The importance of fleet and equipment asset management in emergency response and recovery

30 May 2024

Emergency Management is one of the essential activities of any community, spanning implementation of protective and preventative safety strategies, acting during emergencies to reduce personal injury and losses of life, property and the environment, and assisting people to recover and continue with their lives.

These tasks require the combined expertise and resources of the emergency services, other government and private organisations, municipal councils and the community. To do this the response and recovery agencies require comprehensive plant, fleet and equipment asset management systems.

Knowing who owns an asset is, who has it, where it is, has it been maintained, when will it be returned and has it been reserved is critical for rapid and reliable response. A single agency wide platform that can manage and assign your owned assets, provide visibility of other accessible public assets, or task assets from external contractors, must be a top line priority for all Emergency Management Authorities.

From early preparedness to rapid deployment and recovery, asset management is a linchpin, optimising resource coordination and guaranteeing efficient recovery efforts. Its transformative potential is evident in work we have already done within the Emergency Management and Law enforcement sector within Australian and across the globe.

Many traditional asset systems, simply manage inventory and the financial value of the asset. The benefits of a full lifecycle asset solutions are compelling:

Establishing asset management best practice – ISO55000, with accurate asset data.

• A single register of all critical operational assets containing high quality data related to each asset.

• Detailed ‘passport’ with full historical data for each individual asset providing traceability across the entire asset life cycle.

• Informed forecasting, budget and procurement decisions.

• Improved risk assessment and on-going management because of better data quality.

• Asset maintenance schedules ensuring the reliability as well as longevity of assets.

• Scheduled activities such as statutory testing contributing towards fulfilling compliance and legislative requirements.

• Supports centralised audits, risk assessments and claims process.

And probably most importantly the consolidation of what was previously fragmented and disparate information from across the agency to a single view of all assets.

In essence, full lifecycle asset management is more than a tool; it’s a strategic ally, enhancing the resilience and responsiveness of emergency management. It reinforces preparedness in the face of adversity, ensuring every resource is accounted for and contributing significantly to effective response efforts.