Emergency Management Program and Plan

Introduction The Emergency Response Plan for The District Municipality of Muskoka provides key officials, agencies, and departments within Muskoka with a detailed plan that will form the initial response for specific emergencies.

The Emergency Response Plan

For the plan to be effective, it is important that all concerned be made aware of its provisions, and that every official, agency, and department be prepared to carry out their assigned functions and responsibilities in an emergency.  The following paragraphs provide an overview of the background and major points of the plan.

Background

The Emergency Management & Community Civil Protection Act R.S.O. 1990, charges municipalities with the responsibility and authority to formulate and implement Emergency Plans.  In the District of Muskoka, the legislation gives the District Chair, or alternate, the authority to declare that an emergency exists within the municipality if a crisis situation arises.  In a Declared Emergency the District Chair is empowered to take actions to protect the property, health, safety, and welfare of the inhabitants of the emergency area.

Municipalities routinely respond to situations that require a combined response from fire, police, emergency medical services, and/or public works.  Large-scale emergencies such as floods, extended power outages, chemical spills, etc. can severely deplete available resources and require municipalities to call upon additional personnel, equipment, and expertise.  In cases such as these, the District of Muskoka's Emergency Response Plan would be implemented.

Responding to a large-scale emergency requires a careful assessment of the situation, an effective determination of resources required, and the efficient deployment and management of those resources.  The primary role of the municipal government in an emergency is to provide the organizational framework within which a co-ordinated response can take place.  The overall aim of these measures is to reduce the harmful effects and the impact of the event on the residents of the District.

Highlights of the Plan

Within Muskoka, each municipality has a responsibility to provide an initial response to emergencies which occur within their municipal boundaries.

The mayor of the affected municipality may request assistance from the District of Muskoka by contacting the District Chair.  This may be done without activating the Muskoka Emergency Response Plan.

However, when the resources of an area municipality are deemed insufficient to manage the emergency, the mayor may request that the District Chair or District Chief Administrative Officer activate the Muskoka Emergency Response Plan.  The Muskoka Emergency Control Group would then be notified and activated.  At this point the District Chair may decide to declare a District Emergency in the affected area.

The Muskoka Emergency Plan may also be activated if:

1. The emergency affects a large portion of the inhabitants of more than one area municipality;
2. The emergency requires extraordinary actions, or expenditures of monies, by one or more District service for the protection of life and property, and /or the District has committed significant resources (personnel and material) in the affected area;
3. An incident immediately or rapidly develops into a District level emergency, without prior declaration of an emergency by a lower tier municipality. 

Subject to the above, the District Chair, or alternate, may declare a state of emergency to exist in all or part of the District of Muskoka.

The Muskoka Emergency Control Group (MECG)

In a Declared Emergency, members of the Muskoka Emergency Control Group work together to effectively manage the District's emergency response.  The Muskoka Emergency Control Group includes:

• District Chair
• Chief Administration Officer
• The mayor, acting mayor, and designated senior municipal officials of the area municipality (or municipalities) affected by the emergency
• Community Emergency Management Coordinator
• Senior District of Muskoka officials from key departments (e.g. Corporate Finances & Emergency Services, Engineering & Public Works, Information Technology, etc.)
• Fire Coordinator
• OPP Liaison to the Detachment Commanders
• Director of Ambulance Services
• Medical Officer of Health

The makeup of the Muskoka Emergency Control Group will include additional staff and personnel from outside agencies depending on the nature of the specific emergency.

Resources within the District Municipality of Muskoka will not allow for representation from each emergency and support service or agency on every Municipal Emergency Control Group, as well as the District Emergency Control Group.  Therefore, once the Muskoka Emergency Response Plan is activated, overall co-ordination and deployment of resources required to mitigate the effects of the emergency will be the responsibility of the Muskoka Emergency Control Group in accordance with the Emergency Management & Community Civil Protection Act R.S.O. 1990 c.E 9.

However, it should be stressed that in any emergency, or threat of an emergency, members of the Muskoka Emergency Control Group or their alternates may be called together to make decisions or to be on standby, without having to declare that a District Emergency exists.