Why do we plan?
In 2004 the government introduced a new piece of legislation, the Civil Contingencies Act, to improve the resilience of the country. This would be achieved through an enhanced ability to respond effectively to emergencies created from the way in which organisations, such as police and local authorities, plan and prepare for these events. A key way in which these organisations prepare for responding to disasters is through the development of a multi-agency response plan.
Generally speaking, emergency plans lay down the roles and responsibilities of each organisation required to respond, enabling a consistent and thorough response that is well known and practiced by each agency involved.
Key elements of an emergency plan
Local authority plans normally deal with planning the authority’s response in support of the Emergency Services, and recovery from an incident, whilst still maintaining the essential council services. The Isles of Scilly are unique and the plans need to take into account the geographical isolation and limited resources, both in terms of equipment and personnel, that are available on the islands.
An emergency plan will normally contain the following:
- Call-out arrangements and alerting cascades
- Key personnel lists
- Management arrangements and structures
- Security arrangements
- Public information
- Media handling and response
- Communication strategies
- Data relating to the site, geography, population etc.
- Designated emergency centres and rest centres
- Recovery strategies
- Financial arrangements/authorisation
Once a plan has been written it will be sent out to any organisations involved in its enforcement for consultation. Any valid suggestions for change are made before it is published and put into effect.
Plan validation
A plan can be validated in a number of ways, but the most common way is through the use of exercises. These are aimed at testing the plan as a whole, or a specific section of the plan. Exercising can take either a ‘live’ form or may be done as a tabletop exercise i.e. a theoretical ‘run through’. A ‘live’ exercise will aim to replicate an emergency as much as possible and is best for testing the plan to its fullest. A tabletop exercise will normally consist of a single procedure test, using paper injects to co-ordinate the development of the emergency and to make sure that a specific area of the plan is tested. Following the exercise, the plan will be revised if any shortcomings have been identified.
Council of the Isles of Scilly Emergency Plans
Below is a list of the plans that have been written and are regularly updated by the Emergency Planning Team at the Council of the Isles of Scilly.
CIOS Emergency Plans
- Bereavement Plan
- Communications Plan
- Emergency Procedures Guide
- IOS Community Risk Register
- Joint CBRN Plan
- Joint Operation Centre Protocol
- Oil Pollution Plan
- Pandemic Flu Plan (Operation Himalaya)
- Passenger Support Plan
- Rabies Plan
- Rest Centre Plan
- St.Mary’s Airport Emergency Orders
- St. Mary’s Airport Joint Emergency Plan
- Business Continuity
- Flood & Severe Weather Plan
- Tsunami Plan (Draft)
The plans listed below are developed in conjunction with the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), which covers Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Visit the LRF website here Opens in a new window.
Joint LRF Plans
· CAERP
· CBRN
· Community Risk Register
· Evacuation & Shelter
· Flooding
· Mass Casualties
· Mass Fatalities
· Media Strategy
· Pandemic Flu
· Reinforcement (CIOS Leading)
· Various Animal Health – Rabies, FAM, Avian Flu, BTV etc
