Emergency Planning
Welcome
Every local authority is faced with the possibility
of having to cope with the effects of a major civil emergency
that may place an unreasonable burden upon its routine services.
However, no hard and fast rules can be drawn up to meet all such
possible emergencies as time, nature, scale and location will
determine the type of response required.
The main threats that must be considered when planning for emergencies
in South Ayrshire include: -
- Severe Weather: such as flooding, storms
or blizzards and freezing conditions resulting in major disruption
and damage to the area as a whole or individual communities
within it.
- Transportation Accidents: such as major
rail incidents, spillage of dangerous goods from road tankers,
marine transport incidents and aircraft incidents at Prestwick
Airport.
- Oil Pollution: having a large coastline
the threat of oil pollution and other toxic releases from marine
incidents remains a serious threat.
- Nuclear Incidents: includes both civilian
and military threats from Hunterston Nuclear Power Station
in North Ayrshire and the Royal Navy submarines en-route to
Faslane.
- Crowd Related Incidents: specific threats
that occur when large numbers of the public meet in one place
such as sporting events at Ayr
Racecourse or Ayr
United’s Somerset Park or at specialist events such
as the annual Flower
Show, Agricultural
Shows or Burns
Festivals.
- Industrial Related Incidents: such as an
incident occurring at one of the many industrial sites within
the Council Boundaries (i.e. Wm. Grant and Sons (Distillers)
in Girvan), or effects of an incident happening at an industrial
site outside the Council area affecting South Ayrshire (gas
pipeline failure).
- Other Incidents: such as building collapse,
major power failure, Chemical, Biological or Radiological incident,
terrorist or hostage incidents at Prestwick, mains water supply
failure, public health issues or industrial disputes with major
human consequences such as the loss of a major public utility.
Emergencies Planning is responsible for preparing the Council's
response to a major incident or an emergency situation. This
is done through Integrated Emergency Management, training and
planning.
The plans prepared by this section include:
- Civil Emergency Plan and Directory;
- Rest Centre Emergency Procedures;
- Contingency Plans covering Rabies, Foot & Mouth etc;
and
- Site specific Multi Agency Incident Response Guides (MAIRGs)
for sites such as Ayr and Troon Harbour and ISP Alginates.
Regular liaison takes place with internal council services,
the Emergency Services, the local health authority and voluntary
organisations to ensure that during emergency situations everyone
is prepared.
Emergencies Planning is based within the Corporate Safety, County
Buildings, Wellington Square, Ayr. The team consists of:
David Whyte, Emergency Planning Manager
You can obtain more information about Emergencies Planning by
contacting either of the above.
