Coordination problem in emergency planning

Local governments have primary roles and major responsibilities during the response to disasters in British Columbia. Their limited public resources can be increased by requesting support from the province and by developing networks of local and regional agencies. In that respect, coordination among many agencies is required for effective response. Inadequate coordination creates a disorganized and incremental response endangering lifelines, response personnel as well as victims, and slowing down recovery. The study explains the importance of multi-agency coordination, specifies a plausible disaster scenario and reviews common coordination models. A model of coordination is specified permitting the use of functional network analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collected from agencies with disaster response functions in the City of Coquitlam, British Columbia. The results indicate areas of weaknesses and breakdowns in communication to be expected should a major disaster response be required at this time. The conclusions of this study identify the negative aspects of incrementalism in contemporary emergency management practice, and propose a new methodology for the evaluation and improvement of inter-agency communication planning and preparedness. Specific networking efforts and modifications to the organizational structures of agencies with disaster response functions are suggested to alleviate coordination problems and improve response operations at the local, regional and provincial levels.Applied Science, Faculty ofCommunity and Regional Planning (SCARP), School ofGraduat