Preparing: Being prepared can help reduce the impact of events on you and your loved ones, reduce the level of support you need from other people and the emergency services and enable you to support others.
Responding: There are many types of incident that may require us to leave our homes or cause disruption to our everyday lives. This includes emergencies such as a fire, gas explosion or flooding.
Recovering: Recovery from an emergency can be a complex and long running process. A resilient community will not only be better prepared to respond at the time of an emergency, but will be more able to recover in the long term.
Preparation for the activities we do during our day is a good idea; the better we prepare for something the better the outcome will generally be.
Throughout our day, we spend a significant amount of time preparing and making ourselves more resilient, even though, we perhaps don’t realise we are doing it. For example, we make a point of watching the weather forecast so that we can be appropriately dressed and hopefully, can avoid get wet. We may check the local traffic news prior to leaving home, so that we won’t be late or get stuck in roadworks.
Why do we do this? It’s quite simple…Preparation no matter how minor it may seem:
- Reduces the impact of risk.
- Reduces fear and uncertainty.
- Aids our response.
- Eases our recovery – Helps us to build back stronger.
And just makes us feel a bit safer.
Being personally resilient is the most important thing you can do. By becoming more resilient, you, your family, and friends can keep each other safe and also help others in your community.
The grab bag should be stored somewhere that is easily accessible in an emergency and should contain all items that are important to you and your family. These items should only be those that are important to your welfare and safety. This should include items that will keep you safe for up to 48 hours and should include the following:
- Warm clothing.
- Basic toiletries, medication.
- A notepad and pen.
- Household documentation, insurance, personal identification.
- Snacks, baby food, nappies, clothes, bottled water.
- Pet food, collar and lead.
- Cash (in a power outage bank cards and credit cards will not work, cash may be the only way that you will be able to purchase essential items).
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We all rely on electricity, gas and water on a day to day basis for various things, but for some, loss of one or more of those utility services can be worrying or difficult. That’s why utility companies offer extra help and support during a power cut or loss of gas or water. Your utility supplier should safeguard the welfare of people who are vulnerable and provide help in the first instance.
If you are registered on the Priority Services Register for your local gas, electricity or water supplier, they will message you when there is an interrruption to the supply in your area. If there is a wider interruption in supply, your information could help to direct an emergency response to people who are most vulnerable. Use the link above to learn more about the Priority Services Register, and if you should consider registering.
Know your emergency numbers – in a power cut call 105 from your mobile or landline or, for a gas emergency, dial 0800 111999.
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Home Emergency Action Plan
The Home Emergency Action Plan booklet has been put together to give you some basic information on how you can help yourself and your family in emergencies.
Warning & Informing
The emergency services, local councils, the Environment Agency or local volunteers may relay information to your community. This may include advice on potential incidents and keeping you safe, as well as particular areas to avoid.
Go In, Stay In, Tune In
In the event of an emergency, keeping safe is important. Tuning in to your local radio station as well as using social media, such as Twitter and Facebook pages of your local fire or police force, will help you keep informed and safe.
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Flood risk information here, including the Rotary Flood pack
The Environment Agency supports a network of Community Emergency Volunters (CEVs) across the Dorset area and beyond. Many of the CEVs/Flood Wardens are in small villages and towns, with the ambition to expand into larger towns in Dorset. If you would like to know about how volunteering like this can benefit your community in the event of flooding, click the link below.
Being prepared for flooding can also help to keep you, your friends and family safer when flooding happens. Flood alert notifications are a great way to keep yourself up to date, register using the link below.
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Preparing for emergencies
Most emergencies are dealt with by the emergency services but occasionally an incident is more serious and requires them to work with other organisations.
Dorset Local Resilience Forum partners work together to plan how we would react to any emergency. We have plans to manage the most likely risks to affect Dorset and we train throughout the year to ensure we are ready.
Susie the Childminder educational books for children
Our friends at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Resilience Forum and DEFRA funded the creation of Susie and her adventures. We are very grateful to them for this informative series of educational books. Don’t forget to check Susie’s very own website to read all her stories.