Room: Knut Hamsun

13:00 - 13:45

Moderator:

  • Tore Hongset, Joint Rescue Coordination Centre North Norway

Integrating Emergency Management in the Arctic in times of uncertainty

Integrating Emergency Management in the Arctic in times of uncertainty

Speakers:

Rasmus Dahlberg, Royal Danish Defence College

Are We Ready? Assessing Capacity for Mass Rescue Operations in Canada’s Area of Responsibility in the Arctic

Description: Given the increasing traffic (commercial airliner and passenger ship) through the polar regions of Canada each year, the austere environmental conditions, and the remoteness, it’s important that response organizations be prepared for a mass rescue operation if an accident occurs. To mitigate the challenges, various government organizations have enhanced their equipment, training and plans, as have private sector actors. Using results from tabletop exercises, stakeholder interviews and lessons learned from previous incidents, this presentation will assess the state of readiness in the Canadian Arctic, identify gaps and suggest solutions for improvement.

  • Speaker: Robert Brown, Marine Institute, Memorial University

Speakers

Rasmus Dahlberg

Affiliation: Royal Danish Defence College

Robert Brown

Affiliation: Marine Institute, Memorial University, Newfoundland and Labrador 

Bio: Dr. Robert Brown is a Senior Research Scientist at the Ocean Safety Research Unit at MUN’s Marine Institute. His research interests include thermal protection in maritime and Arctic survival situations, performance assessment of emergency locator beacons, modelling of maritime Search and Rescue operations, and modelling human behaviour during ship evacuation. He has contributed to several ISO standards and IMO regulations in these areas.