Emergencies Planning

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How Renfrewshire Council will respond to major incidents
In response to a major emergency, the Council will, as far as possible:

• support the emergency services
• help the victims
• maintain services
• protect the environment
• work with others to restore normality

Every council department plans how to respond to a disaster as part of their normal operations. The council's Civil Contingencies Unit provides council departments with specialist advice on emergency planning.

What is an emergency?
An emergency is defined in the Civil Contingencies Act, 2004 as:

• an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the United Kingdom, or
• an event or situation which threatens serious damage to the environment of a place in the United Kingdom, or
• war or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the United Kingdom.

The Act also states that an event or situation threatens serious damage to human welfare if it involves..'loss of human life, human illness or injury, homelessness, damage to property, disruption of a supply of money, food, water, energy or fuel, disruption of a system of communication, disruption of facilities for transport, or disruption of services relating to health'.

An event or situation threatens serious damage to the environment if it involves..'contamination of land, water or air with biological, chemical or radioactive matter, or disruption or destruction of plant life or animal life'

Use the links on the right hand side to find out more.