Emergency Social Services
Encyclopedia
Provincial Emergency Program
The Provincial Emergency Program is a division of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Emergency Management British Columbia, Canada. PEP works with local governments and other provincial and federal agencies year round, providing coordination and support before, during and after...
of the Province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. ESS are those services required to preserve the well-being of people affected by an emergency or disaster. Teams are established in local municipalities and assemble together for meetings and contingency planning.
When is ESS provided
Although ESS is designed to provide services to individuals affected by large complex disasters or emergencies, ESS may also be provided during smaller emergencies; for example a single house fire or emergencies affecting 1 to 2 families in a community.What services are provided by ESS?
ESS provides temporary reliefRelief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
to individuals and families so they can begin to plan their next steps to recover after a disaster.
ESS provides primary services such as:
food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
;lodging
Lodging
Lodging is a type of residential accommodation. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, safety, shelter from cold temperatures or rain, storage of luggage and access to common household functions.Lodgings may be self catering in which case no...
;clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
; and family reunification
Family reunification
Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries. The presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the family to immigrate to that country as well....
.
ESS may also provide specialized services such as:
emotional support services; first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
; child minding; pet care; and transportation services
How is ESS provided?
ESS teams assist people affected by disasterDisaster
A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
, usually at Reception Centres. Reception Centres may be located at the local community centre
Community centre
Community centres or community centers or jumping recreation centers are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialised group within...
, recreation centre, church, or school.
ESS teams may also provide services in the following settings:
outreach services to those unable to leave their homes;
mass care (lodging and feeding) to evacuees during a major disaster;
on-site services to response workers and others.
Regions
British Columbia is Canada's third largest province, and its most mountainous. PEP divides the province into regions for manageability reasons.- Vancouver IslandVancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
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 WaddingtonMount WaddingtonMount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the US border between Alaska and British Columbia are taller, Mount Waddington is the highest peak that lies...
- South West region: is the most populated, and includes the Lower MainlandLower MainlandThe Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...
and the Fraser ValleyFraser ValleyThe Fraser Valley is the section of the Fraser River basin in southwestern British Columbia downstream of the Fraser Canyon. The term is sometimes used to refer to the Fraser Canyon and stretches upstream from there, but in general British Columbian usage of the term refers to the stretch of the...
, and it includes- Sunshine Coast
- SquamishSquamish, British ColumbiaSquamish is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway...
- LillooetLillooetLillooet may refer to:*Lillooet, a town in the Fraser Canyon in British Columbia.*the St'at'imc people, also known as the Lillooet people*The Lillooet language, also known under the names of its dialects St'at'imcets and Ucwalmícwts...
(but not including the communities of: Birken, Bralorne, Gold Bridge, Pavilion, Lillooet, Seton Portage, Shalalth)
- Central Region: takes in the ThompsonThompson RiverThe Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches called the South Thompson and the North Thompson...
-OkanaganOkanaganThe Okanagan , also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as Okanagan Country is a region located in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. As of 2009, the region's population is approximately 350,927. The...
area and parts of the ColumbiaColumbia RiverThe Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
-ShuswapShuswap LakeShuswap Lake is a lake located in south-central British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, a branch of the Thompson River, a tributary of the Fraser River...
- 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 KootenaysKootenaysThe Kootenay Region comprises the southeastern portion of British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Ktunaxa First Nation first encountered by explorer David Thompson.-Boundaries:The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay Land...
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 CharlottesQueen Charlotte IslandsHaida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
, SkeenaSkeena RiverThe Skeena River is the second longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada . The Skeena is an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan - whose names mean "inside the Skeena River" and "people of the Skeena River" respectively, and also during the...
, BulkleyBulkley ValleyThe Bulkley Valley is located in the northwest Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada.-Geography:The 257 km long Bulkley River runs through the valley which is bounded on the west by the Hudson Bay Mountain range and on the east by the Babine Mountains...
–NechakoNechako RiverThe Nechako River arises on the Nechako Plateau east of the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and flows north toward Fort Fraser, then east to Prince George where it enters the Fraser River...
, and along the AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and YukonYukonYukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
borders.- Northern Rockies
- Peace River
- Fraser - Fort George
- Cariboo
- Central Coast
- North West Region: the largest in the province, takes in the Peace River CountryPeace River CountryThe Peace River Country is an aspen parkland region around the Peace River in Canada. It spans from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, where the region is also referred to as the Peace River Block.- Geography :The Peace River Country includes the...
, CaribooCaribooThe Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia along a plateau stretching from the Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the woodland caribou that were once abundant in the region...
and Central CoastCentral Coast Regional District, British ColumbiaCentral Coast Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It has a total land area of 24,559.5 km² . When it was created in 1968, it was named the Ocean Falls Regional District, after the then-largest town in the region, the company town Ocean Falls, now a ghost town...
- Stikine
- Kitimat - Stikine
- Bulkley - Nechako
- Skeena - Queen Charlotte
Volunteers' Powers, Privileges & Recognition
- Volunteers are allowed to use the Disaster Response RouteDisaster Response RouteDisaster Response Route is a network of pre-identified municipal and provincial roads in the Province of British Columbia, Canada that can best move emergency services and supplies to where they are needed in the event of a major disaster...
when on duty
- Under Section 27(1b) of the Emergency Program Act, a person commits an offence 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 imprisonmentImprisonmentImprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
and fine.
- Civil Liability Exemption under Section 18 of the Emergency Program Act
- WorkSafeBC 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
Note
Only persons over the age of 16 may sign up to become a volunteer. Persons aged 16-18 must have parental consent. There is no maximum age limit.External links
- http://www.ess.bc.ca Emergency Social Service Program, Provincial Emergency Program.