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• Equality means giving everyone the same thing, whereas equity means giving people what they need to reach their best health.
• Health equity and health equality do not mean the same thing
• In the short term, public health needs to establish a framework and indicators to structure reporting on inequities and disadvantage during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, throughout prevention, planning, response, management and recovery
• Resilient public health organizations are those that have governance, protocols, authority, accountability and established relationships to involve community members and representatives
• Disaster mitigation measures are those that eliminate or reduce the impacts and risks of hazards through proactive measures taken before an emergency or disaster occurs.
• One of the best-known examples of investment in disaster mitigation is the Red River Floodway.
• All-hazards approach: Looks at all potential risks and impacts, natural and human-induced (intentional and non-intentional) to ensure that decisions made to mitigate against one type of risk do not increase our vulnerability to other risks.
• Types of disaster mitigation Disaster mitigation measures may be structural (e.g. flood dikes) or non-structural (e.g. land use zoning). Mitigation activities should incorporate the measurement and assessment of the evolving risk environment. Activities may include the creation of comprehensive, pro-active tools that help decide where to focus funding and efforts in risk reduction.
• Other examples of mitigation measures include:

  • Hazard mapping

  • Disaster mitigation public awareness programs

  • Insurance programs
• Preparedness - Includes plans or preparations made to save lives and to help response and rescue operations.
• Evacuation plans and stocking food and water are both examples of preparedness.

  Preparedness activities take place before an emergency occurs
• The All-Hazards Risk Assessment (AHRA) will help identify, analyze and prioritize the full range of potential non-malicious and malicious threats. The process takes into account vulnerabilities associated with specific threats, identifies potential consequences should a threat be realized, and considers means to mitigate the risks
• Emergency Management Exercises

  • Government, first responders and military officials work together in exercises that simulate emergency scenarios such as natural disasters, health threats and terrorist attacks to validate plans, training, etc., and identify areas for improvement.
• Emergency Management Training

  • In Canada, emergency management training is available through provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, as well as through community colleges, universities and private sector organizations. Public Safety is engaging the various stakeholder groups to promote common approaches to emergency management, including the adoption of standards and best practices.
• Canada has a National Public Alerting System (NPAS) which provides emergency management organizations across the country with the capability to rapidly warn the public of imminent or unfolding hazards to life. Public alerts are issued through radio, cable and satellite television and on compatible wireless devices.
• Alert Ready is the public-facing brand name for the National Public Alert System
• Response - Includes actions taken to save lives and prevent further property damage in an emergency. The response is putting your preparedness plans into action.
• • Seeking shelter from a tornado or turning off gas valves in an earthquake are both response activities.
  • Response activities take place during an emergency.
• Emergencies are managed first at the local level: hospitals, fire departments, police and municipalities.
• If they need assistance at the local level, they request it from the provinces or territories
• In order to facilitate a cross-jurisdictional response in this regard, the National Emergency Response System (NERS) was developed by the Federal, Provincial and Territorial (FPT) Response Working Group and approved by FPT Ministers in January 2011.
• GOC: Government Operations Centre
• The GOC contributes primarily to the preparedness and response components.

  The GOC provides stable, round-the-clock coordination and support to critical national players in the event of national emergencies.
• Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) is the capacity to rescue victims from major structural collapse or other entrapments.
• Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) Resilience Strategy and Action Plan for Canada:The Strategy promotes the vision of an integrated capability across Canada by framing a scalable, responsive, dynamic, sustainable and evidence-based approach for all contributors to CBRNE events.
• Recovery - Includes actions taken to return to a normal or an even safer situation following an emergency.
• • Recovery includes getting financial assistance to help pay for the repairs.
  • Recovery activities take place after an emergency.
• In the event of a large-scale natural disaster where response and recovery costs exceed what individual provinces and territories could reasonably be expected to bear on their own, Public Safety Canada (PS) provides financial assistance to the provincial and territorial governments through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA). Assistance is paid to the province or territory – not directly to individuals or communities
• Federal Disaster Assistance Initiative (FDAI)

  The goal of the FDAI is to provide provincial and territorial governments with a comprehensive suite of disaster recovery programs that respond to the needs of Canadians.
• The Incident Management System (IMS) is a tool that provides a standard framework for responding to internal and external events that require an immediate reordering of daily priorities and deployment of human or material resources
• The desired outcomes of IMS are:

  To provide a safe working environment for staff involved in controlling the incident

  To minimize the impact on the community and the environment; and

  To effectively and efficiently control the incident
• There are six key sections in the agency’s IMS organizational structure:

  1. Command

  2. Operations

  3. Continuity of Operations

  4. Planning and Surveillance

  5. Finance and Administration

  6. Logistics
• Incident Manager: Takes overall charge of the incident within the agency; delegates authority to get work done efficiently and effectively.
• Safety Officer: Ensures all health and safety precautions are taken and that any concerns are addressed.
• Communications Officer: Ensures accurate, up-to-date information is provided to the media, the public and staff.
• Liaison Officer: Maintains links with other agencies involved in the emergency response
• Scribe: Records minutes and tracks all activities.
• An Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is the pre-designated meeting place for those responding to an emergency. Each EOC location is equipped with supplies and equipment that may be required. Ensuring the EOC is ready to be used in the event that IMS is initiated is the responsibility of the Emergency Preparedness Health and Safety Officer
• The IMS command structure takes into account the number of individuals reporting to one person. This is referred to as “span of control.” The number of reporting individuals is limited to a person’s ability to effectively delegate and monitor tasks and performance.
• The Medical Officer of Health oversees the assignment of an Incident Manager who is responsible for the overall strategy and management of the emergency response