Emergency management group

The regional council, police, fire, health services, public health and most of the region's local councils are coming together to form a partnership to develop an agreed direction for emergency management across the region.

Emergency management is a broad term and includes the '4R's':

Readiness: increasing the understanding and awareness of hazards through education programmes. Working with the community to develop self-help programmes such as household emergency plans and business continuity plans. Ensuring plans and systems are in place (and tested), that enable agencies and communities to respond effectively to an emergency.

Response: actions taken immediately before, during or directly after an emergency to save lives and property. To reduce the damage and make sure we can respond as effectively as possible, we need to have already reduced the risk as much as possible and have good response plans and procedures in place that have been well rehearsed.

Recovery: as well as coping with problems immediately after an emergency, recovery programmes extend to rebuilding and restoring the community. We may look at rebuilding a community in a new way to prevent a disaster from occurring again.

Civil Defence

Civil Defence is a component of emergency management, relating mainly to readiness and response activities.

Hazards range from big events such as volcanic eruptions, through to floods and storms, fires, power failure, and disease outbreaks. 

By working together in all areas of emergency management we can create a community which can reduce the impacts of hazards and can bounce back.

For more information contact your local council, civil defence or emergency management office.