Resilience

Emergencies

For a genuine emergency dial 999 first and explain the situation as clearly as possible to the operator. The 999 services includes:

• Police
• Ambulance service
• Fire Brigade
• Coastguard

Other emergency services may also be reached through the 999 system, but do not maintain permanent Emergency Control Centres (ECC). All of these emergency services are summoned through the EDD of one of the four principle services listed above:

• Lifeboat and floodwater rescue service
• Mountain rescue service
• Cave rescue service
• Mine rescue service
• Bomb disposal

Contacting the council

For information on ongoing emergencies you can:

• Tune in to local TV and media
• Check a social media site - such as Twitter and Facebook

The council may also be contacted by telephone on 0191 520 5555 (if your query is out of hours, you can call this number and the out of hours service will respond)

Major Incident Response Council

The main role of the council is to provide support to the Emergency Services during an emergency.

Complaint with the requirements of The Civil Contingencies Act 2004, we provide front line response to major incidents and emergencies by supporting the immediate needs of those affected in the community. Officers are trained to liaise and coordinate with the emergency services and a wide range of other agencies, to provide an appropriate level of emergency response.

Extreme weather and flooding

There are many types of extreme weather such as:

• Severe rainfall and flooding
• Gales
• Ice
• Snow
• Fog
• Heatwaves

You can find further information through the Met Office

Flood warnings

The Met Office can give you information about any flood warnings within the Sunderland area.

You can find further advice on:

• Prepare for flooding
• Help during a flood
• After a flood

If you would regular updates about flood warnings, you can sign up for regular updates.

In all cases of extreme weather, keeping a small supply of in date bottled water in residences is advisable.

Utilities failure

Loss of electrical power, gas and or water supply can be distressing. Utility providers have details of vulnerable persons who are classified as priority users.

Each sector has a dedicated response line:

• Power cuts
• National Grid

For loss of:

• Electrical power - dial 105
• Gas supply - dial 0800 111 9999
• Water or sewerage issues - dial 0345 7171 100

Health and infectious diseases

This is in the event of significant cross infection. In the first instance dial 111 NHS Direct.

In conjunction with health authorities and providers, we will activate appropriate health protection plans.

Find out further information on infectious diseases.

Northumbria Community Risk Register

The Community Risk Register (CRR) provides information on emergencies that could happen within the Northumbria area, together with an assessment of how likely they are to happen and the impacts if they do.

The Northumbria Community Risk Register booklet is produced by Northumbria Local Resilience Forum. It summarises the top risks in Northumbria, how you can be prepared and what to do in an emergency.

Business continuity management

Business continuity management is all about planning for what might happen rather than just waiting for it to happen. Planning ahead should mean when something does happen then effects are not quite so bad. It's all about being prepared.