Dal Students Visit EMO
Dalhousie University students from Canada and other countries who are studying disaster relief and its connection to sustainable development met this week with officials from the Emergency Management Office.
The students met with staff and toured the state-of-the-art joint emergency operations centre at the EMO headquarters in Dartmouth.
"It was encouraging to see the high degree of interest in emergency concepts and practices," said Craig MacLaughlan, CEO. "Emergency management is a growing discipline, and down the road, organizations such as ours will need to draw on new talent in areas such as operations, planning, training, communications and strategy."
Mr. MacLaughlan said he is impressed with the broad range of topics being examined in the Economics 5252 course, which includes research into the disaster relief principles of major United Nations and non-governmental organizations.
"Our senior policy advisor, Adam Rostis, completed his graduate thesis at Dalhousie and worked with the International Federation of the Red Cross in Zimbabwe. That kind of international experience is an asset to Nova Scotia, and I'm very happy that we're able to use Adam's relationship with Dalhousie to share ideas with the 2007-08 class," he added.
Professor Ian McAllister said the tour of EMO gave students a first-hand look at the serious manner in which the province plans for potential emergencies.
"The importance of professionalism, relevant technical support systems and a range of partnerships with community, business, media and government agencies across the region and indeed across North America, were among the key insights the group gained from this invaluable experience," said Mr. McAllister.
The Emergency Management Office is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of Nova Scotians and their property by providing for a prompt and co-ordinated response to an emergency. Nova Scotia has the only joint emergency operations centre in Canada that has municipal, provincial, federal and private sector partners working side by side.
EMO also has regional offices in Kentville, Lunenburg, Truro and Sydney to maintain close working relationships with local emergency measures co-ordinators in municipalities throughout Nova Scotia.