Saturday, May 08, 2010

IN TIMES OF EMERGENCY

Brigg is soon to have an Emergency Plan, formulated by the Town Council to meet our community's needs should some disaster befall us, such as extensive flooding or a plane crash within Brigg's boundaries.
Much preparatory work on the plan has been carried out by the Town Council, and it is hoped to get everything tied up by the end of next month.
Should the balloon go up, the Town Clerk and the Town Mayor would contact other councillors and liaise with voluntary organisations, like the Lions, Rowing Club and Canoe Club, to help the emergency services. Obviously, Brigg Town Council, which is relatively small, would probably be assisting wider efforts managed by North Lincolnshire Council, police, fire and ambulance (depending on the circumstances).

POSSIBILITIES
1) Storing a large stock of sacks to be turned into sandbags in the case of flood risk;
2) Use of the Angel Suite as a venue for those forced to leave their homes;
3) Establishing a supermarket account (Tesco?) to allow the purchase of refreshments at short notice for temporarily displaced residents or others in need of help in an emergency.

Deputy Town Mayor Coun Ben Nobbs is currently Brigg's Flood Warden, working alongside the Environment Agency. However, the Town Council is to prepare the Emergency Plan in such a way that it does not name particular people, as councillors, and staff, come and go. The intention is to make chairmen/women of some Council committees part of the team involved in activating and operating the plan, rather than specific people.
Once all is in place, Brigg Town Council hopes to test its Emergency Plan is working smoothly through a "desktop exercise" - rather than a full-blown mock disaster. The plan will be reviewed at least annually, with details put onto the town council's website as a matter of public information.
Draft copies of the Brigg Emergency Plan are being distributed to all town councillors, in line with a course of action decided upon at this week's meeting of the Policy Committee in the Angel Suite. Formal adoption is hoped for in late June.
Town Clerk Jeanette Woollard urged members: "Really give it some thought to see if there are any gaps."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Ken Harrison said...

If the Balloon Went Up - Just In Case...

a few thoughts....

One has to be careful not to concentrate upon one type of disaster.
Brigg is over-flown by both miltary and civil aircraft; there is a motorway system and a bulk rail network nearby - it should be remembered that should the renewal of nuclear power got the go ahead,
one site that has been considered for nuclear waste is in 'suitable rock chambers' somewhere around Immingham. How would it get there?
Then there is an unexpected explosion - toxic contamination or even an earthquake.
Flooding is not really going to be confined to Brigg.
In severe flooding, Tesco and/or accesses are like to be underwater.
Have sites been assessed and identified as landind sites for emergerncy helicopters.
What arrangemnents have been made for calling in the armed forces - in an emergency where can they be accommodated?
Where will a field hospital/first aid centre be located - will it have its own generator and water supply?
Does anyone have a list of heavy plant moving equipment?
How does one communicate with others? During the London underground bombing, the mobile phone systems became overloaded and subsequently collapsed. Emergency services have radios, but how does a local emergency oordinator contact with them if the whole land-line/mobile system is down? Why not involve local youth organisations - cadets and scouts as runners?

Jeanette Woollard said...

The key word with regard to the Town Council's plan is 'Community' - it will be the Brigg Town Council Community Emergency Plan and, as such, it will dove tail nicely into the North Lincolnshire Council Emergency Plan by providing the local knowledge that North Lincolnshire Council may not have.
North Lincolnshire Council, together with the Emergency Services have all all of the issues mentioned by Ken well and truly covered, so there is absolutely no need for Brigg Town Council to re-invent the wheel.