Introduction
This plan has been developed by CSW Resilience and Warwickshire County Council to address the need that the parish council has for an emergency plan. This allows them to be prepared to respond effectively to an emergency in their area. Where applicable this plan should be consider in conjunction with any local arrangements, such as flood action group plans.
Nearly all emergencies affecting the local community will be dealt with routinely by a joint response from the emergency services, local authorities and utility companies. However, in extreme conditions such as snow and flooding, there is a possibility that the emergency services and other agencies may be overwhelmed and not be able to reach Bishop’s Itchington area immediately. In such circumstances, the initial response will rely entirely on local people within the community. This plan will assist the community to respond to a major incident/emergency, whilst awaiting the assistance of the emergency services and local authorities.
Aims of the Plan
The plan has been designed to enable the parish council to identify the immediate actions they should consider during an emergency. These actions may assist the community in reducing the impact of an emergency until further assistance is available.
The aim of the plan is to:
Provide a framework for the parish council to deal with the initial impact of an emergency on the local community, particularly when outside assistance from the emergency services and local authorities is delayed.
Objectives of the Plan
The key objectives of this plan are to:
- Support community resilience
- Identify resources in the community available to assist during an emergency
- Identify local people and local organisations who may be able to assist during an emergency
- Identify vulnerable people in the community and develop arrangements to assist them
- Provide relevant and timely local information throughout the emergency
- Provide appropriate contact details for the Parish council, key community resources, the emergency services and Local Authorities
- Establish local co-ordination arrangements for dealing with the impact of the emergency at a local level
- Identify and commission places of safety for the public
- Provide local intelligence to responders
Definition of an Emergency/Major Incident
An emergency will mean different things to different communities. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 defines an emergency as:
An event or situation which threatens serious damage to
- Human welfare in a place in the United Kingdom
- The environment of a place in the United Kingdom
- The security of the United Kingdom or of a place in the United Kingdom.