Major Incidents
How to help yourself and others
Large-scale emergencies rarely occur but when they do they can have a huge effect on our lives. By planning ahead it is possible for individuals and organisations to reduce the effects and lessen the impact that such events can cause. For further advice on what you should do please visit the Preparing for emergencies website.
What sort of emergencies do we plan for?
South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) works with local and national organisations to plan for all types of major incidents or emergencies and these include:
- Health alerts: These can include the outbreak of disease, foot and mouth, rabies, or a biological attack;
- Security related incidents: Including bomb warnings and explosions, public disorder, major crime and terrorist incidents;
- Severe weather: Including the impact of severe snow and gales or flooding.
- You can check if your property is at risk of flooding by visiting the flood section on www.environment-agency.gov.uk and entering your post code in the flood map window or by ringing Floodline on 0845 988 1188;
- Transport accidents: A major accident on the transport network (road, rail or air) could cause a widespread disruption, often with severe health consequences.
The PCT's key responsibilities are summarised below.
PCT roles and responsibilities
The PCT is accountable for the health of the local population at all times. In accordance with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, we are required to have emergency plans in place to deal with incidents where the health of the local community is at risk, or where medical assistance is called for. These plans include being able to mobilise extra resources if a particular incident threatens to overwhelm our medical, emergency or local authority services.
The PCT works with colleagues in local authorities and emergency services to devise plans to protect all of us who live in South Staffordshire. We also work with colleagues to test emergency plans and ensure our staff are prepared to handle emergencies with competence and confidence, through tabletop and live exercises
In the event of a major emergency or incident we will play a leading role working with partner agencies such as the police, local government and other NHS services. We are part of the Staffordshire Resilience Forum (SRF) that will co-ordinate the response to such incidents. Within South Staffordshire PCT, emergency planning is the responsibility of the Director of Public Health.
The South Staffordshire PCT Major Incident Plan will be included here later.
Useful links:
Preparing for emergencies:
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