The Civil Contingencies Act of 2004 defines an emergency as: - An event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare
- An event or situation which threatens serious damage to the environment
- War, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to security
In practical terms, a major emergency is any emergency that requires special arrangements by one or more of the emergency services, the NHS or the local authority, for:
- The initial treatment, rescue and transport of a large number of casualties
- The involvement of large numbers of people
- The handling of a large number of enquiries both from the public and the news media, usually to the police
- The need for large-scale combined resources of two or more of the emergency services
- The organisation of the emergency services and supporting organisations - for example a local authority, to cater for the threat of death, serious injury or homelessness to a large number of people
Role of the council
We will support the emergency services and help communities who are caught up in an incident. When the immediate life-threatening period has passed, we play a major part in restoring normality to the community and to the area affected.