Our main concern in an emergency is to provide support for the people in the affected area. We do this by a co-ordinated response with other organisations, such as Hertfordshire County Council, the fire, police and ambulance services.
We use our resources to lessen the effect of the emergency on people, property and infrastructure. As well as dealing with the incident, normal support and care for the wider community must continue throughout any disruption.
As the emergency moves on, emphasis shifts from response to recovery. Local authorities take the leading role in co-ordinating rehabilitation of the community and restoration of the environment.
We have a particular responsibility in emergency situations in relation to safety of structures, emergency shelter, re-housing and environmental health issues.
We carry out risk assessments, which are used to contribute to a risk profile for the county. This is called the Community Risk Register.
Risk assessments help us to identify and plan for new or changing threats. The types of risk that interest local emergency planners include:
- Transport infrastructure i.e. road and rail
- Areas with large numbers of people such as town centres and shopping centres
- Severe weather such as storms, snow and flooding
- Key sites
- Pandemic outbreaks
We are a member of the Local Resilience Forum,
Hertfordshire Resilience. This is the county's emergency planning partnership, which plans for emergencies affecting the county and region. Members include district councils and Hertfordshire County Council, as well as external agencies, including the fire, police and ambulance services, NHS bodies and the voluntary sector.