Planning for emergencies: are you ready

Disruptions to power and water supplies may be rare, and are often linked to severe weather events.

These simple steps will help you to stay safe and as comfortable as possible throughout any disruption:

• check if your neighbours have also lost services; knowing if others are affected will make a difference to what you should do
• if you have a pre-pay meter, check you still have credit
• contact your electricity network operator to report the fault and ask for information

If you lose power for a prolonged period, take precautions to stay safe:

• take care using candles, naked flames and even portable heating. Never leave lit candles in unoccupied rooms or with unsupervised children or animals
• make sure your home is well insulated. A well insulated house can stay warm for 12 hours or longer
• register with your utility providers if you consider yourself to be vulnerable

To report a power cut, call: 105 this is a national number.

If you have an electricity failure and only you have lost power then:

• check your trip switch. This is a circuit breaker fuse system, it will be near your electricity meter. If the trip switch is still on, call your electricity network operator
• if the trip switch is off, switch it back on
• if it switches back off, one of your appliances may be faulty so unplug all appliances and reset the trip
• if only part of your supply has failed and the trip will not reset, there may be a fault with your wiring. Contact a registered electrician

If electricity is lost for a prolonged period over a wide area, being prepared can make a difficult situation easier. It will help if you:

• have at least one standard landline phone in the house, as cordless phones will not work in a power cut
• do not open fridges for any longer than is necessary, they will normally stay cold for many hours

If you smell gas in your home, call the free 24-hour national gas emergency number 0800 111 999, whether the smell is inside or outside the property. You will be asked a series of questions designed to build a picture of the reported gas escape or gas emergency. From these details, the operator can identify the right gas safety advice for you, such as:

• do not turn electrical switches on or off
• open doors and windows
• avoid using naked flames

An engineer will be sent to make the property safe. If the gas is lost for a long period, National Grid will send you details about the incident. If gas is lost for a prolonged period over a wide area, being prepared with emergency heating can make a difficult situation easier:

• to conserve existing heat in your home, use one or two rooms which are next to each other. Keep these areas isolated by closing doors and/or hanging blankets over doorways. The kitchen and a room next to it are usually good choices
• if the authorities inform you that you could be without power for several days, your best option may be to move in with an emergency friend

When safe drinking water is unavailable, it not just an inconvenience, it can become a health emergency. If the whole area has lost water supply, your water supplier has to provide you with alternative water sources. This could be bottled water, stand-pipes or water tankers.

If you are unable to go out to collect water, make sure you have an emergency friend that can collect water for you. Make sure you have an emergency water supply at home.

Everyone’s needs will differ, the Food Standards Agency advises that the average adult should drink one and a half to 2 litres of water each day.

It is important that we all go about our daily business normally. It is also sensible to remain alert to danger and to report any suspicious activity you see or hear.

Always report suspicious activities, you may have vital information. If you hear, see or come across anything that may be linked with terrorist activity, please tell the Police. They want to hear from you.

Call 999, in an emergency, or for non-emergency calls to Thames Valley Police, call: 101

Call the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321

Crimestoppers - a national organisation independent of the Police. You can talk confidentiality on: 0800 555 111

Textphone - facility for people who have hearing disabilities: 0800 0324 539

Terrorists need:

• a place to live: Are you suspicious about any tenants or guests?
• to plan: Have you seen anyone pay an unusual amount of attention to security measures at any location?
• money: Individuals may set up bogus bank accounts, copy credit cards, return goods for large cash refunds.
• equipment: If you are a retailer, do you have any cause to be suspicious about anything being bought?

Your first priorities are:

• Run: If there is a safe route run, if not hide. Leave your belongings behind and insist others go with you. Do not congregate at meeting points
• Hide: Find cover from gunfire. Lock yourself in a room if you can, move away from the door. Be quiet and turn your phone to silent
• Tell: Dial 999 when you can. Give the location, direction and description of attackers. Keep out of the area and stop others entering if possible. Provide details of casualties, injuries and building or location information if possible.

Make sure you know the security plans at your place of work and what to do in an emergency. If the incident involves a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear agent the emergency services are equipped to respond. They are able to decontaminate large numbers of people quickly if necessary.

This involves showering and dressing in temporary clothing. It is important that this takes place where the incident happened so that other people and areas are not contaminated. If necessary, you would also be assessed by health service personnel.