If an emergency were to occur in your area, household or business, what would your priorities be? Do you know who you may need to contact to request support? Is there someone that may look to you for help - your relatives, neighbours or colleagues?
There are various risks and hazards to prepare for. Taking action now will make it easier to manage if an emergency were to happen.
Know your risk
Emergencies like floods, fires and power outages can happen suddenly. Are you aware of the risks in your area and where to get updates?
By preparing for potential risks, you can improve how you respond and recover. Understanding these risks helps you act quickly when needed.
Useful resources
The Community Risk Register is maintained by the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum. It outlines potential community risks, their likelihood and impact.
The National Risk Register (PDF, 2.5MB) highlights broader risks faced by the United Kingdom.
Check if your parish or town council has a community emergency plan for local risks.
Be informed
During an emergency, getting reliable information is important. It helps you make informed choices and stay safe.
To help you be emergency-ready and prepare your home:
- check flood warnings or alerts on GOV.UK
- read the Prepare campaign on GOV.UK
- check weather warnings and advice from the Met Office
Sign up for the Priority Services Register
You may be eligible for extra support in an emergency if there is an interruption to your utility supply. Find out if you are eligible to sign up for your gas, electricity and water supplier's Priority Services Register.
Important contacts
In an emergency, you can contact:
- Emergency services - 999
- Police (non-emergency) - 101
- NHS - 111
- Power cuts - 105
- Floodline - 0345 988 1188
- Gas emergency - 0800 111 999
- Thames Water - 0800 316 9800
Make a plan
It is helpful to make an emergency plan. It will help you and others get ready for different situations.
Being prepared is important - get ready, make a plan and stay informed.
Prepare yourself and your household, community and business. Write down important phone numbers and anyone you may need to contact in an emergency.
Download, print and store your emergency plan for reference in an emergency:
Have a grab-bag ready in advance of emergencies. The SSEN Grab Bag Resource (PDF, 0.93MB) is a useful, printable guide.
Download a copy of the Thames Valley Are you ready leaflet (PDF, 3.1MB) for a detailed guide on preparing for an emergency.
Protect your household
Plan for how to keep your family and pets safe during emergencies. Make sure you:
- complete a home online fire safety check to help keep you and your home safe
- know how to turn off your gas, electricity and water - the household emergency plan will help you
- consider what items are valuable to you and how you can store important documents or photographs, for example, you could use water and fireproof containers or keep copies with friends
- think about insurance policies that could cover you and your property in the event of an emergency
- think about any family or friends that you could stay with
- research what actions to take to prepare your property if you live in a flood-risk area
Get your children involved
Talk to your children and family to teach them how and when to call 999 and what to do in an emergency.
Use helpful resources like:
- the Pillowcase Project from the British Red Cross (for ages 7 to 11)
- Staywise, which offer fun tools and games to teach emergency preparedness
Help your community
Help prepare your community for an emergency.
Volunteers play an important role in keeping communities safe and prepared. Getting to know your neighbours and what help they need in an emergency can make a big difference.
You could:
- provide local knowledge
- help create a community emergency plan
- find local resilience activities and become a community emergency volunteer or flood warden
- explore opportunities with charities such as the:
- visit the Prepare campaign on GOV.UK to learn more and volunteer
- contact Volunteer Centre West Berkshire who match local people to local needs
- view local resilience activities with Communities Prepared
More information
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