Emergency Planning
Family Emergency Plan
Emergencies can develop quickly and without warning, or in some cases e.g. storms, there will be prior knowledge that an event is going to occur. They may confine you to your home for a period or force you to evacuate to a safer place.
By creating a Family Emergency Plan, you and your family will be much better prepared and be able to face any emergency with increased confidence.
What could happen?
Inform yourself of past emergency events that have occurred in Shetland. Click here for more information on Types of emergencies.
Create an Emergency Plan
- Get together as a family and decide which events are most likely to affect you.
- Decide amongst yourselves what you will do if any of those events happen.
- Be sure that all responsible individuals know how to safely shut off all the utilities should this be required:
- Electricity - mains fuse box
- Water - main isolation valve
- Bottled gas - main isolation valve
- Heating fuel - main isolation valve
If you don’t know how to do this safely, contact your supplier. Contact numbers can be found by clicking on Emergency Services and Utilities contact details.
If you intend to use an Emergency generator, please ensure that you know how to connect it properly. If you do not, contact the supplier that you bought it from.
Decide on two safe places to meet:
- right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency like a fire.
- somewhere outside your neighbourhood, in case you cannot get back to your home. Everyone should know the address and phone number. This may also be part of your Family Emergency Contact Plan.
Decide on the contents of your Family Emergency Supplies including your Family Emergency Pack. The Pack should be stored in an agreed safe place. You should be able to find it easily, even in the dark.
Emergency Contact Plan
Decide on a Family Emergency Contact Plan.
If a family member or a close neighbour has special needs, you must decide how you are going cope in an Emergency taking into account those special needs.
If you own animals, either pets or working animals, you must decide how you are going to ensure their welfare during an emergency. For more information, see animals and pet advice.
Make sure that you and your family know which radio stations to listen to in the event of an emergency.
Make sure that a list of emergency contact numbers is available next to your telephone. A useful list can be found in A Householder's Guide to Being Prepared (pdf). Remember that cordless telephones will not work in a power cut.
Find out about emergency plans at work, at your children’s school or any place where you and your family spends time. Where you are and the type of emergency will dictate your movements and your ability to make contact with other family members. This should be taken into consideration in your Family Emergency Contact Plan.
Being Prepared
If you possess a fire extinguisher, ensure that all responsible individuals know how and when it can be used safely.
Ensure that you have property and contents insurance. Council tenants should be aware that their contents are not insured through the Council.
Consider getting training in first aid. In an emergency, it is likely that there will be a great demand put upon the emergency services and they may not be able to attend as promptly as usual.
Generally it is safer to stay inside your home during an emergency. However, in extreme circumstances, you may need to evacuate your home. This possibility should be considered and decisions made about what to do and where to go (if not directed somewhere by the authorities). Consideration should be made regarding:
- do you have adequate clothing?
- where to go?
- how to get there?
- what to do with pets?
- should you switch off all utilities?