Emergency Planning
The Environment, Culture and Communities Department is responsible for maintaining the Council’s Emergency Plan and for ensuring that the Council is able to provide support, assistance and training.
Preparing for emergencies
You don’t panic when a light bulb goes out because you know how to replace it. Have you ever thought what you would do if you found yourself in a situation that was out of the ordinary? For example, if you were flooded by a burst water main, if you were evacuated from your home following a gas leak in your road or you were stuck in a traffic jam for several hours during a heat wave.
Have your own emergency plan in place. Being prepared in advance means that you will deal with the issue more effectively at the time. If you know what to do in advance then you are more likely to make the right choices.
Useful steps to take now include
- Be aware of the emergency arrangements for your children at school and the arrangements at your workplace.
- Know where to turn off the utilities at your home.
- Consider how your family will stay in contact in the event of an emergency.
- Keep contact details for your friends and family to hand.
- Be aware of anyone near you who may need help especially if they are elderly or vulnerable.
- Check your insurance cover is up to date and all your important documents are kept in a safe place.
- Keep details of your local radio stations to hand.
Emergency packs
You may wish to keep an emergency pack at home containing the following items:
- A battery-powered or wind-up radio.
- A torch.
- Spare batteries.
- A first aid kit.
- A copy of your emergency contact details.
In addition to the above, if you need to evacuate and leave your home quickly you may wish to take the following items with you:
- Important household documents.
- House and car keys.
- Mobile phone and charger.
- Cash and credit cards.
- Essential medication and personal items such as glasses.
- Baby food and nappies.
- Appropriate clothing.
As an alternative to evacuating your home, you may be asked to take shelter and remain inside. In this case, the advice is to ‘go in, stay in, tune in’.
It may vary according to the time of the year but consider keeping an emergency kit in the car:
- Bottled water.
- First aid kit.
- Battery-powered or wind-up torch.
- Mobile phone charger.
- Sweets, long life snacks.
- Blanket.
- Waterproof coat.
- Wellington boots.
Have you got a mobile phone?
If you have, then be prepared by using ICE. By entering the acronym ICE – for In Case of Emergency – into your mobile phone address book, you can log the name and telephone number of someone who can be contacted in an emergency.
- Make sure the person identified as your ICE partner has agreed to be so and that they can be easily reached.
- Make sure your ICE partner has a list of people they should contact should they need to.
- Make sure your ICE partner is aware of any pre-existing medical conditions.
Your local radio station is BBC Radio Berkshire (94.6FM, 95.4FM, 104.1FM, 104.4FM)
Remember for urgent assistance from the emergency services, dial 999.
If you live in Bracknell Forest, you should have received our How Prepared Are You? leaflet. It can also be downloaded from this page. As well as the information above, it has space to make a note of your emergency contact telephone numbers.
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