Support to strengthen the Philippines’ disaster response management operations

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. To support the continued development of disaster response capabilities of the Philippines’ government, Public Safety Canada is collaborating with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) by leveraging the Technical Assistance Partnership – Expert Deployment Mechanism (TAP-EDM) to provide technical assistance related to urban search and rescue (USAR). Charged with providing national leadership, the OCD is responsible for continuously developing systemic approaches and measures to reduce disaster risks and consequences.

Coordinated by David Larkin and Annie Ste-Croix from Public Safety Canada’s National HUSAR Program, this initiative deploys expertise in responding to large-scale emergencies and disasters from four federally recognized HUSAR Task Forces — CAN-TF1 (Vancouver), CAN-TF2 (Calgary), CAN-TF4 (Manitoba), and CAN-TF5 (Halifax). During the first phase of this initiative, Canadian HUSAR experts Dennis Pitts (CAN-TF5), Eric Barron (CAN-TF1), Scott Kerbis (CAN-TF-4), and Evan Stewart (CAN-TF2) facilitated informational exchanges on USAR models, best practices, and equipment with representatives from the OCD in the Philippines.

This initiative’s second phase focuses on the policy and technical aspects of developing and deploying USAR capabilities during the OCD’s study tour in Canada. From a policy perspective, members of the OCD delegation participated alongside representatives from Canada’s HUSAR Task Forces in completing an International Search and Rescue Advisory Group Leadership Course on establishing a national accreditation process for USAR teams. In parallel, other members of the delegation completed an intensive workshop on the fundamentals of technical search led by instructors from the four participating HUSAR Task Forces (including Brandon Davies (CAN-TF1), Matt Cadman and Kenneth Fach (CAN-TF2) Chris Arthur and Kevin Loring (CAN-TF4), and Kevin Corkum and Skipp Hoffmann (CAN-TF5).