Provincial Emergency Program

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The Provincial Emergency Program (PEP) is a emergency preparedness program in the Province of British Columbia under the Emergency Program Act. PEP is is a branch of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, of the Government of British Columbia.

Contents 1 Authority 2 Volunteer Components 2.1 Pep Air 2.2 Search and Rescue 2.2.1 List of SAR Teams in BC 2.3 Emergency Social Services 2.4 Emergency Radio Communications 2.5 Road Rescue 3 Regions[3] 4 Volunteers' Powers, Privileges & Recognition 5 Note 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Authority

At the Federal Level:

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) develops programs and policies to prepare for national disasters.

At the Provincial Level

The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General is responsible for the program:

• Managing a provincial emergency response
• Assisting local authorities with planning for an emergency
• Supporting volunteers through a PEP Task number
• Ensure volunteers eligible for WCB Compensation
• Liability Insurance (ie. Civil Liability Exemption)

[edit] Volunteer Components

Approximately of 13,000 people are registered PEP volunteers across the province, operating in five areas ^[1]:

[edit] Pep Air

Pep Air conducts air searches and supports ground search and rescue missions. They are represented by a national organization called The Canadian Civil Air Search and Rescue Association.

[edit] Search and Rescue

Search and Rescue tracks lost hikers, campers and skiers, and provides them with necessary emergency support like first aid and transportation. Also assist with urban Search and Rescue, some disaster assistance and evidence searches.

Search and rescue is further broken down into individual teams what operate in an area of the province where they are responsible for familiarity and access. They may be tasked from a variety of agencies such as the RCMP, local police force, BC Ambulance, or the Coroner's service, and can be called to assist the Coast Guard, Department of Defense, and Parks Canada.

As of 2005 there were 93 individual SAR teams in the province, comprising approximately 4700 volunteers, and conducting an average of 900 operations per year, locating an average of 1200 people per year^[2].

SAR Teams in BC are represented by the British Columbia Search and Rescue Association , as well as by their individual teams.

[edit] List of SAR Teams in BC

100 Mile & District Search and Rescue Alberni Valley Rescue Squad All Island Search and Rescue Anahim Lake Search and Rescue Association Arrowsmith Search and Rescue Society Barriere Search and Rescue Association Beaver Valley Search and Rescue Bella Coola Valley Search and Rescue British Columbia Cave Rescue Bulkley Valley Search and Rescue Burns Lake Search and Rescue Campbell River Search and Rescue Society Castlegar Search and Rescue Central Cariboo Search and Rescue Central Fraser Valley Search and Rescue Society Central Okanagan Search & Rescue Society Chetwynd Search and Rescue Chilliwack Search and Rescue Clearwater Search and Rescue Columbia Valley Search and Rescue Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue Coquitlam Search and Rescue Cowichan Search and Rescue Cranbrook and District Search and Rescue Dease Lake Search and Rescue Elkford Search and Rescue Fernie Search and Rescue Fort Nelson Search and Rescue Fort St. James Search and Rescue Gabriola Island Search and Rescue Golden & District Search and Rescue Society Grand Forks Search and Rescue Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue Group Juan de Fuca Ground Search and Rescue Kamloops Search and Rescue Society Kaslo Search and Rescue Kent Harrison Search & Rescue Keremeos Search and Rescue Kimberley Search and Rescue Kitimat Search and Rescue

Ladysmith Search and Rescue Lake Cowichan Search and Rescue Lions Bay Search and Rescue Logan Lake Search and Rescue Mayne Island Search and Rescue Metchosin Search and Rescue Mission Search and Rescue Nakusp Search and Rescue Nanaimo Search and Rescue Society Nelson Search and Rescue Nicola Valley Search and Rescue North Peace Search and Rescue North Shore Rescue Oliver - Osoyoos Search and Rescue Pemberton District Search and Rescue Pender Island Search and Rescue Peninsula Emergency Measures Organization Penticton and District Emergency Program Society Port McNeill Search and Rescue Powell River Search and Rescue Prince George Search and Rescue Prince Rupert Search and Rescue Princeton Ground Search and Rescue Revelstoke Search and Rescue Ridge Meadows Search and Rescue Rossland Search and Rescue Saanich Search and Rescue Shuswap Search and Rescue South Peace Emergency Response Team Sparwood Search and Rescue Squamish Emergency Program Sunshine Coast Search and Rescue Society Surrey Search and Rescue Society Terrace Search and Rescue Tumbler Ridge Search and Rescue Valemount/McBride/Robson Valley Search and Rescue Vernon Search and Rescue Group Society Victoria Search and Rescue Westcoast Inland Search and Rescue Whistler Search and Rescue

[edit] Emergency Social Services

Emergency Social Services: provides food, clothing and temporary shelter for disaster victims. ESS quite often operate reception centres for displaced people during a disaster, for example during the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire.

[edit] Emergency Radio Communications

Emergency Radio Communications provides emergency radio services for remote areas, along with local, regional and provincial emergency links. They are represented in British Columbia by the Provincial Emergency Radio Communications Service

[edit] Road Rescue

Road Rescue provides first aid and other services — like the jaws of life — for highway accident victims. Most road rescue teams operate in rural areas of the province where emergency medical services may not be present, and are often part of a Search and Rescue team.

[edit] Regions^[3]

British Columbia is Canada's third largest province, and it's most mountainous. PEP divides the province into regions for manageability reasons.

• Vancouver Island Region: covers the Island, and much of the coastal region of the corresponding mainland including the following regions:
  • Victoria Capital
  • Cowichan Valley
  • Nanaimo
  • Alberni - Clayoquot
  • Powell River
  • Comox - Strathcona
  • Mount Waddington
• South West region: is the most populated, and includes the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley, and it includes
  • Sunshine Coast
  • Squamish - Lillooet (but not including the communities of: Birken, Bralorne, Gold Bridge, Pavilion, Lillooet, Seton Portage, Shalalth)

• Central Region: takes in the Thompson-Okanagan area and parts of the Columbia-Shuswap
  • Thompson - Nicola
  • Okanagan - Similkameen
  • Central Okanagan
  • North Okanagan
  • Squamish - Lillooet (only including the communities of: Birken, Bralorne, Gold Bridge, Pavilion, Lillooet, Seton Portage, Shalalth)
  • Columbia - Shuswap (only the area including the communities of: Anglemont, Falkland, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Canoe, Malakwa, Sorrento, Tappen)

• South East Region: includes the Kootenays and most of the Columbia-Shuswap
  • Kootenay Boundary
  • Central Kootenay
  • East Kootenay
  • Columbia - Shuswap (not including the communities of: Anglemont, Falkland, Salmon Arm District, Sicamous, Canoe, Malakwa, Sorrento, Tappen)
• North East Region: the second largest, comprises the North Coast, including the Charlottes, Skeena, Bulkley–Nechako, and along the Alaska and Yukon borders.
  • Northern Rockies
  • Peace River
  • Fraser - Fort George
  • Cariboo
  • Central Coast
• North West Region: the largest in the province, takes in the Peace River, Cariboo and Central Coast
  • Stikine
  • Kitimat - Stikine
  • Bulkley - Nechako
  • Skeena - Queen Charlotte

[edit] Volunteers' Powers, Privileges & Recognition

• Volunteers are allowed to use the Disaster Response Route when on duty

• Under Section 27(1b) of the Emergency Program Act, a person commits an offense who interferes with or obstructs any person in the exercise of any power or the performance of any duty conferred or imposed by this Act or the regulations is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year or to a fine of not more than $10 000 or to both imprisonment and fine.

• Civil Liability Exemption under Section 18 of the Emergency Program Act

• Workers' Compensation Board coverage

• The BC government maintains a comprehensive general liability insurance policy with a limit of $2 million covering all provincial volunteers

• Good Samaritan Act applies to all volunteers(unless grossly negligent)

• Trainings from the Provincial, Regional & Municipal Governments

• Special awards night every year

[edit] Note

Only persons over the age of 16 may sign up to become a volunteer. Persons aged 16-18 must have parental consent. There're no maximum age limit.

[edit] References

1. ^ Ground SAR Backgrounder (PDF). Provincial Emergency Program (2007-06-14). Retrieved on March 15, 2007.
2. ^ Ground SAR Backgrounder (PDF). Provincial Emergency Program (2007-06-14). Retrieved on March 15, 2007.
3. ^ SAR Regions Backgrounder (HTML). Provincial Emergency Program (2004). Retrieved on June 14, 2007.

[edit] External links

• [1] Provincial Emergency Program, Weekly Indicent Summaries
• [2] Emergency Social Service Program, Provincial Emergency Program.
• [3] WCB, Insurance & Liability Protection for Volunteers
• [4] Emergency Preparedness and Training Catalogue - Public Health Agency of Canada
• [5] Emergency Program Act