Karen Stephens

Manukau City Council required an independent appraisal of the council's current civil defence and emergency management (CDEM) position in relation to systems, processes, structures and responsibilities. The purpose of the appraisal was to determine the capacity and capability of the organisation to be prepared for, respond to and recover from an event that would result in the activation of CDEM processes.

This project was commissioned by the Auckland Region CDEM Group to provide an assessment of its current emergency management capacity and capability (readiness and response). The assessment is derived from an independently developed rating methodology which examines the collective operational readiness of the CDEM Group partners (emergency services, local authorities and lifeline utilities) to prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters.

Kestrel Group was engaged by Beca International Consultants to deliver the emergency management components of this project which aims to introduce best practice emergency management to enhance the capability of Samoa to manage emergencies. This project involves the development of emergency management legislation and a National Disaster Management Plan, as well as enhancing agency response plans, community awareness programmes and the functioning of the National Disaster Management Office. The project also involves running simulations to test and enhance the response capability of Samoa.

Kestrel Group developed and delivered a tabletop exercise to the Canterbury District Health Board Executive Management Team and representatives of various CDHB providers. The workshop/exercise was designed to review response to a large-scale regional incident, and identify improvements to the CDHB Response Plan.

Kestrel contact for this project is Kristin Hoskin.