By David Bruce
The public emergency warning system developed in Western Australia has been adapted for use by the Manitoba Emergency Management Organisation as MB Ready across the province of Manitoba, Canada.
Multiple states of emergency have been declared across Canada in recent months as hundreds of wildfires burnt out of control, making it the second worst season on record, so soon after the historic 2023 season.
WA firefighters have been assisting with response efforts across Canada this season and in seasons past, but the exchange of technology coupled with strategic and research insights is new.
The Emergency WA app and website enables users to receive rapid notifications for warnings, incidents and other alerts in custom watch zones. It provides critical information to people impacted by emergencies, helping them make life-saving decisions.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is the agency delivering emergency information for bushfires, floods and cyclones in the vast state of Western Australia, the country’s largest state.
DFES Public Information manager Anni Fordham, a Churchill Fellow, recently travelled to Manitoba to help implement the new warning technology for MBReady, which aims to become the trusted source of information for Manitoba communities.
Facing a very challenging wildfire season, Manitoba Emergency Management Organization sought help establishing public information capabilities to help protect communities. After expressing interest in the Emergency WA app, the technical deployment of the platform in Manitoba was completed through Genvis, with the broader contextual support provided by DFES.
In Canada Fordham shared her insights from her Churchill Fellowship, which looked at international best practice and research to improve providing vital information to people in emergencies.
“Technology is critical when it comes to warning systems, but without the right strategies and workflows in place, the system can’t do its job effectively long term,” Fordham said. “So, I spoke with the team about things like when and why we issue warnings, how we source and verify warning information, and how warning templates are developed for different hazards. I also discussed the broader strategic thinking and decades of experience behind our vision for Emergency WA, the community research that informed key design features and the lessons learnt during project implementation.”
Many wildfire regions around the world have emergency apps, and many share similar aims, but each needs to be tailored for its own context, as Fordham explains. “It is crucial for emergency management agencies to learn from each other and share information as the challenges we face are increasingly shared. However, each jurisdiction must prioritise the needs of the communities they serve.”
“While Emergency WA shares some features with other jurisdictional models, it also has national-first features such as the ability to listen live to your local emergency radio broadcasts from within the app, and a button to call Triple Zero from anywhere in the app. Emergency WA was designed with the needs of Western Australian communities in mind – and if those ideas are useful in other parts of the world, we are happy to share them.”
It comes as several dozen WA emergency services personnel have returned home from battling blazes in Canada while others still remain, as part of the 1400-strong international firefighting force deployed to Canada this season, including from many other Australian states.
The Emergency WA website is the State’s official source for emergency information with more than 36 million page views in the past 12 months and more than 135 million views since its launch in 2016.
The current app version of Emergency WA was launched in December 2024.
The MB Ready app was launched in June this year as a State of Emergency was declared.
