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Welcome back to your work and to a new year.  Unfortunately nature does not rest while many of us had the opportunity to take a break and I therefore appreciate the vigilance and effort that many maintained over the holiday period that enabled others to rest while communities were still well looked after should anything occur.

I started my break with some flying, referred to as the biannual flight review. This is a requirement for those holding a private pilot’s licence and is a balance between testing competence and identifying aspects that could be improved. Like most flying it also involves risk management and decision-making – can I cope with the conditions, am I familiar with the aircraft and the area, what is my fuel state, is the weather changing and so on. I proved that my competence was sufficient to continue to fly for another two years, but like civil defence emergency management, to be really good requires homework, understanding and practice.

The sector will encounter a number of challenges this year.  It has started with the Eketahuna earthquake on 20 January, which provided practice and test for the response in Tararua and the Wairarapa areas which came through with excellent results.  But it also indicates the value in us maintaining the momentum on earthquake preparedness Drop, Cover and Hold and the value of the EQC message around securing loose articles. It shows there is considerable ground to be made up in how we communicate risk and probabilities to the public in a style that is based on the science research and is in language the public can easily understand but is not intimidating and limiting readiness.

Over the period 25-26 February the civil defence emergency management conference will be held at Te Papa, in Wellington. This year the conference will run two parallel streams covering civil defence emergency management and a second bringing in businesses and business preparedness. As part of the conference on the evening of 25 February, the Minister will host a reception and present the Ministerial CDEM Awards for achievements in 2013. I would encourage those involved in CDEM to attend the conference, listen to the views and concepts of others, renew your own thinking and approach to competence and analyse ideas for applicability in your home area.

As the Minister announced before Christmas, on 1 April 2014 MCDEM will be transferred from the Department of Internal Affairs to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. There is considerable work now underway to unravel our connections with DIA and to ensure the supports we require are reinstated in the DPMC environment. At the same time we will move the Wellington office from 22 The Terrace to Bowen House on Lambton Quay. The transfer does not involve any change to our role or our work programme and does not change our responsibility to support and advise the sector. It does however give me a new Chief Executive, Andrew Kibblewhite, and puts the Ministry closer to the national security and crisis management apparatus. Changes like this present risk and a critical part of the project is to mitigate those risks to ensure we can continue to support our key stakeholders during the transition and in the new environment.

We have faced similar challenges before and surmounted them. I am looking forward to taking on those we get presented in 2014. I have a great team with the right attitude and we know our responsibilities to you and communities. I look forward to working with you in 2014.

Famous faces and earthquake survivors are lining up behind EQC’s Fix. Fasten. Don’t Forget. public education campaign.

A Canterbury-specific campaign kicks off on 19 January, with former All Black and current Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder, and Student Volunteer Army co-founder Sam Johnson fronting advertising over the next six weeks.

The campaign also includes Tracey Harris, who tragically lost her son Jayden in the 2011 earthquake, and Simon Robinson, who survived a chimney collapse in the September 2010 quake. Their experiences have made them eager to share the Fix. Fasten. Don’t Forget. message so that people are more prepared for an earthquake.

EQC Research and Education General Manager Hugh Cowan says the six-week campaign encourages Cantabrians to “make their experience count” and quake safe their homes. It includes television, radio, print, internet, outdoor advertising and brochures.

“Bunnings Warehouse is supporting the campaign by putting specific displays in-store so that everything required to fix and fasten is in one place.

“Research shows that while Cantabrians are more prepared than other parts of New Zealand, there is still a lot more to do – for instance, only 44% say they have secured tall furniture in their homes.”

Dr Cowan says the Canterbury campaign complements the three Fix. Fasten. Don’t Forget. cinema commercials that were shown in all other parts of New Zealand over the Christmas-New Year period.

“Independent testing of the cinema advertisements showed 93 percent of respondents recalled seeing the advertisements prior to the movie, with no prompting, and of those, 41 percent said they were likely to take action to quake safe their homes.

“However, in response to concerns raised by Canterbury mental health services that the hard-hitting nature of the cinema advertising might have negative effects on some survivors of the Christchurch earthquakes, EQC decided to replace them with a different set of commercials in Canterbury.

“Ongoing research will help EQC to adapt and build its Fix. Fasten. Don’t Forget. campaign over the next few months and years to encourage and help New Zealanders quake safe their homes.

“If the Canterbury and Cook Strait earthquakes have taught us anything, it’s that earthquakes can strike anytime, anywhere in New Zealand, so Fix. Fasten. Don’t forget .”

The Human Rights Commission has released its report Monitoring Human Rights in the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery. You can view a copy of the report here:

http://www.hrc.co.nz/key-projects/canterbury-earthquake-recovery/monitoring-human-rights-in-the-canterbury-earthquake-recovery.  

New Zealand Sign Language translations of the foreword, executive summary and recommendations are also available online and can be accessed here.

Chief Commissioner, David Rutherford, said a large number of people and agencies contributed to this report: "My thanks, on behalf of the Commission, go to all those who have contributed. I acknowledge the hard work which is going into helping Canterbury recover, and the resilience of the people of Canterbury."

A poster to assist policy and decision makers in putting people and their rights at the centre of the recovery has also been created. You can see a copy of it here: http://www.hrc.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/HRC-Earthquake-Monitoring-Poster-5.pdf

People took about 50 minutes longer to make their initial trip after the earthquake, compared to usual travel times. Average travel time was 1 hour and 21 minutes.  Those who travelled immediately added significantly more time to their trips than those who delayed their trips until after 5pm.

A survey exploring Wellingtonians’ experience of the 6.6 magnitude earthquake which struck at 2:31pm on Friday, 16 August 2013 was distributed by Opus Research to people in the CBD. In total, 443 people responded to the survey which explored topics such as people’s immediate experience of the earthquake and their response, their post-earthquake behaviour, their travel patterns and information seeking following the earthquake, general preparedness, and perceptions of building safety. Analysis of the data is still underway, but some key findings include:

• The majority of people dropped, covered and held during the earthquake (55.4%), and nearly 70% of respondents anticipated they would do this in the future.
• People reported being aware that there was no tsunami risk after 60 minutes on average, with 5% reporting they didn’t consider the possibility of a tsunami or access information about this potential risk. Two percent of people reported travelling to higher ground.
• Most people travelled to their own home first (58.9%), most commonly to meet people important to them (56.5%). Trips were mostly by car (64.5%) and with people known to the person (63.5%).

People took about 50 minutes longer to make their initial trip after the earthquake, compared to usual travel times. Average travel time was one hour and 21 minutes. Those who travelled immediately added significantly more time to their trips than those who delayed their trips until after 5pm.

(Click on the following images to download larger versions).

Thomas R. Briggs Professor of Engineering at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, Tom O’Rourke (pictured), set the scene for the 2013 National Lifelines Forum with a clarion call for improved resilience of critical infrastructure in his presentation Earthquake Effects on Critical Lifelines and Infrastructure.  Drawing on the Tohoku earthquake, Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Katrina, Prof O’Rourke:

• called for reassessments of the resilience of infrastructure, focussing on infrastructure that is critically important including fully probing the “what if” questions to fully test design assumptions and standards.
• noted the importance of getting simple things right: Basements are not good locations for sensitive equipment, emergency kit or fuel storage – access is often difficult and flooding and burst pipes are common.
• drew attention to the key role of Christchurch’s experiences in informing international research: Lifeline utility and geophysical data from Christchurch is recognised as most helpful in advancing world-wide understandings of infrastructure damage from earthquake-induced lateral and vertical ground deformation, e.g. relating to performance of different pipe materials. 
• reminded the audience of the importance of local application of global lessons: This is where Lifeline Groups play important roles.

A main message is that special attention is needed to infrastructure where outages could have the most disabling impacts on businesses and communities.  Infrastructure with these characteristics is just “too big to fail ”.

The Christchurch Civil Defence Emergency Management team had a commanding presence at this year’s A&P Show in November taking the opportunity to highlight the work of our volunteer response and welfare teams, and promoting our programmes: Stan’s Got a Plan, Turtle Safe, Resilient Business, and general preparedness messages. The CCC CDEM Command Unit was on show, and the response teams demonstrated their stretcher work off a scaffolding tower. Tsunami information, and “get ready” messaging for the deaf and hearing impaired was also on display.

Also in attendance this year was Stan the civil defence Dog, who proved to be a big hit with the kids at the show.  It was very pleasing to see the high recognition rate of Stan amongst the pre-school and primary school children and their knowledge of how to be Turtle Safe in an earthquake – thanks in no small part to the hard work of the CCC education team visiting schools around Christchurch, delivering the CCC “Stan’s Got a Plan” education package.

Stan took time out to enjoy the show – being spotted on the Ferris wheel, bouncy castle, driving a digger, being rescued, and posing in front of a helicopter, ambulance and Porche.  He was even seen with Murray Sinclair – CDEM & Rural Fire Unit Manager.

During the three days more than 300 water bottles and civil defence bags were awarded as prizes to kids able to correctly demonstrate the actions to take during an earthquake.  There was also a competition to win a ‘Grab-n-Go’ bag. 

A big thank you goes out to our brilliant volunteers and the CCC CDEM team for making our attendance possible.

During November, the Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group held two one-day free community welfare workshops for communities in the Whangarei district to learn about the CDEM welfare structure and put into practice the provision of welfare support if communities are found isolated up to three days without external assistance.

The workshops were held in Hikurangi and Ruakaka and were attended by community response group members from across the district. The Northland Red Cross Disaster Welfare Support Team also attended at Ruakaka bringing equipment and assisting with the day’s activities being both evacuees and staff in the welfare centre alongside community members.

The workshop consisted of a morning of information regarding welfare structure, roles and responsibilities of agencies and how a welfare centre is set up. The afternoon gave the group an opportunity to set up a welfare centre. The group was split into two groups, one group were evacuees and one group set up the welfare centre to receive the evacuees.

As part of the learning experience, the evacuees attended each area of the centre, reception, registration, first aid, catering, clothing needs, personal services and psychosocial support. Feedback from participants was very positive. The workshops were a great learning experience to make people think about the reality of such a situation and what may be encountered during a civil defence event.

These workshops have been held across Northland for the past past years to build community resilience.

On Wednesday 20 November 2013, the Manawatu District Emergency Management Committee was activated to test their systems along with the Emergency Management Exercise Pahu.

An Emergency Welfare Centre was established at the Salvation Army hall in Manchester Street, Feilding to cater for refugees who were required to evacuate their rural properties because of the ash fall.  Members of the Manawatu District Neighbourhood Support were invited to act as refugees.  The volunteers played their part well with one collapsing as they entered the building,  two or three showing signs of breathing difficulties as a result of the ash in the air, they raised concerns about lost pets, the livestock that were left on their properties, prized birds being left behind, the failure to bring with them any identification and prescriptions, inability to contact family members, concerns over neighbours who had not yet arrived at the emergency centre.  The Salvation Army volunteers played their part reporting that their power had gone off and were having difficulty catering for the refugees.

To put a different perspective on the activities in the Centre, two ladies with toddlers were approached on the street and they came in an played their part.  The toddlers running around certainly gave the volunteer Salvation Army people a different aspect to consider.

The Manawatu District Council's welfare staff, the animal control staff, a Work and Income staff member and the Salvation Army volunteers undertook their roles in a professional manner.

In the end everyone involved enjoyed a luncheon prepared by the Salvation Army on their emergency cooking facilities.

Wellington City Council and Neighbourhood Support New Zealand have developed easy-to-use ‘Neighbours Cards’ for people to record their neighbours’ (or support person’s) details and then to store in their wallet for use in a crisis or an emergency.

In the event of an emergency the most immediate help available will be neighbours.

Immediate target groups for the cards are seniors, ethnic and migrant communities and vulnerable people in the community with disabilities and/or accessibility problems. A Neighbours Card has been sent to every tenant in Wellington City Council’s social housing sites as part of a drive to improve the emergency preparedness of the residents.

The cards were inspired by a Council staff member who uses a wheelchair for mobility who attended a Neighbours Day barbecue in her street and exchanged phone numbers with her neighbours. During the southerly storm that battered Wellington last June, her neighbours were able to check on her and phoned to offer reassurance. During the swarm of earthquakes in Cook Strait in July and August, her neighbours again checked on her and phoned to check she was OK.

Roger Eynon, the CEO of Neighbourhood Support New Zealand, says: "We know that adversity brings people together.  It would be even better if our communities choose to do that before adversity touches them."

The cards will be promoted heavily as part of Neighbours Day Aotearoa 2014 celebrations in Wellington on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 March 2014.

For further information see Neighbours Day
For further information see Neighbours Cards or contact angela.rampton@wcc.govt.nz or roger.eynon@police.govt.nz

Roll-out session to Bay of Plenty CDEM Group

So what’s the latest on the Integrated Training Framework (ITF)?  The roll-out of the Emergency Operations Centre (CDEM) Foundational Course, the first product of the ITF, has progressed well with some 69 potential instructors provided a training delivery overview.  Upwards of 305 students have received the full course to date with many more scheduled.  So far the feedback has been very positive with certain areas already scheduling out deliveries through the rest of the year.

As an incentive to groups to organise a formal ITF roll-out and training material presentation, we have been providing instructor kits to those attendees intending on delivering the training.  However, all materials for delivering this course are now available from a password protected website for use by any authorised CDEM staff.  The only pre-requisites for delivering this basic concepts material is that the instructor be an experienced CDEM professional. So, if you feel you fit the bill please contact your CDEM group training contact for more details.  We strongly encourage potential instructors to co-deliver their first class alongside one of the individuals that have sat through the formal roll-out presentation or have delivered alongside one of our experienced working group members.

The next phase for the ITF programme is the development of the Emergency Operations Centre Intermediate course.  Submissions from contractors will be under review at time of going to print with the material coming available to the sector around the July time frame.  We will also be moving forward within the next few months with the various advanced courses so within the year potential EOC staff will have the opportunity to attain a high level of competency in a number of functional areas.  We are particularly excited about the development of an advanced Planning and Intelligence course aimed specifically at integrating the intelligence and planning cycles within the EOC environment.

If your region has not yet received a roll-out presentation and would like to do so, please call the contact provided below.  The roll-out comprises a presentation of the ITF programme (one hour) aimed at interested parties followed by an overview of the key training elements of the course and a Q&A session aimed at potential instructors (two hours).

For contact information on working group members or to schedule a roll-out session please ITF@waikatoregion.govt.nz.

Planning is well underway for New Zealand’s first disaster communications conference, to be held in Auckland in May.

Some of the world’s leading disaster communications professionals will share their experiences with advice and tips on how to lead the community through an emergency. They include top communicators from the United States, the UN and Emergency Management Australia as well as Director of CDEM, John Hamilton, and leading crisis communicators from the private and public sectors in New Zealand.

The international organisation Emergency Media & Public Affairs (EMPA) has been holding annual conferences in Australia since 2008. Last year EMPA Chairman Peter Rekers, of Queensland, began working with some of New Zealand’s emergency communicators to plan for an event in New Zealand.

“We’re very grateful for the generous support of Auckland Council, principal sponsor of the conference, along with the support of the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. Without them, this event would not be possible,” he said.

Conference organising committee chair Michele Poole, of Queenstown Lakes District Council, said it was a fantastic opportunity to bring an international line-up to a New Zealand audience. “We’ve been able to leverage off EMPA’s contacts and organisation to entice some top speakers to New Zealand, along with many of our own most respected emergency management and communications professionals.”

She said anyone involved in emergency management, crisis communications or the media would find the conference valuable. Because EMPA is a not-for-profit organisation, the cost of the two-day event is much lower than similar forums, at just $750 for the early bird registration, open until the end of February. Any proceeds will be channelled into research on communicating more effectively with communities during emergencies – a field where EMPA is already active, through its partnerships with several Australian universities.

Keynote speakers at EMPA Auckland include:

• Bob Jensen, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security in Washington
• Denis McClean, Chief of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s Communications Branch
• Mark Crosweller, Director General of Emergency Management Australia
• John Hamilton, Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management
• Sir Bob Parker, Former Mayor of Christchurch
• David Morgan, Chief Pilot, Air New Zealand

The programme also includes a “fast five” session with some of New Zealand’s most experienced emergency Public Information Managers sharing their top tips for communicating in emergencies; communicating in recovery based on the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority’s work in Christchurch; and interactive panel discussions.

Full details here: http://www.emergencymedia.org/site/conferences_nz.htm

Wellington is the lucky host for next year’s AFAC Conference, from 2-5 September 2014. The theme for the conference is “After Disaster Strikes, Learning from Adversity”, and it’s aim is to bring together and share the combined wisdom of experience, research and analysis from across the emergency services sector.

The call for abstracts for this conference has now gone out and we are actively looking to encourage submissions from across the board. We would like to ask for your help with this by internally advertising that the call for abstract is now open and ensuring that your staff are aware of this exciting opportunity.

More information can be found on the AFAC website -  http://www.afac.com.au/events/conference/program/abstracts

Paging

Over the last year or so the national paging network has had some problems and there has been a number of comments and rumours around its future.   The current situation is that Telecom has advised MCDEM that fixing it entails significant investment and they do not intend to make this commitment given the uncertain future of paging.  The existing paging system will continue until at least 2015. 

Given this development we are encouraging CDEM Groups to look at their alerting arrangements within their regions and to begin looking at alternatives to the pager network if it is currently used.  MCDEM is happy to work with affected groups to test new arrangements as they are developed. 

For further information please contact Sara Leighton ( sara.leighton@dia.govt.nz or 04 495 6800) or Jo Guard ( jo.guard@dia.govt.nz or 04 495 6818).

High Frequency (HF) Radio

After the recent review of HF radio by MCDEM the decision has been made to not renew the HF licences when they expire in March 2014.   Arrangements will be made with the Radio Spectrum Management Unit at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to transfer the existing HF frequencies used by MCDEM to any CDEM Group wishing to retain an HF capability   Those CDEM Groups will be gifted the current equipment and infrastructure within their regions but will need to assume responsibility for all licensing and maintenance requirements from 1 April 2014. 

Emergency Services (ES) Band Radio Frequencies

The allocated CDEM frequencies remain under the ownership of MCDEM. The previous standard for equipment operating within these frequencies “RFS26” has now been superseded by AS/NZ 4295 or EN300 086-1 V1.4.1. The Public Safety Radio Frequency Management Group (PSRFMG) manages the use of ES band frequencies as agreed within the “Rules of Operation”. These rules are currently being updated to reflect the move to digital radio. All organisations are reminded that if they change equipment or move to digital then their licenses to operate must be amended accordingly via MCDEM.   Organisations cannot move to digital without any amendment of their licences.   

Digital Radio

The digital radio network installed by Police and operating in Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland is part of the Whole of Government Radio Network (WGRN). The network in these three regions will initially be made available to other partners including the NZ Fire Service and ambulance services. The current situation is that further expansion of this network is on hold while Police and other agencies further explore and consider new and emerging communications technologies. It is intended that other agencies will come on board this network as it suits their budgets and operational requirements.   

In the meantime it is important that CDEM organisations considering updating or moving to digital radio fully consider the implications before committing to a system. Interoperability across all response agencies must be the key consideration.    APCO-P25, DMR, DPMR and NXDN are all currently available in New Zealand. APCO-P25 represents the agreed standard for the WGRN. Recently some companies have quoted comparison costs of P25 equipment against other digital systems which in some instances appear to be not in touch with actual requirements. Organisations when seeking cost information are advised to be clear on their network requirements and specification before making comparisons. 

If CDEM organisations chose to move to digital systems other than P25 it is likely that they will need to vacate the ES band and move to commercial channels. This is currently being worked through by the PSRFMG and a decision will be advised soon.  

For further information contact Regional Emergency Management Advisor John Lovell,  john.lovell@dia.govt.nz, phone 027 438 2694

Interagency National Exercise Programme

The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management is represented on an interagency National Exercise Programme group that was initially formed to establish a series of exercises leading up to 2015 (when NZ is hosting the Under 20 FIFA World Cup and co-hosting the Cricket World Cup). While this still remains the primary focus, the group is now officially recognised under the Committee of Officials for Domestic and External Security Coordination (ODESC) and will continue to meet beyond 2015. The group will assist agencies in developing exercises, maintain oversight of exercises being run across the country, and develop tools and guidance to engender national consistency in exercises across all hazards.

Aim, objectives and KPIs - available for your use!
The Group has developed a suite of objectives and key performance indicators for the National Exercise Programme. The intention of this document is for agencies to use these objectives and key performance indicators in developing their own exercises (if applicable). They can be modified to make them more specific and more measurable for your exercises. If you would like a copy of this document, please contact Anita Walker (anita.walker@dia.govt.nz).

Exercise Rangatira March 2014

In March 2014, Exercise Rangatira is taking place. This is a Tier 4 exercise under the CDEM National Exercise Programme. However, it will not involve CDEM Groups.  This tabletop exercise is for members of ODESC and DES (Cabinet Committee for Domestic and External Security) based on a major Wellington earthquake. The exercise is being coordinated by MCDEM in conjunction with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC), Parliamentary Service and the New Zealand Defence Force.  As the focus is on members of ODESC and DES, this exercise will not involve the majority of MCDEM or CDEM Groups. This exercise is officially part of the suite of exercises developed for the interagency National Exercise Programme in preparation for 2015.

Exercise Writing & Management Course 2014

The next Exercise Writing and Management Course is being run in Wellington on Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 February 2014. The course has been developed to build and maintain national consistency and quality standards for CDEM exercise development. The course is run annually and it supports the CDEM Exercises Director’s Guideline published in 2009.

There are a number of all-hazard exercises being held in 2014 across government agencies in the lead up to 2015 when New Zealand is hosting the Under 20 FIFA Football World Cup and co-hosting the Cricket World Cup. As there are no Tier 3 (or Tier 4 exercises that involve CDEM Groups in 2014), we are opening up the course to central government agency personnel.

Selection will be made based on where we see the greatest need, so make sure you outline your Group  or agency needs in the nomination form! Course information, including the nomination form, has been sent to all CDEM Group Managers and to a number of national agencies. If you would like a copy of this information or have any queries about the course, please contact Anita Walker (anita.walker@dia.govt.nz, (04) 495 6803).

A Welfare forum for CDEM Groups will be held in Auckland on 19-20 March 2014. The forum is an opportunity for those directly involved in coordinating and managing CDEM welfare to discuss best practice approaches to the provision of welfare, to workshop some of the issues arising from changes to the draft, revised National CDEM Plan, and to be involved in the refinement of future policy and practice for the delivery of welfare in an emergency.

Discussions at the forum will inform future guidance that the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM) provides to CDEM Groups on the delivery of welfare, including the revision of the Director’s Guideline Welfare in an Emergency [DGL 11/10], and the new Guide to the National CDEM Plan, both due to be developed in 2014.

Up to four participants from each CDEM Group will attend. The primary audience is local and CDEM Group Welfare Managers, and Welfare Coordination Group Chairs. Contact your CDEM Group Office or MCDEM Regional Emergency Management Advisor for more information.

Northern

John Titmus: 09 362 5172 or john.titmus@dia.govt.nz
Greg Gallop: 09 362 5173 or greg.gallop@dia.govt.nz
Suzanne Vowles: 09 263 0163 or suzanne.vowles@dia.govt.nz
Jane Rollin: 09 362 5175 or jane.rollin@dia.govt.nz

Central

Ian Wilson: 04 495 6820 or ian.wilson@dia.govt.nz
Keith Evans: 04 495 6837 or keith.evans@dia.govt.nz
Andrew Hickey: 04 495 6822 or andrew.hickey@dia.govt.nz

Southern

John Lovell: 027 438 2694 or john.lovell@dia.govt.nz
Simon Chambers: 027 443 2856 or simon.chambers@dia.govt.nz
Peter Cameron: 021 687 995 or peter.cameron@dia.govt.nz