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Provision of NECC Crisis Management Arrangements
Ministry of Interior
Bahrain

The Problem

Bahrain MOI had embarked on a program to prepare the Kingdom to deal with major emergencies, for instance: fires, explosions, chemical incidents, security incidents, severe weather. However there was no central facility from which response to an event could be managed.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Over 2009 to 2010 a new NECC was designed and installed. Facilities included:
- an electronic information management system where current relevant information can be displayed on a series of electronic information boards and shared with decision makers in the NECC and other locations;
- Work stations for representatives of all Kingdom agencies.
New specialist roles of Information Manager and Actions Manager were developed in support of senior decision-makers of the National Committee for disaster management. A cadre of 30 was selected and trained in the new roles.
A program of major exercises was designed and delivered using OCTO’s specialist IRES software suite, comprising:
- Scenario development toolkit, which reduces the time and cost taken to prepare major emergency exercises by up to 80%
- Decision Support Model, which simulates major emergency incidents and accurately tests the team performance in an emergency exercise.
- Information Management System, which captures, displays, records and shares information pertinent to effective decision-making in a crisis.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The solution was proposed from a joint team of OCTO and MOI .
Contributors were All the contributing agencies to NECC; private and public sectors – Bahrain ministries; Aluminum Bahrain ; BAPCO and the Gulf Petrochemical Industries; Water and Energy Companies; civil aviation; ESRI ; Hotels; all other organizations directly involved in case of crises and disasters etc .

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The Strategic Aim was to provide an NECC crisis management facility to support decision making for His Excellency the Minister and / or his representatives during a major emergency or crisis affecting the Kingdom. All comes in line with Bahrain economic vision 2030 that require safe and secure environment as Bahrain will achieve safety and security through the provision of an integrated strategy to mitigate all risks and threats.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Establish top management and Ministerial requirements and commitment to the program 2009-2010.
• Review the major incident risks for Bahrain in 2010.
• Design a new NECC facilities and IT capable of dealing with all identified risks in 2010.
• Select personnel to undertake key roles 2010- 2011.
• Develop training program and training materials and implement the training program for Information Managers and Action Managers 2010-2011.
• Install IMS software in the NECC in 2010.
• Prepare a series of major emergency scenarios- aircraft crash; major road accident with chemical release; chemical plant explosion; hotel fire and explosion; series of terrorist attacks on hotels in 2010- 2011.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
There were no main obstacles encountered, however there were minor obstacles like poor coordination between all parties and the continuity of updating high standard contingency plans which has taken care of by setting up a national emergency plan covers all his concerns.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
• Financial spend with OCTO was about £80,000.
• IT hardware and software.
• IT & Information system specialists’ team.
• A collection of databases were used to support the initiative such as high risk premises, national emergency contacts and other resources database including Bahrain infrastructure information.

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The initiative is sustained by regular exercising, refresher training of key personnel and by training new personnel to replace natural turnover.
Using the new software, ongoing training and exercising is achievable and affordable (i.e. cost savings of 80% compared with the previous system).
The IRES system is available to other government departments and agencies in Bahrain and is currently under consideration by them.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The NECC is now established with a trained cadre of personnel, ready to support the ministry in coordinating response to a major incident , supporting decision making process ,an efficient way to evaluate notional emergency plans on all levels ,NECC now contains all information needed in case of major incidents or disasters.

National committee for disaster management (NCDM) the NECC top management set up a monthly bases meeting to guaranty a full awareness of national emergency situations development within the kingdom of Bahrain.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Ministry of Interior
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   Ahmed Al-Manaai
Title:   Head of Police Media Center  
Telephone/ Fax:   +97317390900
Institution's / Project's Website:   http://www.interior.gov.bh/
E-mail:   aalkooheji@ega.gov.bh  
Address:   P.O. Box 13
Postal Code:  
City:   Manama
State/Province:  
Country:   Bahrain

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