The nature of incidents means that we can never plan for every eventuality. Some occur with warning (flooding) and some without (train crashes).
Agencies often work together during emergencies. Roles and responsibilities differ. The key is how these agencies interact and work together when responding to any event.
Combined and co-ordinated response
No single agency has all the skills and resources needed to deal with an emergency. By integrating the arrangements for emergency management we can ensure that the organisations responding to an emergency do so in a co-ordinated way and in partnership with other responding organisations.
Similar objectives
These are established at the outset of any response to ensure an effective and co-ordinated joint response. Objectives may include:
- save and protect life
- relieve suffering
- protect public health
- warn and inform
- care for people
- protect property and the environment
- minimise harmful effects
- promote swift restoration of normal life
- maintain normal service at an operational level
- support local community
- learn and improve
What is Integrated Emergency Management?
The key activities of IEM are:
- assessment - assess the risks and threats across Ayrshire
- prevention - eliminate, isolate or reduce the risks
- preparation - plan, train, exercise and inform those who may be required to respond to the risk
- response - co-ordinated and informed engagement whilst attending the risk
- recovery - achieve a rapid return to normality
These common factors and key principles lie at the heart of resilience and a strengthened, integrated approach to emergency management.
The key principles of IEM are:
- common factors
- effects not cause
- extension of everyday activity
- flexible and adaptable
How does it work?
- Develop and maintain a Joint Civil Protection strategy for assessment, prevention, preparation, response and recovery phases.
- Develop and maintain corporate cultures to maintain enthusiasm, readiness and effective response at all levels.
- Utilise mutual aid agreements between the authorities to provide help with extra resources during an emergency which may go beyond the resources of an individual organisation.
- Facilitate information sharing, the development of good practice and where possible promote consistency in preparation for the response to emergencies requiring mutual aid in Ayrshire.
- Design and deliver in-house civil protection education, training and awareness courses;
- Improve communication, co-ordination and co-operation with the public, appropriate voluntary agencies, relevant site operators, West Regional Resilience Partnership, partners and the Scottish Government.
- Maintain the Community Risk Register a formal assessment of the risk by responders, which then forms a basis for supporting the preparation of emergency plans.
- Undertake regular self-assessment and report on service delivery against agreed objectives in line with existing performance management regimes.