Planning for emergencies: are you ready

If you find yourself in an emergency, your common sense and instincts will usually tell you what to do:

1. if people are injured or in danger, contact the emergency services by dialling 999 and follow their advice
2. remain calm, reassure others and think before acting
3. check for injuries - remember to help yourself before helping others
4. stay informed by listening to local radio, watching local television stations, checking useful websites, and social media

If you are not involved in the emergency, but are close by or believe you may be in danger, in most cases the advice is:

• go in to a safe building
• stay in until you are advised to do otherwise
• tune in to local TV or radio for more information

Of course there are always going to be particular occasions when you should not go in to a building, for example if there was a fire. This creates a barrier between you and the hazard.

Otherwise go in, stay in, tune in.