Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/533940
Special RepoRt one Million liveS C4i of Calgary is renowned for its com- puter simulation training software that is used all over the world, but now they are using these tools for a different pur- pose – to save lives. "It was heart wrenching to watch the images from the recent earthquake in Nepal in April," related Bruce Gilkes, President of C4i. "Families lost loved ones, infrastructure and historic trea- sures were massively destroyed, aid was delayed and we witnessed a panicked search for survivors." Sad as it was, at the same time it was heartening to see the international com- munity respond surely and resolutely with aid, technology and personnel to help with the response and recovery. Canada's own Disaster Assistance Re- sponse Team (DART) deployed to Nepal for a month to help the country transi- tion from response to recovery. But what about the next disaster? Of course, no one can control Mother Na- ture, but C4i thinks they may have an idea how to help people trapped in di- sasters in the future. "We believe that we can save One Million Lives by focus- ing training on the leaders and Emer- gency Operations Centre staff," said Gil- kes. "After all, it is these leaders and their staff who control the response, manage the effort and control the resources." Statistics show that during most disas- ters, there are a great many people who die waiting for help. C4i believes that if effort can be focused on training lead- ers and their staffs, they may be able to respond more quickly efficiently and people could be saved who would oth- erwise perish. The One Million Lives program starts with a computer simulation exercise using C4i's award-winning Emergency and Disaster Management Simulation (EDMSIM) software. This exercise is completely free of charge and C4i runs it at one of the main Emergency Opera- tions Centres in the target country. Prior to the exercise they collect an electronic snapshot of the disaster response re- sources, key infrastructure and program in the response plans. As the exercise unfolds the leaders realistically respond to the computer simulated disaster us- ing the same key personnel, communi- cations equipment, planning and track- ing tools that they would use during a real disaster. The C4i team watches carefully as they plan, manage informa- tion, track progress receive reports and interact with other agencies. When the exercise ends the participants gather and conduct a post exercise review where they discuss what happened. It is during this review that they become im- mediately aware of their most important issues and how to solve these problems. They then begin working to improve their overall response and effectiveness in preparation for the next, real disaster. None of this is easy. "C4i created the One Million Lives initiative to help target at-risk countries and thus far we have been to Jamaica and Peru," exclaimed Gilkes. "We have conducted several exer- cises in each country and these have each shone a light into problems with planning, operations and communications." The One Million Lives Initiative reaps its reward when governments fix the problems that were found and as a result more people are saved during disasters. One Million Lives is not just a C4i initiative – they are asking for hands-on assistance from other companies, government agencies and organizations. If you are interested in making a difference, please contact C4i at info@c4ic.com. www.vanguardcanada.com JUNE/JULY 2015 13