Emergency Management Queensland
| Division overview | |
|---|---|
| Typ | Emergency management |
| Jurisdiction | Queensland |
| Hauptsitz | Corner Park Road and Kedron Park Road, Kedron, Queensland |
| Deputy Minister responsible |
|
| Division executive | |
| Parent department | Department of Community Safety |
| Website | www |
Emergency Management Queensland is the emergency division of the Queensland Government Department of Community Safety. The Queensland Ambulance Service, the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and Queensland Corrective Services also belong to the department. It aims to plan and prepare for disasters as well as rescue and protect persons, property and the environment from disaster and emergency. Neil Roberts, Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services is responsible for the division.
Functions
Emergency Management Queensland is responsible for disaster preparedness, disaster awareness and the coordination of various rescue, response and recovery services in the state. The division provides support to the State Emergency Service in Queensland,[1] works closely with the Bureau of Meteorology and coordinates volunteers for disaster clean-up operations. It also provides an air ambulance service called EMQ Helicopter Rescue.
The division has two Bell 412 utility helicopters and three AW139 twin-engined helicopters with one each based in Cairns, Townsville and Brisbane.[2] All three AW139s were grounded after the same model aircraft crashed in China and Brazil in August 2011. Prior to this grounding the helicopters experienced tail and rotor problems and were the subject of criticism over their expense, which means two of EMQs Bell 412s were used for medivacs during the AW139 grounding.[2] Other rescue helicopters operating in Queensland are RACQ CareFlight, RACQ CQ Rescue, RACQ Capricorn Helicopter Rescue, RACQ NQ Rescue, Energex Rescue Helicopter and the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service.
Operations
Emergency Management Queensland may assist communities experiencing threats from floods, cyclones, storm surge, severe storms, landslides, heatwaves and bushfires and to a lesser extent earthquakes and tsunamis.[3]
EMQ managed Operation Yasi Assist, a multi-service activity by the Australian Defence Force as a contribution to the response to Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi. The EMQ together with Surf Life Saving Queensland established rescue coordination centres in Brisbane to provide emergency assistance to residents who were affected by the 2010–2011 Queensland floods.[4]
See also
References
- ^ "Welcome to the Queensland State Emergency Service". Department of Community Safety. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
- ^ a b "Opposition slams helicopter fiasco". Warwick Daily News. The Warwick Newspaper. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
- ^ "Potential Hazards". Department of Community Safety. 18 December 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
- ^ "Emergency Response Groups". Surf Life Saving Queensland. Retrieved 11 February 2012.