COPENHAGEN FIRE BRIGADE Crisis? What crisis? Mitigation?

COPENHAGEN FIRE BRIGADE

Crisis? What crisis? Mitigation?


Exercise: Bird diseaseCivil protection system

Oresund Region

Niels Johan Juhl-NielsenHead of division

Safety and EmergencyCity of Copenhagen


The Danish Emergency Act

At least one time during an electional periode the city council must decide a total emergency plan for the city.

(In Copenhagen it is the Fire Brigade who are responsible for coordinating a proposal for en emergency plan. The rescue commander is responsible for setting-up an administrative staff if needed).


14 COUNTIES

275 MUNICIPALITIES

Preparednesscenter

The Danish Emergency Management Agency


Emergency Control Centres in Denmark

• 9 Emergency Control Centres managed by the police

• 1 Emergency Control Centre is managed by Copenhagen Fire Brigade after agreement with The County and the city of Frederiksberg and Copenhagen.


Copenhagen Municipality

500.000 inhabitants

More than 650.000 intotal

88 square kilometres

7 Fire- andambulance stations


1.2 million inhabitants

3 Counties

20 Municipalities

1 Emergency Control Centre

20 Fire Brigades

1 Police Control Centre

Greater Copenhagen


Municipal Preparedness Area

Firestation


Co-oporation in a scene of accident

• The Police has the responsibility of coordinating • The Fire brigades has the responsibility of

technical management• The Health authorities (hospitals) has the

responsibility of the Prehospital Preparedness (ambulances and medical staffs)

The coordination position of the police indicates that police is responsible for leading the regional coordinating staff, activating at a major incident.


Participants in emergency co-oporation

• Police• Copenhagen Fire Brigade • Prehospital Preparedness• Assisting Forces from neighbour Fire Brigades• Volunteer Forces• Preparedness Centre (Danish Emergency

management Agency)• Supporting Centres

Police coordinates at the regional level, Fire Brigade only for the internal municipal level (the administrative staff).


Copenhagen – a Danish capital in the Oresund Region

The framework for emergency planning in the region:

• A bridge between Denmark and Sweden• A national vulnerability rapport followed up

with a national emergency policy (and legislation)

• The EU-project ”Civilsafety in the Oresund Region”

Challenge: designing an emergency architecture for Copenhagen as a part of the whole Oresund Region!


Main task according to article 1 in the Danish Emergency Act

The task of the rescue service: Prevent, reduce and relieve damage onpersons, property and the environment

But how can fire service contribute in case of an epidemic???


Basic principle for Civil protection

EU context:

Civil preparedness or civil protection is a matter of internal national affairs


Danish national emergency policy

Denmark has no special emergency policy for cross border activity with Sweden (and Germany)

Other platforms for trans-national emergency

• Support to a EU-platform concerning civil protection

• Two nordic Agreements on respectively rescue and health


EU-project ”Civilsafety in the Oresund Region”

2002-2005Participation from counties in the region,

municipalities and hospitalsector.

Aims:To contribute and create preconditions to civil

sector preparednes in the Oresund Region.

The participants do this work without guide-lines from the EU or from their governments.


Conclusions: Two nations – to cultures?

Denmark• Top-down• The police

coordinates• Vertical sectoral

responsibility• Local rescue

based risks and prevention

Sweden• Law determined

buttom-up • Geografically and

municipallity based responsibility – risks and prevention

• Political structures dominates


Cross border exercise: bird disease in the Oresundsregion

A two days exercise at the regional authority in Sweden.

70-80 participants from municipalities, police, rescue, specialists

Focus: cross-border, vertical ctr. horizontal, different crains of experiences.

Purpose: How can Geographic Information System (GIS) contribute to prevent and mitigate for those who are in charge in a disaster?The emergency actors should know about the possibility of the GIS – the scenario was tested!!


Information about the exercise

• How to find the participants?• Common exerciseroom with diff. groups• A decisionmaking-group• 9 in-puts• Separate and a common report and a

conference in the end• Information for relevant authorities and

research• The exercise report will be included in the final

EU-project report


What happens?

• Children and old people goes to the hospital (influenza?)

• Some hens and ducks dies (60 km away)• On the island in Oresund birds were found

dead• In Sweden the same

But it takes some time before these information are coordinated. Any connections between them? If? What is the diagnosis?


9 in-putsI. 20% of the birds dead on a farm – the authorities asked for advice.

II. The hospital have some cases of influenza

III. Test showes the birds are infected of bird disease.

IV. More farms reports of dead birds.

V. Bird disease type H5 N1

An elderly man visit the hospitals in Landskrone (Sweden) maybe with influenza. More citizens arrive to the hospital with the same symptoms

Worried parents contacts the schools and ask if the children should stay at home.


VI. Destruction of birds in each country

VII. The elderly man is infected with type H5 N1

VIII. How to inform the public? Special groups?

IX. The elderly man dies and you have more cases in each country


Items – from the rear-view mirror

• Set-up – crisis management architecture in the two countries

• GIS – from tools to basic platform• A uniformed press strategy• Cross border cooperation • Destruction of the birds• The bodies• Information for the citizens and the staff• Specific medicine items


Items – set-up

• The utilities has the sectorresponsibility• The geographical area responcipality is not

defined in Denmark• The ownership for the accidens will change • First contact cross border through the Sector

autorities• Primary emergency platformes: Specialist

autorities, municipalities, police, the doctor institution


Items - GIS

• GIS-people and crisis management people live in ”two worlds”

• Lack of simultanious GIS- models • The ownership of ”the crisis” change during the

crisis: what about GIS?• More exercises with the application of GIS!


Items – press strategy

• Niveau 1: separate• Niveau 2: separate but now contact• Niveau 3: common


Item - destruction

• Different guide-lines in the two countries• Destruction-infrastructure og capacity• Capacity of keeping and burial


Conclusions

• Geografic Information System is useful for those who are in charge of the emergency management

• A public databank will be useful for the GIS• For the information of the citizens GIS was a

useful tool• Besides: the exercise made it possible to build

new network • Lots of problems with the security and

information• Distance between the politicians and GIS-people


Visions and reality

After opening the bridge – there har been no progress in establishing a cross-border and cross-sectoral cooperation in the Oresund Region.

A task force recommends: 1. an agreement including all emergency actors

in the Oresund Region, 2. a total ressource list 3. exercises for all emergency partners.


Problems?

• Different emergency architectures/cultures in the countries

• Vertical contra horizontal• Experts-politicans• Local responsibility – police/firebrigade• A generel – but flexible – model for crises

management?• Change in coordination-position during the

proces.


Critical moments in the exercise process

• In general: the mental preparation (who cares?)

• Early warning and the point of time for the diagnosis – vertical and horizontal

• When denying your kids to go out-side?• Change in responsibility for the coordination

(starting with the specialist authorities and then giving it to the police in Denmark and the regional authorities in Sweden)

• Acceptance of the special dynamic in developing of the scenario.


Conclusions

Results: • The exercise showed that it is needed in advance

to define the emergency architecture• GIS contains benefits for the decisionmakers in the

Region, but we need a generel information and implementation

• Careness about GIS innovation?• Sufficient available datas in a crisis • Probmel with interoperability• Exercise, exercise………• Networking is always useful !!


General recommandations

Because the two national governments have not finished their integration decisions the EU-project recommends:

With representatives from all emergency partners establishing of an Oresund Emergency Board

Purpose: information-sharing, conferences, up-dating, focus, contact.Condition: a budget


New basic conditions?

• Different kind of structured knowledge in learning processes (generalists/specialists, practioneers/academics)

• Chain of experiences (health, municipality, police)

• Need of new structured competences free of the hierarchy top-down tyranny

• Need for a new kind of leadership


Thank you!Thank you! [email protected]@112.dk


Management

Secretariat

The Building and Construction Committee

Planning &Architecture

IT office

Building &Housing

Road & Park

KTKThe Copenhagenfire service

City Churchyards

ParkingCopenhagen

RIA

Basic unit

Contract-managed unit


Fire Brigade Organization

Secretariat

Management

Personnel Dept.

IT-Dept.ServiceDept.

Fire and RescueDept.

AmbulanceDept.

Alarm andControl Centre

Dept. of FirePrevention

Fire-StationD

Fire-StationT

Fire-StationF

Fire-StationV

Fire-StationH

Fire-StationC

Fire-StationØ

MedicalDept.


Ambulance-service


Fire Preparedness today

7 fire stations On 24 hours alert : 78 Fire Fighters

including 8 Pioneers and two Fire

Officers on duty 12 Ambulances 2 Medical teams on wheel


Fire Preparedness today

800 employees 600 fire- and

ambulancemen, full time


Fire Brigade Turn-out Force


Information!

A new administrative structure for the Municipality of Copenhagen will function from January 2006.

Copenhagen Fire Brigade (Safety and emergency) has elaborated a proposal for establishing an independent department ”Security and Emergency” placed in relation to Copenhagen Fire Brigade or in a more central position in the municipal administration.


Operative Services Fire service

Smoke-divers with special circuit breathing apparatus

Pioneer (rescue service) Rescue-divers

Accompanying damage fighting

Alarm Centre

Ambulance service Patient Transports Medical Ambulance Psychiatric turn-out

service Syringe Buss

“kanylebus” Safety-services Emergency planning

COPENHAGEN FIRE BRIGADE Crisis? What crisis? Mitigation?

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