Many people work to make our society a safe place to live and do so, directly and indirectly, in a wide variety of roles. We depend on those who clean and maintain our environment, design safer vehicles, buildings and equipment, as well as those who protect us from hostility and respond to emergencies. Almost all of us have a part to play. Unfortunately we cannot always be successful in preventing harm or, in extreme cases, the premature loss of life.
The way in which we manage fatalities has a direct effect on the living. Although we cannot always prevent the premature loss of life, our actions can help to avoid additional suffering and reduce the likelihood of others being harmed in the future. This can be done by:
Responders (Source: Preparing Scotland, 2016)
Preparing Scotland is underpinned by the principal legislation involved, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (“the Act”) and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (Contingency Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (“the Regulations”).
This legislation outlines the key organisations responsible for ensuring the effective management of emergencies in Scotland. These are referred to in the legislation as follows:
This section makes recommendations, based on existing good practice, for developing community resilience. It is structured around a four-step process:
Preparing Scotland states that:
“All responders should support the development of community resilience and associated activity, applying and encouraging an innovative approach throughout.”
Building community resilience is an important element in the approach recommended to responders in Preparing Scotland. It is widely recognised as good practice, particularly as it has huge potential to support and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of other resilience activities and improve outcomes for communities and individuals.
Preparing Scotland, Scottish Guidance on Resilience, (2016), defines resilience as:
“the capacity of an individual, community or system to adapt in order to sustain an acceptable level of function, structure and identity”.
Community resilience is defined by the Scottish Government as:
“Communities and individuals harnessing resources and expertise to help themselves prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies, in a way that complements the work of the emergency responders.”
It is based on a culture of preparedness, in which individuals, communities and organisations take responsibility to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies.
The following should be considered when identifying potential centres.
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