Mr Justin Dunlop1
1Ambulance Victoria, Doncaster, Australia
On the 13th February 2024, Ambulance Victoria (AV) had already been engaged for several days in support of a major, multi-agency search in central Victoria. Due to a forecast elevated Fire Danger Rating in three AV Regions that day, the organisation had prepared and deployed in readiness for any additional calls for assistance. Late that afternoon, one fire surrounded the small town of Pomonal with reports of a fire fighting crew in significant distress. AV assembled and deployed an ‘ambulance strike team’ to enter the town when safe, and provide care to the community and emergency workers. Within hours that same day, the forecast wind change resulted in much higher than predicted speeds resulting in over 500,000 customers across Victoria losing power and several communities loosing access to 000. That included 91 AV locations and AV’s Triage Services centre without power. Local sites implemented their business continuity arrangements to ensure local service delivery. A centralised, coordinated approach by AV systematically restored power to key sites through various means. AV’s response to this series of events demonstrated the utility of AV’s Emergency Response Plan and its associated ‘playbooks’ for both identified forecast hazards and emerging unpredicted hazards. It also demonstrated the intersection of AV’s Business Resilience Framework, its critical incident procedures and business continuity plans, and AV’s operational Emergency Response Plan. It also demonstrates the utility of an Ambulance Emergency Operations Centre and Incident Management Team using collaboration technology in handling these multiple, concurrent challenges.
Biography:
Justin joined Ambulance Victoria in 1996 and is currently the Director of Emergency Management with responsibility for major emergencies, public events and business resilience. As State Health Commander, Justin has led the prehospital response to a range of emergencies including the 2019/20 Bushfires, COVID-19 and the 2022 Victorian Floods.