Emergency Recovery Operations

WHEREAS the Province has enacted legislation through the BC Emergency Program Act, which requires local authorities to prepare emergency plans respecting preparation for, response to and recovery from emergencies and disasters; AND WHEREAS the personal information of victims of emergencies and disasters that is subject to privacy legislation is required by many of the local, provincial, national and international groups and organizations that want to respond generously to assist those victims; AND WHEREAS the recording of victim information under the provincial emergency social services process is currently a manual system and that information, if made available electronically, would still be subject to privacy legislation: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General be requested to: - Create a virtual warehouse and make that software available online to local authorities responding under an adopted local emergency plan; - Replace the current provincial emergency social services manual client intake system with an electronic system and make that system available online to local authorities responding under an adopted local emergency plan; - Work with appropriate social service providers e.g. Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. to develop a single-standard, client intake system as an expansion of the electronic provincial emergency social services client intake system; and - Make that system available online to all local authorities responding under an adopted local emergency plan and request that those agencies work co-operatively with local authorities in sharing the information collected on this form and co-ordinating the response to all victims.