Per yvind Semb Head of Section Strategic Crisis Management and - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Per Øyvind Semb Head of Section Strategic Crisis Management and Emergency Planning The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

DSB consists of:  Approximately 670 employees, of which 220 are stationed at Head Office in Tønsberg  20 Civil Defence districts including three competence and emergency training centres  The Norwegian Fire Protection Training Institute  The National Emergency Planning College  Five Civil Defence Camps  Five Regional Electrical Safety Inspectorates DSB works under the jurisdiction of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Operational concept The Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) shall maintain a full overview of risk and vulnerability in society in general. We promote measures which prevent accidents, crises and other undesirable incidents. We shall ensure sufficient emergency planning and efficient management of accidents and crises . A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

How do we operate?  Inspection and control, supervision and guidance  Analyses and reports  Legislation development and standardization  Exercises and training  Information and public relations  Dissemination of knowledge and expertise  Co-operation and relations  International work A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Is Norway prepared for a pandemic? ECDC Report 2007:  Good progress since 2001, notably in the health sector  A national expert committee (The Pandemic Committee)  National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan  The Government Crisis Council  Communicable Diseases Act  Vaccine supply and preparedness A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

ECDC Conclusion Norway is, as many EU countries, half way prepared for the next pandemic  Integrated planning across different sectors  Making plans operational at the local level  Ensure co-operation between municipalities and the local hospitals  Business continuity planning  Stepping up prevention efforts against seasonal influenza A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Report on national vulnerability and preparedness  Overview of national vulnerability and preparedness  Civil protection and consequences of a pandemic in Norway  The health sector is relatively well prepared for a pandemic influenza  Other sectors still have a job to do, especially when it comes to business continuity planning in essential services  All directorates, ministries and other actors are responsible for their own emergency preparedness planning. A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Consequences of a pandemic influenza  What happens if a significant part of the labor force is unable to og to work because of illness?  Which sectors would face the most serious consequences?  How would the society react to such a scenario?  Are we prepared to deal with a situation in which many employees are absent for a long period of time?  How is our ability to find cross-sectorial solutions?  How would we be able to manage cross-sectorial interdependence? A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

An outbreak of a pandemic would not be limited to one or a few sectors  All sectors would be hit  A very crucial factor would be our specialized labour force and the interdependence between different sectors What are we going to do if the worst case scenario should materialize, 40 % of the labour force are in bed bacause of a pandemic.  Security sector (army, police, prisons)  Healt sector (hospitals, geriatric institutions, pharmacies)  Transport  Energy sector (gas and oil, electricity)  Education sector (schools and kindergardens) A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Cross sectorial interdependence Health Transport/ Law and ICT Electricity Fin./Bank/ Municipal Other Services Distribution order supply Soc. Sec. Services Health 3 3 3 3 3 Services Transport/ Fuel 2 3 2 3 3 1 Distribution Law and Defence, 2 3 1 2 Custom… order Police res. ICT Spare parts 2-3 3 2 Electricity 2 3 2 2-3 3 2 supply Fin./Bank/ Auth. exc. 1 2 1 3 3 1 Soc. Sec. Crisis m. Municipal 2 1 2 3 2 Services General Kinderg. School, snow clearing Extremely Very dependent Dependent 3 2 1 dependent A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

The Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning  Audit of the ministries  Exercises at regional level in all counties with broad participation from several sectors in which a pandemic is the scenario  National exercise over two days in December 2009 involving ministries, directorates and key sectors at the central level as well as several counties with participation by most critical sectors A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Civilian National Exercise 2009- Pandemic Influenza (CNE 2009- Pandemic)  Scenario: A world wide pandemic influenza caused by a virus against which the population has no immunity A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

CNE 2009-Pandemic  The focus of the exercise will be general consequences in the society caused by a pandemic and cross-sectorial co- operation in order to handle the challenges that a pandemic will have for all sectors in the society  This exercise will focus on the ability of other sectors to face an outbreak of a pandemic A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

CNE 2009-Pandemic  The crisis develops over some time  The crisis will not be limited to some sectors, all will be hit, and most sectors of the society will face serious challenges as a result of the pandemic A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Main Objective  According to The National Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Plan, all ministries are responsible for the implementation of the plan within their own sectors  This includes planning for necessary measures enabling the sector to maintain business contunity despite a high number of employees being absent bacause of the pandemic  A very important objective for this exercise is to test and develop these sectorial emergency plans A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

How to be better  The exercise itself (as well as the evaluation of the exercise) gives a good opportunity to evaluate and improve plans  However, the planning process is even more important A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Participants in CNE 2009-Pandemic  Ministries and sectors under their responsibility  Some counties and municipalities  NGOs  Ordinary businesses A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Main conclusion We have the necessary assets to handle a pandemic, but we need updated functional emergency plans that have been tested and exercised.  A pandemic is a serious threat to civil protection  The Norwegian health sector is prepared for a pandemic  Other sectors are constantly improving its readiness to face an outbreak of a pandemic  The Civilian National Exercise 2009 will enable most sectors to test, adjust and improve planning in order to be better prepared to handle a pandemic A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility

Thank you for your attention! A safe and robust society – where everyone takes responsibility