This guide provides advice to groups that want to help their communities cope better in an emergency and become more resilient by making a Community Emergency Plan together.

There are over 300 community emergency groups around Scotland and many more community groups have come together to support residents through recent coronavirus challenges. These resilient communities:

• Are aware of risks that may affect them and how those risks might impact local people.

• Use their existing skills, knowledge and resources to prepare for, and deal with, the consequences of emergencies. 

• Work together to complement the work of the local emergency responders before, during and after an emergency.

Scotland has a network of organisations who work together to respond to and recover from emergencies. These organisations are called “emergency responders” in this guide. They include what people think of as the “emergency services”: police, fire and ambulance, but also other organisations like local authorities and the NHS. Voluntary groups such as mountain rescue teams, British Red Cross, RAYNET and 4X4 vehicle groups also assist the responder agencies.

These organisations come together as Resilience Partnerships which enable them to prepare for and respond to emergencies in a joined up way.

However, the emergency responders can’t be everywhere at once. They will always have to prioritise people in greatest need, especially where lives are at risk.

You can learn out more about emergency management works in Scotland at Ready Scotland Learn

This document sets out a ‘step by step’ guide, from getting started, to practising your plan. It is not, however, an instruction manual that must be followed to the letter. Your community group is best placed to decide on what will work best for you.

It is important to remember that you should never do anything which puts you or anyone else in your community at risk.