Planning for emergencies: are you ready

The aim of these pages are to provide clear practical advice to prepare for and respond to an emergency. A lot of the information is common sense, but it has saved lives in the past.

All the responding agencies in the Thames Valley work hard to make sure that they are as prepared as they can be, in the event of an emergency.

Plans are in place which are regularly reviewed. Staff from the emergency services, and other agencies take part in simulated emergency exercises and training. In the first stages of an emergency, the priority will be to protect life and property wherever we can. Then afterwards to help communities recover as quickly as possible.

Sometimes a major emergency will only affect one area of the community, at other times it could affect a wider region. Whatever the extent, we will work with the media and ensure social media and relevant websites are up to date. So that you can assess any likely impact on you and your family.

Regardless of how much planning we do but there is likely to be a time delay in the emergency responders getting to the scene of an emergency. For emergencies which affect a large geographic area they cannot be everywhere at once.

It is important that you, your family, businesses and local communities are prepared. This booklet is prepared by members of Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum. This forum is made up of local Emergency Services, Health Agencies, Local Authorities and the Environment Agency.