Household Emergency Plan

Many emergencies will affect essential services and possibly disrupt your ability to travel or communicate with each other. Get your family or household together and agree on what you will do in these circumstances. To help you in this, complete this booklet and keep it safe in a prominent location (such as next to the telephone) for when you will need it.

Useful telephone numbers

In an emergency dial “999” Contact Telephone Number County Council 01228 606 060 District Council Dentist Doctor Electricity Provider Gas Provider Highways 0845 609 6609 Insurance (Building) Insurance (Car) Insurance (Contents) Out of town contact Police : Cumbria Constabulary 0845 33 00 247 School/Nursery/Child Minder Plumber Vet Water : United Utilities 0845 746 2200 Work

Household Emergency Plan Page 1 If you find yourself in the middle of an emergency, your common sense and instincts will usually tell you what to do. However, it is important to:

9 Make sure 999 has been called if people are injured or if there is threat to life 9 Not put yourself or others in danger 9 Follow the advice of the emergency services 9 Remain calm and think before acting and try to reassure others 9 Check for injuries – remember to help yourself before attempting to help others

If you are not involved in an incident but are close by or believe that you may be in danger, in most cases the advice that you will receive will be to go inside a safe building, stay inside until you are advised to do otherwise, and tune in to local radio for information:

“GO IN, STAY IN, TUNE IN”

BBC Radio Cumbria will help ensure that you have the information you need and demand during a civil emergency. Top Tip Keep a battery powered or wind-up radio in the fm 95.6 (North & West Cumbria) house. fm 96.1 (South Cumbria) fm 95.2 () fm 104.2 (Windermere) am 756 (North Cumbria) fm 104.1 (Keswick & ) am 837 (South Cumbria) am 1458 (West Cumbria)

Household Emergency Plan Page 2 Would I be able to urgently find the following? Consider preparing a box of essential equipment.

□ List of useful telephone numbers □ Mobile phone □ Toiletries, sanitary supplies □ Spare clothes/blankets □ Prescribed medication □ First Aid Kit □ Torch and spare batteries □ Candles/matches □ Home/car keys □ Cash/credit cards □ Battery radio with spare batteries □ Poly Bags and Tape

Should we need to stay indoors for a number of days it would be useful to have:

□ Ready to eat food (tinned food) □ Bottled water □ Bottle/tin opener □ Toilet paper

Should we need to leave by car, we must take all the above with us, but also: □ Include important documents □ Maps □ Outdoor Clothing □ In-Car phone charger □ Sweets, long life snacks, thermos flask □ Tune in to local radio

Should we have to leave the house, do we know how to turn the following off? And who would be responsible?

Electricity (A main switch will be positioned close to the electricity meter)

Water (Comes into the house through a pipe called a “rising main” There will be a tap on this pipe close to where the pipe enters through the floor or wall)

Gas (A gas tap will be positioned close to the gas meter)

Household Emergency Plan Page 3 Where can we go if we have to leave home or are unable to get home in the event of an evacuation? Friends? Family?

If we are unable to contact each other, where should we meet and/or who should we nominate as our ‘out of hours’ contact to leave a message with?

Who will be responsible for picking up the children from school? How will we remain in contact with them and be reunited?

This booklet has been prepared and freely distributed by Cumbria County Council Resilience Team on behalf of Cumbria Local Resilience Forum. Further information is available on www.cumbriaresilience.info or by writing to Head of Resilience, Cumbria County Council, Resilience Unit, Arroyo Block, Castle, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 8UR.

Household Emergency Plan Page 4