Emergency Management Policy

Vancouver Community College (VCC; the College) has a responsibility to put in place systems to minimize the impact of emergencies or disasters on the institution's personnel, operations, facilities, and resources, and to facilitate a timely and effective response and recovery. This policy will ensure the College develops and implements mitigation, response, recovery, and business continuity plans as required and in accordance with the guidelines of the British Columbia Emergency Management System.

The purpose of the Emergency Management Policy is to set out the principles that guide the development of VCC's Emergency Management Program.

This policy applies to all VCC employees, students, and contractors operating at the College and/or its affiliated locations.

1. The College is committed to taking appropriate measures to respond to emergencies swiftly and effectively, with the priorities to provide for the health and safety of all responders, save lives, reduce suffering, protect public health, protect infrastructure, protect property, protect the environment, and reduce economic and social loss.


2. The College will follow the guidelines put out by the British Columbia Emergency Management System (BCEMS) as its emergency response management system.


3. The Department of Safety, Security, Risk and Privacy will develop and maintain an Emergency Management Plan (EMP) to address potential emergencies and ensure an effective and coordinated response.


4. The College has established an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) that will serve as the central coordination and communication hub during emergencies.


5. The College will establish partnerships with local authorities and other relevant organizations to ensure a coordinated and effective response to emergencies.


6. The College will provide timely and accurate information to College Members and the public, if possible, during emergencies.


7. The College will conduct a comprehensive review and evaluation of its response to each emergency to identify areas for improvement and to enhance its preparedness for future emergencies.


8. The College will conduct regular drills and exercises to test and evaluate its preparedness and response capabilities.


9. The College will offer opportunities for departments and individuals to participate in regular training on emergency preparedness and response.


10. The College will provide support resources to employees and students who have experienced an emergency or traumatic incident.

British Columbia Emergency Management System (BCEMS)

A comprehensive management scheme that ensures a coordinated and organized provincial response and recovery to any and all emergency incidents.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP):

A document that outlines how a school or department will continue operating during an unplanned disruption in service and return to primary business operations after an emergency.

Emergency

An unplanned event, occurrence or sequence of events that has a significant undesirable consequence (e.g. natural disasters, infrastructure or network failures, global pandemics).

Emergency Management

The process for mitigating, preparing, responding to, and recovering from an emergency.

Emergency Operations Centre (EOC)

A central location where response personnel can coordinate and make decisions in support of emergency response activities at the site level. The EOC integrates personnel, procedures, communications and equipment into a common system with responsibility for coordinating an emergency event.

Incident Command System (ICS)

A standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of emergency response providing a common hierarchy within which responders from multiple agencies (or departments) can be effective.

• Unscheduled Campus Closures (143)
• Violence Prevention (211)

• Emergency Program Act, RSBC 1996, c 111


• Emergency Program Management Regulation, BC Reg 477/94