09 February 2012What is a major emergency?
A major emergency is commonly defined as any event (happening with or without warning) causing or threatening death or injury, damage to property or the environment or disruption to the community, which because of the scale of its effects cannot be dealt with as part of our day-to-day activities.
The Sevenoaks District Emergency Plan
The Council has a generic modular Major Emergency Plan that is flexible enough to deal with any major emergency which is developed in conjunction with the emergency services, the County Council, the Environment Agency and town and parish councils.
These documents are:
Sevenoaks District Council Major Emergency Plan v10 (
PDF File 806KB file details)
Appendix 1 Mutual Aid Agreement (Not publicly available)
Appendix 2 Emergency Directory (Not publicly available - personal information)
5.1 Activation Officer Handbook v10 ( PDF File 186KB file details)
5.2 Contact Centre Emergency Response Plan v10 ( PDF File 181KB file details)
5.3 Emergency Centre Operations v10 ( PDF File 240KB file details)
5.4 Forward Control Operations v10 ( PDF File 193KB file details)
5.5 Media & Public Warning & Informing v10 ( PDF File 95KB file details)
5.6 Finance, Insurance & Legal v10 ( PDF File 67KB file details)
5.7 Resilient Telecommunications Plan v10 ( PDF File 139KB file details)
5.8 Human Resources Plan v10 ( PDF File 70KB file details)
5.10 Other Liaison Responsibilities v10 ( PDF File 77KB file details)
6.1 Environmental Health Response Plan v10 ( PDF File 121KB file details)
6.2 Housing & Homelessness Plan v10 ( PDF File 72KB file details)
6.3 Dangerous Structures & Building Control Plan v10 ( PDF File 77KB file details)
6.4 Community Plans v10 ( PDF File 86KB file details)
8.1 Evacuation, Shelter & Immediate Care v10 ( PDF File 129KB file details)
8.3 Chapter 1 – Local Multi Agency Flood Plan v11 ( PDF File 4843KB file details)
8.3 Chapter 2 - Severe Weather v10 ( PDF File 60KB file details)
8.4 Fuel Shortage (Not publicly available)
9 Business Continuity Incident Management Plan v10 ( PDF File 369KB file details)
10 Recovery v10 ( PDF File 154KB file details)
11 Community Leadership Plan v10 ( PDF File 71KB file details)
12 Training & Exercising v10 ( PDF File 65KB file details)
Risk Assessment
Emergency planning is based on a risk assessment of particular hazards. This risk assessment is carried out by the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) and the result of this assessment is published on the Kent County Council website (Kent Community Risk Register).
Training and exercising
To support this response, the Council arranges for training for the key personnel and undertakes exercises to test the plans. Some of these exercises are carried out in conjunction with our response partners.
Communications
During a major emergency, the phone networks (landline and mobile) may become congested with phone calls. To allow an additional means of communication, the District Council work with RAYNET (the Radio Amateur's Emergency Network) and with other licensed amateur radio operators. If you are a licensed radio amateur and would like to be included in our directory, please contact the Emergency Planning Officer at the District Council. Alternatively, you may wish to consider joining RAYNET.
From 30 November 2010, the flood warning codes the Environment Agency use to notify those at risk from flooding are changing. You can find out more information about the changes and how to prepare for flooding on their website at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/fwd. You can download a one page summary of the new codes, icons and their associated wording by clicking EA New Flood Warning Codes 11-10 ( PDF File 53KB file details).
Sevenoaks District has three 'main river' systems, the River Medway, the River Eden and the River Darent. For flooding advice, please follow one of the following links.
Severe weather warnings
The Met Office issues severe weather warnings when there is a 'strong likelihood of severe weather that may cause considerable inconvenience to a large number of people or present a danger to life'. If you would like to see the current warnings in force see the Met Office National Severe Weather Warning Service.
Go in stay in tune in
You should follow the instruction of the authorities if you are advised to evacuate your home. If your house is on fire, the advice is to get out, stay out and call the Fire and Rescue Service. For fire safety advice see Kent Fire and Rescue Service.
In most emergencies, the best advice is to 'go in, stay in and tune in'. A battery or wind-up powered radio is ideal in case the mains electricity fails. Tune in to your local radio station.
Pets and Emergencies
The Blue Cross have produced a leaflet about looking after your pets during floods. The guidance can be applied to other major emergencies. It can be downloaded from here: Pets and Floods ( PDF 2680K file details)
Further information
If you have any further queries, please contact the District Council's Emergency Planning Officer:
Emergency Planning Officer
Sevenoaks District Council
Argyle Road
Sevenoaks
Kent
TN13 1HG
Tel: 01732 227000
Fax: 01732 227176
E-mail: emergency.planning@sevenoaks.gov.uk
