When it's safe to do so, there are a few things you could do to help reduce the effects of emergencies on your community. You could take a step further and form a group to coordinate these kinds of activities.
Examples include:
- checking on vulnerable people in your area
- offering lifts to supermarkets and pharmacies
- opening a community facility as a place of safety
- in severe weather you could offer to clear snow from driveways, roads and footpaths
A key benefit of doing this is that your community is even more prepared to deal with, respond to, and recover from an emergency. Your efforts could help minimise damage and disruption to your community.
Emergency responders have limited resources and can’t be everywhere at the same time. They must prioritise those in greatest need, especially where lives are at risk.
For this reason, it can be difficult to provide immediate support to all affected communities. For example, during widespread severe weather events or power cuts.
With communities more prepared and, therefore resilient, it also allows the council and other emergency responders to direct and dedicate limited resources in an emergency more efficiently.
It is important to note that any arrangements undertaken by an individual or community should not aim to replace the work of emergency responders. A community response should complement their work in times of emergencies. To know more about Fife Council’s role in emergencies, follow this link to the page Fife Council’s role in Emergency Resilience.
Continue reading to find out more about:
- Steps to take when thinking about developing community arrangements
- The different types of arrangements
- Case studies of existing community resilience groups
Resilient communities start with resilient individuals and households. If you haven’t already, make sure to read our page ‘Ready at Home’.
The Scottish Government defines this as:
“Communities and individuals harnessing resources and expertise to help themselves prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies, in a way that complements the work of the emergency responders.”
For guidance around how you and your household can be prepared for disruptions such as power and water outages, and emergencies, visit the Ready at Home and Ready Pets pages.
For guidance about how your community group can prepare for emergencies, visit the Ready Communities pages.
For guidance about how your business or voluntary organisation can be prepared for disruptions and emergencies, visit the Ready Businesses and Voluntary Organisations page.
Make sure to also visit the Ready for Severe Weather and Ready for Travelling pages for further information.
Back To TopWhilst emergencies don’t happen very often, when they do, they can cause significant disruption to our daily lives. Being prepared for emergencies isn't about prevention, it is about reducing the impacts when they do happen – to ourselves, our families, communities, and businesses.
Visit the pages linked above in the previous question for more information about how you can prepare.
Back To TopThis might depend on where you live, for example, some communities can be affected by flooding.
The Community Risk Register provides an overview of the risks to Fife’s communities. Be assured that organisations such as emergency services, Fife Council, NHS and SEPA work together to plan for and respond to these risks, with the intention of mitigating the impacts of these risks to communities. However, there are steps you can take to make sure that you are prepared.
Back To TopYou can access information on our Ready Fife pages, and at Ready Scotland.
Contact Fife Council’s Emergency Resilience Team: emergency.planning@fife.gov.uk
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