Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan, 2010

In terms of effort applied to response, a slightly higher rating is given to areas where specific contingency plans arein place, such as cyclone and human pandemic. Other hazards were generally rated as ‘moderate’ in terms ofeffort applied as similar response systems are in place for most CDEM emergencies.Overall, Animal Epidemic, Plant & Animal Pests, Human Pandemic and Rural Fire came through as priorities forimproving response. The Rural Fire response is led by the Fire Service and CDEM support requirements such asevacuation and welfare are well covered in existing plans. However, development of plans for CDEM supportresponse to animal/plant disease incident is an area for improvement.The National Civil Defence Emergency Plan Order (2005) sets out the principles of response as:(1) Agencies should respond to an emergency by activating their own plans and co-ordinating with the lead agency.(2) Within the constraints that the emergency creates, each agency, operating within its own jurisdiction, must cooperatewith interdependent agencies to –(a) Assess the impact of the event on its own staff, assets, and services; and(b) Activate its own continuity and emergency arrangement; and(c) Maintain or restore the services it provides; and(d) Communicate with the lead agencies, other responders , and the public; and(e) Align response activities with other agencies to avoid gaps and duplications.(3) In addition, the emergency services are expect to-(a) Assess the effect of an event on the community: and(b) Co-ordinate the local efforts of their agency(c) Communicate assessments and actions with the appropriate lead agency(4) Emergency response objectives include-(a) Preservation of life; and(b) Prevention of escalation of the emergency; and(c) Maintenance of law and order: and(d) Care of sick, injured, and dependent people (first aid, medical, and evacuation facilities, and welfare); and(e) Provision of essential services (lifeline utilities, food, shelter, public information, and media); and(f) Preservation of governance (continuity of the machinery of government); and(g) Asset protection, including buildings and historic heritage assets (including structures, areas, landscapes,archaeological sites, and wahi tapu); and(h) Protection of natural and physical resources (to the extent reasonably possible in the circumstances); and(i) Preservation of economic activity. National Civil Defence Emergency Plan Order (2005), section 59.5.1.3 OBJECTIVESObjectives in relation to the Group EOC are covered in this Response section and are shown in Table 7.Table 7: Response ObjectivesNational CDEM objectives3b Enhancing the ability of CDEM Groups toprepare for the manage civil defenceemergencies.Northland CDEM Group objectives3e Establish and maintain effective and resilient inter-agencycommunication networks and processes.5.2 LEVELS OF EMERGENCYResponse relationships, roles, activities and EOC operation changes as an Incident escalates into an Emergency 5 .The Group recognises five levels of Incident/Emergency, which are consistent with those described in the NationalCDEM Plan:Level 1: Single agency incident with on-site co-ordinationLevel 2: Multi-agency incident with on-site, local coordination at an ICP; these are managed by the IncidentController reporting to the relevant lead agency.5 An emergency is defined in the CDEM Act (2002) and for the purposes of this Plan, means an event for which adeclaration of a state of local emergency is required.Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan, 2010-2015 Page 44