Abstract Manager

For a journey that started as a “corner of the desk effort” up to the early 2000s, the transformation to launch emergency management within NBDTI was direct and resolute. In order to fill this gap, the Emergency Management Branch (EMB) was established in 2020. Success quickly materialized in terms of funding reimbursement and the team experienced rapid growth specializing in DFAP, Minor Events, Preparedness and Mitigation project management along with managing Claims. Now five years in, there is a desire to recalibrate the EMB methodology, a move to a more empowered force, one that permits broader allowances for emergency conditions. To create a sustainable transportation legacy for NBDTI, EMB must center less on existing operational processes, and more on a model of agility.

Just five short years ago, EMB materialized with a framework to enable the Disaster Financial Assistance Program (DFAP) reimbursement of Federal funds for NBDTI. The intensity of weather events (14 DFAP in the last 10 years) and the weight of recovery efforts taxed the initial team of four well beyond capacity. To augment the Emergency Management Branch (EMB), within the DFAP guidelines, the beginning of a strong government - private alliance model was built upon DTI operational practices.

Since 2020, the team has undergone a growth in numbers. Now 20-strong, EMB prides itself on the high standard of performance delivered in an environment of urgency yet recognizing the need for change. The current model has limiting processes, challenges that impede response and recovery advancements, thus adding substantial time to the claims process. In order to build a robust and cost-effective structure, EMB’s objective is to move towards an “emergency management process-centric approach”, a focus centered less on operational process drivers and more on government’s response to the public.

To achieve this, EMB must ensure that the end-to-end processes are robust, so that leadership and policy makers feel confident that the governance and standards of work support the needs of DTI and enables agility when response is demanded.

The Project:

In September 2024, the Process Improvement Project was kicked-off. The objective was to create a sustainable EMB model by adopting appropriate best practices supported by data from other jurisdictions. Success was predicated on extraction of valued knowledge sharing details and in turn, exhaust the role of data in helping policymakers understand trends, opportunities and challenges.