Emergency Support Services (ESS) is a community-based provincial emergency response program required to preserve the well-being of people affected by an emergency or disaster ranging from single house fire or calamities involving mass evacuations.

The goal of ESS is to help people begin to re-establish themselves as quickly as possible after a disaster. ESS plays an important role in emergency management in British Columbia by:

• Helping people meet their basic survival needs during a disaster;
• Reuniting families separated by disaster;
• Providing people affected by a disaster with accurate and up-to-date
  information.

ESS provides short-term temporary services (typically for 72 hours) for individuals and families affected by disasters so they can begin to plan their next steps following a disaster. Services may be provided on site for small scale events, or at a Reception Centre facility for larger responses, and may include: