OFS Dispatch between 0 and 10 minutes from getting the page.

Secondary Team Leaders will contact Dispatch between 10 and 15 minutes from getting the initial page. (If no confirmation page has been sent out). (See Call out Procedure)

ACTIONS 1.0

When a request is received for Victim Support from Ottawa Fire (usually Incident Commander on Scene), OFS Dispatch shall:

Send out a page to Victim Support Paging Group (VS). Information on the page shall include:

a. Type of incident or service required b. Address of incident

c. OFS Call back number

2.0 The Salvation Army calls OFS Dispatch to confirm response with an estimated time of

arrival.

3.0 OFS Dispatch send out a page to Victim Support group indicating that the Salvation Army

is responding and the agency representative (if possible) who is responding.

4.0 The Red Cross calls OFS Dispatch to confirm response with an estimated time of arrival. 5.0 OFS Dispatch sends out a page to the Victim Support group indicating the Red Cross is

responding and the agency representative (if possible) that is responding.

NOTES:

• If the confirmation pages are not sent out, then additional representatives from the agencies may contact OFS Dispatch inquiring as to the status of the initial page.

• Send any cancellations to pages, or updates to calls to the Victim Support paging group, or request that the representatives responding contact OFS Dispatch for updates. All Team Leaders carry cell phones.

• Where neither organization responds to a page, the Canadian Red Cross has a Duty Manager of call 24/7. The Duty Officer Pager number is 613-239-7598.

Ottawa Fire Services

Issue Date: September 28, 2006 Last Revision: Page 4 of 4

RESPONSIBILITIES Incident Command shall:

• Contact OFS Dispatch when a need for PDA is identified

Dispatchers shall:

• Send out a page to Victim Support Paging Group when requested

Communications’ Supervisors shall:

• Ensure that Victim Assistance is paged upon request from Incident Command

(Original signed by Fire Chief)

R. Larabie

Fire Chief, Ottawa Fire Services Branch Community and Protective Services City of Ottawa

It is understood that this procedure may not address all circumstances. Conditions may exist that require some type of deviation by the Incident Commander. Decisions should always be based on experience, the safety of the public and the safety of Ottawa Fire Services personnel.

SOP #: SOP CO 02.1-2006 Victim Support Call Out Procedures

A Platoon

B Platoon

Print Name Signature Print Name Signature

C

Platoon

D Platoon

Print Name Signature Print Name Signature