Search
Dealing with Emergencies
Council Plans
The Council has a generic Major Emergency Plan which has the
flexibility needed to respond to the effects of any major
emergency. It is supported by various additional plans which
concentrate on specific known threats which require a specialised
response, such as the setting up of rest centres to support people
who may have had to be evacuated from their homes because of an
incident.
Plans are developed in conjunction with other local authorities,
the emergency services, the NHS and Environment Agency, utility and
transport providers and the voluntary sector. The duties and
activities laid down in them are carried out mainly by council
staff, often doing their normal jobs but under exceptional
circumstances.
Emergency Planning is based on the assessment of a wide range of
perceived risks. This task is carried out on a county-wide
basis by a sub-group of the Kent Resilience Forum, a multi-agency
Group set up under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and consisting
of representatives of local authorities, the emergency services,
the NHS, the Environment Agency, utility and transport companies
and the voluntary sector. The result of the assessment is
published on the Kent County Council website in the form of the
“Kent
Community Risk Register”
To support the response, key personnel are given appropriate
training, and exercises are held on a regular basis both to test
the plans and to provide experience to those who would be involved
in the response to a real emergency.