CANADA TASK FORCE 3 Toronto Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) 21 Old Eglinton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M4A 0A2 Response to Elliot Lake Commission of Inquiry Recommendations October 14, 2015
Table of Contents Background......1 Introduction... 1 Sustainability of the Toronto HUSAR Program... 2 Incident Management System/Chain of Command Recommendation 2.7... 3 Recommendation 2.8...3 Recommendation 2.9...3 Recommendation 2.10...4 Communications Recommendation 2.11...4 Recommendation 2.12...5 Recommendation 2.13...5 Recommendation 2.14...5 Recommendation 2.15...5 HUSAR/TF3 (Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3) Recommendation 2.16... 6 Recommendation 2.17... 6 Recommendation 2.18... 6 Recommendation 2.19... 7 Recommendation 2.20... 7 Recommendation 2.21... 7 Recommendation 2.22... 7 Recommendation 2.23... 8 Recommendation 2.24... 8 Recommendation 2.25... 8 Recommendation 2.26... 9
Speed of Response Recommendation 2.28... 9 Recommendation 2.29... 9 Recommendation 2.30... 9 Recommendation 2.31.. 10 Debriefings and after-action reports Recommendation 2.34...10
Background On October 14, 2014, the Report of the Elliot Lake Commission of Inquiry (the "Commission") was released by Commissioner Paul Bélanger to the Attorney General of Ontario, Pursuant to Order in Council 1097/2012 (the "Report"). The independent public inquiry was held as a result of an incident that occurred on June 23, 2013, in Elliott Lake Ontario, when a portion of the rooftop parking deck of the Algo Mall collapsed and resulted in the deaths of two area residents: Doloris Perizzolo and Lucie Aylwin. The inquiry was conducted in two parts. Part One examined the events leading up to the mall collapse and Part Two focused on the emergency response that followed. Part Two of the Report, entitled "The Emergency Response and Enquiry Process", contained a total of thirty eight recommendations, including recommendation 2.35 which states: "The Government of Ontario and other institutions identified in this Report should issue a public report within one year on their response to these recommendations and what steps if any, they are taking to implement them." This document responds to the direction contained in recommendation 2.35 of the Report, and includes comments on the recommendations in Part Two of the Report (the "Report Recommendations") that relate to the roles and responsibilities of the City of Toronto's Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team ("Toronto HUSAR"). Introduction In the time since the release of the Report, Toronto HUSAR has endeavored to address the Report Recommendations that relate to the roles and responsibilities of Toronto HUSAR, through the development and implementation of new standard operating guidelines ("SOGs") and protocols, the enhanced use of available technology, the purchase of new equipment and team training. Toronto HUSAR had an opportunity to incorporate a number of the Report Recommendations into the design and execution of the Provincial "Operation Border Cities Response" Exercise that took place in Windsor Ontario in February 2015 (the "Provincial Exercise"). In fact, this exercise was specifically designed to address, test and evaluate a number of the Report Recommendations, with a particular focus on Command & Control and the Incident Command Structure ("ICS"). In all, a total of 25 of the Report Recommendations were addressed as part of the exercise, as are identified in the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management ("OFMEM") August 21, 2015 Combined Agency After Action Report (the "OFMEM AAR"). The Provincial Exercise Participants included: - Toronto HUSAR; - OFMEM; - Ontario Provincial Police Urban Search and Rescue Team ("UCRT"); - City of Windsor, including the municipal Emergency Operations Centre; - Windsor Fire Services; - Windsor Police Service; - Essex Windsor Emergency Medical Services; - Ministry of Labour (observer status); and - Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services Communications Branch ("MCSCS"). 1
On May 7, 2015, following the completion of the Provincial Exercise, representatives from the above-noted agencies reconvened in Toronto for a roundtable discussion to review and evaluate the Report Recommendations in context with the exercise objectives. On August 21, 2015, the OFMEM released the OFMEM AAR, which detailed the above-noted agencies' participation in the Provincial Exercise and these agencies' efforts to address the Report Recommendations. Toronto HUSAR understands that the OFMEM AAR will be made public by the Province in response to the Report Recommendations. This document speaks to additional measures Toronto HUSAR had undertaken in response to the Report Recommendations since the Provincial Exercise, and provides further commentary on Toronto HUSAR's efforts in response to the Report Recommendations, including reference to the resources required to achieve the short, medium and long term goals identified in the Report Recommendations and the OFMEM AAR. This document also identifies where further Toronto HUSAR actions in response to the Report Recommendations are referenced in the OFMEM AAR. Toronto HUSAR's report format aligns with both the Report Recommendations and the OFMEM AAR. Sustainability of the Toronto HUSAR Program Commentary in a number of the sections of the OFMEM's AAR speaks to the desirability for Toronto HUSAR to enhance aspects of its speed of response, technical and administrative capabilities and team training. Toronto HUSAR intends to work with the OFMEM to determine how these goals can best be achieved in the face of the substantial HUSAR funding shortfalls that have occurred since 2012. Report Recommendation 2.26 notes that: "HUSAR/TF3 should receive adequate funding to ensure that it is properly equipped and trained to respond to structural collapses in a timely manner with sufficient personnel and expertise. The Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP) funding should be reinstated by the federal government." The JEPP Program was directed towards capital purchases. The cancellation of the JEPP Program in 2012 resulted in an annual reduction in grant funding of approximately $500,000 and all but eliminated Toronto HUSAR's ability to ensure that the capital assets of the team could be maintained in an ongoing state of good repair. The Provincial Grant program still provides Toronto HUSAR with annual funding in the amount of $300,000; however these funds are allocated almost exclusively toward team training, and funding levels have remained unchanged since 2007. A 2015 review of the Toronto HUSAR's medium term capital and operating requirements estimated a shortfall of approximately $4.7million by2019, if team funding is maintained at current levels, for equipment, rolling stock and training resources (not including cost of living). In the absence of new and/or incremental funding sources, Toronto HUSAR may be forced to make some difficult decisions in terms of the sustainability of the HUSAR program. 2
Theme: Incident Management System/Chain of Command Report Recommendation 2.7 Whenever a municipal or provincial emergency is declared, its management should contain the following mandatory features, each of which is reduced to writing: a clear chain of command; defined responsibility and accountability for all in the chain of command; a clear and consistent line of communication for all responders; a plan of action determined by the individual in charge after consultation; and an early and comprehensive briefing of all team members before the plan is carried out. Commentary/ Actions Taken Since Provincial Exercise: It is unclear at this time if UCRT will continue to operate and be involved in the Urban Search and Rescue field. In the event that UCRT does continue in its current role, HUSAR will endeavour to work with UCRT in the same manner as during the Provincial Exercise, as is described in the OFMEM AAR. In the event that UCRT does not continue in its current role, Toronto HUSAR will endeavour to increase and expand its advance team role, with the understanding that additional financial resources may be required to purchase specialized equipment, training and dedicated staffing resources. Report Recommendation 2.8 There should be only one person in overall charge of a response; a unified command structure should be avoided. Toronto HUSAR will maintain a strong Command presence for its members for the duration of an event. It is necessary for the authority having jurisdiction ("AHJ") to provide an existing Command structure into which Toronto HUSAR will function. This Command structure should have a single Commander who makes decisions in consultation with all stakeholders. Toronto HUSAR will appoint a Liaison Officer as a representative only to the overall Command. Report Recommendation 2.9 The incident commander, the senior person in the chain of command, in a municipally declared emergency should be either the: a) person in charge of the initial agency that responds, unless and until that person delegates that authority in writing to another person; or b) person in charge of an agency determined by a matrix that assigns responsibility before an incident on the basis of the agency most closely linked to the type of emergency at issue. 3
Toronto HUSAR understands that the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs supports this recommendation, while recognizing that in some circumstances, a municipality requiring assistance may not have the necessary or same level of expertise as the responding HUSAR team. Under such circumstances, and in consultation with local first responders, it is understood that the role of Incident Commander may be appropriately transferred. Toronto HUSAR has adopted a protocol that will include the deployment of a Senior Officer with the team to ensure that if a transfer of command takes place, a senior Toronto HUSAR member will still remain the team Liaison within the command structure. Report Recommendation 2.10 The province should put in place strategies that will increase the acceptance and actual use of the Incident Management System (IMS) including simplifying its language and instituting joint training and exercises so as to be able to make it mandatory in the near future. Toronto HUSAR continues to ensure all members are familiar with and continue to employ IMS during exercises and deployment. Command level training has been taken by Site Commanders. Theme: Communications Report Recommendation 2.11 Provincial media and communications expertise should be made available, either as a standalone service or as part of incident support teams, to municipalities during declared emergencies or where provincial resources have been used. While this recommendation speaks to Provincial actions, there may be times when Toronto HUSAR is requested by the Incident Commander to assist with media and communications. In order to appropriately assist in such a role, Toronto HUSAR is integrating the City of Toronto's Social Media Policy into its SOGs. Dedicated "Public Information" staff deployed with Toronto HUSAR for the Provincial Exercise to coordinate social media communications with other agencies. Toronto HUSAR also intends to provide social media training to team members when it is practicable to do so. 4
Report Recommendation 2.12 The Ontario government should make it mandatory to provide private space and regular updates to family members of victims on the progress of rescue and recovery operations during declared emergencies or where provincial resources have been used. While this recommendation speaks to Provincial actions, there may be times when Toronto HUSAR is requested by the Incident Commander to provide updates to the families of HUSAR team members. In order to appropriately assist in such a role, Toronto HUSAR will engage the Toronto Firefighters' Employee Assistance and Critical Incident Response Team resources for use by Toronto HUSAR members before, during and after a deployment. All updates to family members of victims should be coordinated through the Incident Command structure. Report Recommendation 2.13 Training for rescue and recovery operations should stress providing the public with timely and accurate information about casualties and the progress of a rescue operation (subject to legitimate operational requirements). Toronto HUSAR has recognized the difficulty and importance of accurate tracking and information related to potential casualties. The Provincial Exercise helped to identify and further the development of rescue tracking methods (including photos, videos, and forms) and protocols. A single person should be assigned the role of public communication through the Incident Commander to ensure continuity and accuracy. Report Recommendation 2.14 Where multiple agencies are present at a rescue operation, they should have continuous access at the command level to common-frequency radios or communications equipment. Toronto HUSAR recognizes the value of common-frequency radios and communications equipment, but is of the opinion that dedicated, agency specific resources are important as well. All frequencies must be monitored by assigned team members at the Command Tent/Base of Operations. Further details of Toronto HUSAR's actions taken in response to this recommendation, and the potential restrictions on the use of common-frequency radios, are set Report Recommendation 2.15 Specialized rescue workers must be trained to accept the need for contemporaneous recordkeeping during an emergency response. To facilitate the process, waterproof notebooks should 5
be provided and consideration should be given to the acquisition of hands-free recording technology. Toronto HUSAR has adopted the use of the standard OFMEM IMS forms for response within the Province of Ontario. Toronto HUSAR recently purchased digital voice recording and Go-Pro technology to enhance record keeping efficiency and accuracy. Theme: HUSAR/TF3 (Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3) Report Recommendation 2.16 HUSAR/TF3 should conduct debriefings in a timely fashion following any deployment. Toronto HUSAR is working to build a formal debrief (hot-wash) protocol into its deployment protocol. Such a protocol will require additional financial resources, as team members from all three of Toronto's first responders are financially remunerated while deployed to the HUSAR team. Further details of Toronto HUSAR's response to this recommendation, and the difficulties in performing debriefings, are set Report Recommendation 2.17 HUSAR/TF3 should create an after-action report in a timely fashion following any deployment. In the case of a provincial deployment, the after-action report should be submitted to the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management (OFMEM). Toronto HUSAR has procedures in place to perform After Action Reports. After the Provincial Exercise, HUSAR finalized an After Action Report in April 2015. A copy of this report was provided to the OFMEM for inclusion as an appendix in the OFMEM AAR. Toronto HUSAR's After Action Report timelines could be expedited with the assistance of additional administrative and financial resources. Executive training for report authors could improve report turn-around times. The incremental costs necessary for these resources and training will require additional funding. Report Recommendation 2.18 HUSAR/TF3 and UCRT (the OPP Urban Search and Rescue and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive Response Team) should enter into a memorandum of understanding with each other that clearly sets out the command structure under which they will operate when jointly deployed. 6
Toronto HUSAR's senior management group has had preliminary discussions to clarify roles and responsibilities associated with the Command structure when both HUSAR and UCRT are delegated by the AHJ to work together at an emergency scene. UCRT senior management has agreed that their team will work under the Toronto HUSAR Command structure. Report Recommendation 2.19 HUSAR/TF3 should implement procedures to ensure that qualified section chiefs are available for deployment. Toronto HUSAR is arranging to train additional team members to increase the pool of available section chiefs in the event of a deployment. Training is expected to be provided in the fourth quarter of 2015. Report Recommendation 2.20 HUSAR/TF3 should implement procedures to reduce or eliminate the unpredictability of the size of the team it is able to muster following a call-out. Toronto HUSAR will implement ongoing and random testing of its team notification process. The team's Rapid Notify software will enhance call-out times and assist in tracking times for team members to respond to the muster point. The software also has the ability to provide feedback on the availability and time it will take to respond to a designated muster point. Further details of Toronto HUSAR's actions taken in response to this recommendation, and the potential difficulties in eliminating the unpredictability of the team size, are set out in the OFMEM AAR. Report Recommendation 2.21 The HUSAR/TF3 site commander should be supplied with a scribe on all deployments. Toronto HUSAR has implemented procedures to ensure that scribe resources are provided for all deployments. Toronto HUSAR will assign appropriate staff (Technical Information Specialists) to act as scribes. Report Recommendation 2.22 HUSAR/TF3 should ensure that it has access to qualified drivers to transport the cache of equipment on deployment. 7
An agreement between the City of Toronto's Solid Waste Management Division and Toronto Water Division is currently being discussed with a view to increasing the depth of qualified drivers and heavy equipment specialists that can be deployed with the HUSAR team. Report Recommendation 2.23 HUSAR/TF3 should explore additional sources for tractor rentals. An informal agreement between the City of Toronto's Solid Waste Management Division and Toronto HUSAR is currently being developed that would provide sufficient tractors to be utilized for cache movement for deployments. As a fallback measure, Toronto HUSAR also has a contract in place with a national truck rental company. Report Recommendation 2.24 HUSAR/TF3 team members should receive training for rigging operations. Toronto HUSAR has entered into discussions with the City of Toronto's Fleet Services Division to arrange for hoisting and rigging training for Toronto HUSAR members. The rigging courses offered by the City of Toronto are currently being reviewed for applicability to HUSAR deployments, and team members will be enrolled upon confirmation that the training meets National Fire Protection Association ("NFPA") standards. Report Recommendation 2.25 Standard operating procedure for HUSAR/TF3 should require fully documented incident planning, which is provided to supervisory personnel. Toronto HUSAR has a total of four SOGs in place for incident planning for supervisory staff. An inner-city SOG for local incident response is also currently being developed. 8
Report Recommendation 2.26 HUSAR/TF3 should receive adequate funding to ensure that it is properly equipped and trained to respond to structural collapses in a timely manner with sufficient personnel and expertise. The Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP) funding should be reinstated by the federal government. Please refer to the "Sustainability of the Toronto HUSAR Program" section (pg 2) of this report. Theme: Speed of response Report Recommendation 2.28 There should be more training of HUSAR/TF3 and UCRT members on the utility and capability of cranes in rescue operations. Toronto HUSAR is currently investigating available options regarding the utility and capability of cranes in rescue operations to determine if they meet NFPA requirements (see Recommendation 2.24). It is expected that this investigation will be completed by the end of 2015 or early in 2016. Report Recommendation 2.29 HUSAR/TF3 should send advance teams to a collapse site ahead of the full team. Toronto HUSAR is in the process of resourcing vehicles and equipment that would be deployed as part of its advance team to any incident, such as a structural collapse. It is expected that this process should be completed by the end of 2015 or early in 2016. Additional funding will be required for 24/7 availability for deployment. Report Recommendation 2.30 The OPP (and all initial first responders) should forward as soon as possible to the deployed rescue team any photographs that have been taken of an emergency. This recommendation is directed at the OPP. However, the recommendation also affects Toronto HUSAR's operations. One of the issues faced by Toronto HUSAR and the OPP (UCRT) is that the technology used by both groups isn't 100% compatible. Notwithstanding; there are interim work-around measures currently being considered that will provide Toronto HUSAR with advance incident intelligence, while the team is en route to an incident. For 9
instance, photographs taken by the UCRT drone (not real-time) were relayed to Toronto HUSAR as they were en route to the Provincial Exercise along with cell phone and email updates between both agencies. For 2016 Toronto HUSAR is planning to purchase drones with interior and exterior mapping capabilities with real-time viewing, recording and picture-taking, with the expectation that the drones will be used by the advance team to investigate, map and report back to incoming team members. Additional funding will be required to purchase the drones. Report Recommendation 2.31 HUSAR/TF3 should mobilize and deploy with all practicable speed. Impediments to rapid deployment should be eliminated. Please refer to the section in Report Recommendation 2.20. Theme: Debriefings and after-action reports Report Recommendation 2.34 Timely debriefings and after-action reports should be mandatory for all agencies and organizations involved in rescue and recovery operations where an emergency has been declared or where provincial resources have been called in to assist. The after-action reports should be shared among all agencies involved. Please refer to the section in Report Recommendation 2.17. 10