Emergencies occur every day in urban and rural areas. These emergencies generally involve risk to few people at any one time and are dealt with by Police, Fire Service or Ambulance and medical services in our communities.

There is always the possibility that something much more severe could occur. In these situations the day-to-day staffing and equipment levels of our emergency services and other agencies will be insufficient to deal with the scale of events as quickly as they normally do.

While we have plans to manage the consequences of major emergencies, overseas experience shows that most people will have to look after themselves and the people they are with for at least three days. Only the most seriously affected are likely to be assisted by normal response agencies during this period.

The better prepared you are, the safer and more comfortable you and those you care for will be. No one else can remove that responsibility from you.

There are plenty of things that you can do to get prepared at home work and school. Check out these pages to find out more.