The next VIEP Conference is in the early stages of planning.
We are currently seeking Society Members
and Conference Committee Volunteers.
Vancouver Island Emergency Preparedness Conference 2023/4
Abstract & Bios
Getting to Know Your Response Support Agencies
Ian Pollard, Divisional Director for Emergency Disasters Services BC - The Salvation Army
Gary Carleton, Coordinator, Emergency Management - Canadian Red Cross
Tammy Suitor, Canadian Disaster Relief Manager - Samaritan's Purse Canada
Steve Gross, Recovery Manager - Samaritan's Purse Canada
Dave Hutton, Director, PHSA Health Emergency Management & Provincial Psychosocial Team - HEMBC
Dave McAllister, BC Provincial Administrator - Team Rubicon Canada
Daniel Saugh, Canadian Programs Manager - ADRA Canada
Alain Normand, Sr. Emergency Management Consultant - ADRA Canada
Mark Rempel - Mennonite Disaster Service
Heather Ferguson, Health & Safety and Training Coordinator - CDART
Discover how Response Support Agencies may assist you and your community during an emergency or disaster. Resilience is defined as the ability to withstand and “bounce back” from the impacts of an emergency or disaster by coping effectively with the challenges created by the situation. Resilience in the face of a disaster can be accomplished through the use of expert networks, an action-oriented attitude and the ability to improvise.
Delivered in a panel format, get to know some of the non-government organizations (NGOs) that are critical partners in response and recovery and the diverse range of services they can provide. This session will be of interest to Emergency Support Services, First Responders, Search and Rescue volunteers and other community organizations.
Ian Pollard is the Divisional Director for Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) for The Salvation Army in British Columbia. Ian oversees the Salvation Army's BC emergency response as it supports all aspects of the emergency management continuum: Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery. His first large EDS event was as a Salvation Army volunteer team leader during the 1996 Burns Bog fires in Delta. Ian has earned a Certificate in Emergency Management and a Masters of Arts Degree in Leadership. He is the Co-Chair of the Integrated Disaster Council of BC.
Gary Carleton joined the Canadian Red Cross disaster management program as a volunteer in 2006. In 2011, Gary deployed as Recovery Supervisor to Slave Lake, Alberta for an eight month period to assist after one-third of the town was burned due to the Northern Alberta wildfires. In October 2012, Gary became full-time staff with the Red Cross as the Emergency Management Coordinator for Vancouver Island, Gulf Island and Northern Sunshine Coast. Gary was actively involved in the 2017 Flood/wildfire season working in various roles. He has also deployed to many local and remote disasters including the Calgary floods, Hurricane Florence with the American Red Cross and the Fort MacMurray wildfire.
Tammy Suitor has been with Samaritan’s Purse since 2007 and has filled the role of the Canadian Response Manager for the last 5 years. Samaritan’s Purse has responded to everything from smaller municipal events, to some of the largest fires, hurricanes, tornados and floods across Canada and United States. We have specialized equipment and highly trained volunteers, that can be positioned anywhere in Canada and operational with 24hrs of a disaster. Coordinating with local authorities, Samaritan's Purse independently provides property reclamation, clean-up, debris removal, and sanitization serving the most vulnerable—typically the elderly, those with lower-fixed incomes, first responders, or those without insurance.
Steve Gross, after over 33 years in the financial service sector, joined Samaritan’s Purse Canada as National Recovery Manager in 2016. This role has evolved through long-term Recovery in various disaster contexts including wildfires, floods, tornados, and hurricanes. Samaritan’s Purse takes a strength-based approach to community recovery and works with Communities and individuals on the journey to recovery.
Dave Hutton holds a doctorate degree from the University of Manitoba and has been involved in emergency management and humanitarian work over the past 20 years. This includes managing Emergency Social Services at the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response (Public Health Agency of Canada) and ten years with the United Nations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Dave is currently a Director with Health Emergency Management BC (Provincial Health Services Authority) where he oversees emergency planning within PHSA as well as the Provincial Disaster Psychosocial Team. Dave is also an instructor at Royal Roads University.
Dave McAllister is the Provincial Administrator for Team Rubicon Canada. Dave joined the Emergency Management and Security industry following a 30-year career in the Canadian Armed Forces as an Infantry officer and Intelligence officer. He has worked in the utility sector as Manager for Emergency and Business Continuity Programs for FortisBC, as well as for municipal governments, post-secondary education institutions, and the transportation industry. Dave joined Team Rubicon Canada in 2018, and has deployed on disaster response missions across Canada and internationally, most notably to Townsville, Australia for flood response in February 2019, and to Lake Charles, Louisiana in October 2020 for hurricane response. As Provincial Administrator, Dave is responsible for metro teams in Prince George, the Lower Mainland, and on Vancouver Island. Dave is also a member of Team Rubicon Canada’s Incident Management Team, which provides support to municipalities and other government bodies as well as to Team Rubicon operations.
Daniel Saugh currently serves as the Canadian Programs Manager, for ADRA Canada, an NGO, humanitarian agency based in Ontario, which is part of the global ADRA network and extends to 130 countries. Specifically, tasked with domestic operations for ADRA, he oversees their National emergency and development programs including disaster response and preparedness. Daniel has worked with NGOs for over 10 years and has been a project manager, team lead and worked on IMS teams for both emergency response and project development throughout Canada. He holds graduate degrees in public health, international/community development, theology and human psychology from York University, Andrews University, Loma Linda University, and Wilfrid Laurier University. He has been a Chaplain for the Canadian Armed Forces and the Toronto Police Service and being certified in CISM he sits as a board member on the Canadian Critical Incident Stress Foundation. With being a trained PDA, he is an adjunct Professor in Health Sciences and Psychology at Georgian College, ON and Burman University, AB. He also sits as a member on several NGO Alliances and is the Vice Chair of the Emergency Management NGO Consortium of Canada for strategic relations and partnerships. He is dedicated and passionate to help people build resiliency, recover, and return to a life of normalcy with the often rapidly changing circumstances of life and seeks to exemplify motto of ADRA, Justice, compassion and love for all.
Alain Normand is a senior emergency management consultant, who recently retired as the Emergency Operations Director for the City of Brampton, Peel Region, Ontario, Canada after 20 years of service. He is an author, lecturer, teacher and expert in Emergency Management. His post-secondary education was at the University of Ottawa in political science and public administration. He has worked in the security field, in emergency management, in crisis communications, and in business continuity. He has directed relief efforts in disasters such as the 1996 Saguenay floods, the 1998 Quebec Ice Storm, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2013 Calgary floods, and the 2016 Fort McMurray Fires. Past-President of the Ontario Association of Emergency Managers (OAEM), he sits on many national and provincial committees and worked on such projects as the national standard on emergency management and business continuity, the Alert Ready program and founding member for the NGO Alliance group of Ontario. Alain is the recipient of the 2010 Canadian Award for Emergency Management and two awards from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). He currently teaches emergency management and crisis communication at York University and has taught for other institutions. Alain has been a Canadian Red Cross volunteer for almost 20 years and an ADRA Canada volunteer for 25 years. He now works for ADRA Canada, developing and implementing the national program for In-Kind Donations Management based on the humanitarian role of ADRA International.
Mark Rempel is an active member of the Mennonite Disaster Service BC Unit. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of Mennonite Disaster Service Canada. Mark’s first MDS experience was in 1987 in response to the Edmonton, Alberta tornado. In 2006 Mark and his family volunteered with MDS in Pas Christian, Mississippi in response to Hurricane Katrina. More recently, Mark has participated in MDS’s response to the Williams Lake fire and the Grand Forks flood in the roles of volunteer, crew leader and project director.
Heather Ferguson has an extensive background in emergency preparedness and disaster response dating back to the late 1970s with both Surrey Search and Rescue and St. John Ambulance. She has worked with hospitals and airports staging mock disaster exercises, and with Public Safety Canada helping to stage Transguard 1, a pre-Olympic security exercise. Since 1996, she has volunteered in the field of emergency response for animals by attending wildfires, apartment fires, and being part of an international response team shutting down and triaging out, a four hundred dog puppy mill. Heather has also written and presented on Companion Animal First Aid and Emergency Sheltering strategies for Companion Animals. She is the Southwest BC Coordinator for CDART (Canadian Disaster Animal Response Team) and National Health & Safety Coordinator and Training Coordinator. She is currently employed as the Provincial Training Coordinator for St. John Ambulance BC/Yukon.
