Article: Resilience overview for civil emergencies Article Body The roots of modern day emergency planning lie in the Civil Defence era in the days following the Second World War. In the Cold War that followed civil defence planners spent most of their time preparing plans aimed at protecting the public against the effects of a nuclear attack. Detailed plans were put in place based around the concept of "Protect and Survive" and would have been triggered if the unthinkable ever occurred. During the 1980's, 90's and into the new millenium various events took place that led to improvements to emergency planning and a rethink into the legislation associated with the topic. The end of the Cold War and the reduction in the threat of nuclear attack changed the emphasis from civil defence to emergency planning - from protecting the public from nuclear war to planning for smaller scale but nevertheless still major incidents. The 1980's also became known as 'the decade of disaster', a series of incidents took place - Lockerbie, Kegworth, the Kings Cross underground station fire, Piper Alpha, Bradford football stadium fire and the disaster at Hillsborough football ground - which changed the face of emergency planning. These events led to a re-focusing of emergency planning. More recent events including the Manchester bombings, foot and mouth outbreak and severe flooding in Yorkshire resulted in the government introducing new legislation. The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and associated guidance documents were developed to ensure that responding agencies had robust planning arrangements to deal with these and other situations. To ensure compliance with this legislation Barnsley Council has developed robust directorate resilience plans and service business continuity plans. This ensures that Barnsley Council can respond effectively to any incident and recover its functions in a structured manner. Plans in place include: Adults and Communities Reception Centre Protocol - Includes details of how the council accommodates evacuees during an emergency in pre-designated centres. There are 17 centres, which are all council owned buildings such as sports centres (Barnsley Premier Leisure) and secondary schools (Children, Young People and Families directorate). These will be operated by staff and managers who have received training in operation of reception centres. Arrangements are in place for other agencies to provide staff such as the WRVS and Red Cross and SY Police Missing Persons Bureau. Retail outlets can also provide mattresses and bedding for overnight use, as well as food supplies. Adults and Communities Resilience Plan - This details how the directorate deals with all types of emergencies including flooding and includes links to partnership arrangements with NHS Barnsley, Acute Trust and Primary Care Trust Barnsley MBC Emergency Control Room Procedure - This is a comprehensive instruction manual of how to set up the control room and what equipment and paperwork are available there. Berneslai Homes Ltd - Contains all the information regarding the 'arms length' management company that runs the council's housing stock and their involvement in the overall council response. They are part of the council's Silver Team and can offer evacuee's temporary housing and provide existing community centres to be utilised as humanitarian assistance centres Corporate Business Continuity Plan - All services within the council have identified their priority functions and produced action plans to aid in their recovery and continue as much of their day to day services as far as reasonably practicable. Corporate Communications and Media Plan - The purpose of this document is to set out the response of the communications and media function of the council to a major incident affecting the service provision for the wider community. This will allow other council departments to deal with the problem unhindered by the media, while enabling all positive aspects of the incident to be maximised and also limiting any negative effects, which may be encountered by inadequate media management. This plan also has close links to the overarching Local Resilience Forum (LRF) Communications and Media Plan and the LRF Warning and Informing Sub Group Community Flood Plans - These are in the process of being compiled by the council's Highways and Engineering department and will cover community self help, fixed stores of sandbags and other related equipment. This work is done in conjunction with the Environment Agency and their flood wardens within the borough. Corporate Recovery Plan - Incorporates a series of templates to be populated during the emergency phase of an incident to allow a seamless transition to the recovery phase. Corporate Resilience Plan - Overarching document and procedure which includes management of all risks to the borough and the Gold, Silver and Bronze contacts that would be utilised during a flood. This also details liaison duties of council managers at the scene of the incident and within partner agencies' control rooms such as South Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue. Humanitarian Assistance Centre Plan - Details the use of community centres as temporary accommodation and information giving outlets for people who are suffering as the result of a major incident but are still within their own property. These centres were particularly useful during the previous flooding in 2007 as they were very close and convenient to the affected areas. Multi Agency Response There are many agencies involved in the response to a major incident. These include many voluntary organisations such as the WRVS, British Red Cross and Salvation Army to name a few. The co-ordination of the voluntary sector's response is one of the roles of the council. It's main role, however, is to support the emergency services. Below is a brief summary of the role of the emergency services and the National Health Service. South Yorkshire Police Save life and minimise suffering Co-ordinate all activities at and around the scene (except if there is a fire) Establish cordons Preserve the scene for evidence Oversee criminal investigations Facilitate inquiries carried out by other bodies Process casualty information Identify and arrange the removal of the dead (on behalf of H M Coroner) South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Rescue people from wreckage or debris Extinguish fires Deal with released chemicals to render the incident site safe Assist ambulance personnel with casualty handling and the police with recovery of bodies Responsible for the health and safety of everyone in the inner cordon Unless there is suspected or actual terrorist involvement when the police control all activities within the cordon Yorkshire Ambulance Service Save life at the scene via effective emergency treatment Co-ordinate the on-site NHS response and determine which hospitals to take the injured to Determine the priority for the release of trapped casualties in conjunction with the fire brigade Transport the injured to hospital in priority order (also known as Triage) National Health Service (NHS) To ensure that the medical needs of people are met, by providing access to appropriate NHS services, which may include Prescribing doctors to replace forgotten or lost drugs Community nurses and ambulance paramedic staff as appropriate Medical advice and information on the consequences of the incident Contacts If you wish to know more about emergency planning in Barnsley or have any questions, please contact us at the address below: Health, Safety and Emergency Resilience Unit Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Chief Executive's Department Human Resources PO Box 680 Barnsley S70 9JF Office E-mail: BMBCResilience@barnsley.gov.uk Specific emergency planning information can be found at the following web links: The Cabinet OfficeUK Resilience Website Direct GovPreparing for Emergencies Website South Yorkshire Emergencies Website