Integrating private and public resources for effective risk - based emergency response

The use of risk in emergency response planning in the private sector is becoming more widespread at itis increasingly required by regulations and recommended by key industru standards. The public sectir is also utilizing such methodologies as it strives for more prioritezed administration of finite resources for programs and equipment. As the benefits of risk - based emergency response are embraced, it should be a catalyst for the private and public sectors to interact more closely in integrating their resources for an effective and economic response. In this paper, recent progress in the application of risk - based emergency response is presented. A case study is used to illustrate the potential effectiveness of integrated public and private risk - based response planning before the numerous benefits of such synergistic interaction are presented (AU)

Risk - based emergency response

A prerequisite to developing, reviewing, enhancing, or auditing an emergency response program is a thorough understanding of the hazards that may evolve into events that will require a response. Thus, hazard identification is critical, and in making such identifications, one has to go beyond traditional events, such are fires and spills, to include all the events that present a potential for fatalitiesm injuries, property damage and/or business interruption. While it would be comforting to preplan for every conceivable emergency, precious resources dictate that it makes more sense -- from a cost - benefit standpoint -- to address those risks where there is a high probability of occurrence. complementing an understanding of frequency are the results of consequence modelling. This will aid in determining the extent of impact, e.g., on - site or off - site equipment and programs. In this paper, through the provocative use of case studies, the methodology for risk - based emergency response will be presented. In doing so, the benefits associated with this approach are clearly demostrated (AU)