Emergency Planning Teams
From SR
Roles
The Emergency Response Planning Team is responsible for managing and co-ordinating cross council service during amkor emergencies.
In a major emergency the first response will usually be from the police, fire or ambulance services. The council's involvement will follow on from the emergency services and can continue for days, weeks or sometimes months after. This will depend on the nature and scale of the incident.
Some of the services provided:
- Supporting the emergency services in dealing with the incident
- Providing buildings and other resources for the short term care of those evacuated or otherwise affected by the incident including catering and individual welfare needs
- Providing emergency transport
- Protecting the environment and providing advice
- Arranging counselling for all those in need
- Assisting the community in its return to normality
- Setting up a Disaster Fund Trust
- Giving advice on dangerous structures
- Maintaining and clearing the highways and other public spaces
- Supporting the business community's recovery.
Structure
An Emergency Planning Manager is employed to plan for the unexpected, work with response partners, train and instruct council staff and help co-ordinate the council's response.
A major emergency requires a joint response from many individuals and agencies. Apart from the emergency services and the council, voluntary organisations, the health services, public utilities, public transport providers, church and faith communities, the military, the media and many others may be involved.
Outputs
- Plans for preventing an emergency - in some circumstances there will be a short period before an emergency occurs when it might be avoided by prompt or decisive action.
- Plans for reducing, controlling or mitigating the effects of an emergency - the main bulk of planning should consider how to minimise the effects of an emergency, starting with the impact of the event (e.g. alerting procedures) and looking at remedial actions that can be taken to reduce effects. For example, the emergency services may be able to stem the emergency at source by fighting fires, combating the release of toxic chemicals or the extent of floods. The evacuation of people may be one direct intervention which can mitigate the effects of some emergencies. Recovery plans should also be developed to reduce the effects of the emergency and ensure long term recovery.
- Plans for taking other action in connection with an emergency - Not all actions to be taken in preparing for an emergency are directly concerned with controlling, reducing or mitigating its effects. Emergency planning should look beyond the immediate response and long term recovery issues and look also at secondary impacts. For example, the wave of reaction to an emergency can be quite overwhelming in terms of media attention and public response. Plans may need to consider how to handle this increased interest.
Emergency planning should aim where possible to prevent emergencies occurring, and when they do occur, good planning should reduce, control or mitigate the effects of the emergency. It is a systematic and ongoing process which should evolve as lessons are learnt and circumstances change.
Emergency planning should be viewed as part of a cycle of activities beginning with establishing a risk profile to help determine what should be the priorities for developing plans and ending with review and revision, which then re-starts the whole cycle.
Plans should focus on at least three key groupings of people:
- Vulnerable people may be less able to help themselves in an emergency than self-reliant people. Those who are vulnerable will vary depending on the nature of the emergency, but plans should consider: those with mobility difficulties (e.g. those with physical disabilities or pregnant women); those with mental health difficulties; and others who are dependent, such as children.
- Victims of an emergency - which includes not only those directly affected but also those who, as family and friends, suffer bereavement or the anxiety of not knowing what has happened.
- Responder personnel should also be considered. Plans sometimes place unrealistic expectations on management and personnel. Organisations should ensure their plans give due consideration to the welfare of their own personnel. For instance, the emergency services have health and safety procedures which determine shift patterns and check for levels of stress.
