Emergencies and Public Safety

What is classed as a major emergency?

Major emergencies include:

• severe weather such as flooding and drought
• health epidemics and pandemics 
• terrorism (for information on the current risk visit the Home Office website)
• environmental pollution such as chemical, biological and nuclear contamination 
• animal and plant diseases
• structural failure 
• protest and industrial action
• energy, power supply and utility outages

Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum

The Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum has developed a Community Risk Register to reassure the communities of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes that potential hazards have been assessed, and that effective preparation arrangements and response plans exist. 

The risks described in the Register are general hazards which may never affect us. By identifying all potential hazards and their consequences, plans can be made and any incidents that may occur can be dealt with more effectively. Visit the Thames Valley Community Risk Register website for full details.

What is the Council's role in the event of a major emergency?

Our main role is to support the emergency services in the response to an incident and oversee the return to normality. We have prepared an emergency plan for these situations. Emergency planning involves assessing threats and where possible preventing them, tackling major emergencies when they occur, carrying on business as usual and restoring normality afterwards.

What can I do to prepare for an emergency?

Visit the Preparing for Emergencies pages of the Directgov website for information on how to plan for a possible emergency situation.

What do I do in the event of an emergency?

If you are involved in any emergency it is important to:

• Make sure 999 has been called if people are injured or if there is a threat to life
• Not put yourself or others in danger
• Follow the advice of the emergency services
• Try to remain calm and think before acting and try to reassure others
• Check for injuries - remember to attend to yourself before attempting to help others

If you are not involved in an accident but are close by or believe you may be in danger, in most cases the advice is: GO IN, STAY IN, TUNE IN.

What can my business do to prepare for and cope with a major emergency?

Businesses that have prepared for an emergency in advance and have business continuity management arrangements in place are more likely to stay in business and recover quickly in the event of an emergency than those that do not.

Visit the Business Continuity Planning pages of the Business Link website for information and advice on business continuity planning and sources of support.

Who should I contact in the event of an emergency?

For a list of emergency Council contacts including Council tenant issues, homelessness, noise complaints, reporting needles and syringes, and anti-social behaviour helpline, visit our Emergency Phone Numbers page.

Where can I find more information about emergencies and public safety?

Visit our Local Emergency Services page for information about the local police, fire, ambulance and air ambulance services including non-emergency contact details.

Visit the Emergency Planning pages of the Oxfordshire County Council website.

Page last reviewed 6 December 2011