In Scotland, the public communications response to any major incident or emergency will primarily be co-ordinated through one or more of the regional Public Communication Groups (PCGs).
These three groups, based in the North, East and West of Scotland, meet throughout the year and bring together a wide range of communication practitioners from key responder agencies and private sector partners, often mirroring the operational makeup of their associated RRP.
Scotland faces a range of threats and hazards - from terrorist incidents to severe weather, from disease outbreaks to utility failures.
These and other challenges, collectively assessed and graded in the UK’s National Risk Register, each have the potential to seriously disrupt everyday life for the people of Scotland.
The following templates are a suggestion only and should be adapted to suit your group’s needs. Please feel free to use, change or add different information as you see fit
Different communities face different issues, and have different strengths and ideas about how to tackle them. So, your Community Emergency Plan will be unique to your community.
This guide includes ‘Community Emergency Plan’ templates which you will find on Pages 20-34. You can use or change them in whatever way suits you and your community, including adding your own community name, logo or any other information that you think is relevant to your community.
Scotland is a relatively safe country, but we regularly experience emergencies and disruption caused by issues like severe winter weather and flooding, and from issues such as fuel shortages, animal diseases, and pandemic viruses.
Challenges like these can affect us all in our daily lives, but when communities organise themselves to prepare for emergencies, it can make a big difference.
The guidance has been developed from a wide range of Scottish, UK and international sources of expertise. These sources include work led by the Department of Health for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Joint Medical Committee and work conducted by the European Network for Traumatic Stress (TENTS) programme.
Health Boards have an advisory role in the development of the psychosocial resilience and wellbeing of adults and children, families, communities, schools, workplaces and other groups through public mental health programmes.
People who are thrown together in the aftermath of emergencies frequently respond with great fortitude and resilience. Statutory responders should recognise this and should actively promote the fullest participation of local, affected populations.
The term emergency is used throughout this document as it is defined in the Civil Contingencies Act (2004). It describes an emergency as:
Other terms are used as follows:
Psychosocial refers to the psychological, emotional, social and physical experiences of people in the context of emergencies.
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