How would – how will – we cope with an emergency?
The increasing scale of the climate and biodiversity – and the crisis in social injustice – means we may well be faced with any number of different and probably overlapping emergencies.
This series will help explore how we as individuals and as communities can cope with emergency situations – ie how we can become more resilient.
NB Storms are not limited to the winter months, and in summer months trees in full leave may catch more wind and be at a greater risk of falling. Hot, dry spells can put trees under stress equally increasing the likelihood that they may fall or loose branches. Whilst many parts of the UK now receive less rain than previously, it can more often come in a very intense rainfall where a significant amount of rain falls within a short time frame, and so trigger flooding.
All these are situations when our normal patterns of daily life may be disrupted such that we need to make adaptations. The better we are prepared, the more resilient we will be.
Some of these scenarios may affect just our own household or may affect our community to a greater or lesser extent, or may affected our whole country. As individuals if we can be more resilient we will reduce the pressure on the wider community, and rather be better able to help others in our community. If we as a community can be more resilient, then we will reduce the pressure on the nation, and if as a nation we can be more resilient, then we can be better able to help others in our nations.
Resilience can be developed at the level of the individual/ household, the community, the region and the nation.
Weather emergencies are to a degree predictable and we can sign up for alerts or simply keep an eye on the news.
Other emergencies such as transport incidents, power cuts, cyber attacks, etc are not readily predictable.
Local authorities will have emergency plans in place. To find out what your local authority has in place you can use this link although the information is aimed at local authority departments – https://www.gov.uk/local-planning-emergency-major-incident
However it may be more helpful to use a web search to see what is your local authority’s advice for households. Here, for example, is the link for Richmond Borough – https://www.richmond.gov.uk/services/environment/emergency_planning/public_resilience
Most local authorities will suggest that each household prepares an emergency plan.
What would an emergency plan include?
i) What are the specific risks and difficulties that you might face?
ii) What is the best escape route from your home?
iii) Do you know where to turn off the water/ electricity/ gas supplies in your home?
iv) Who should you phone in an emergency?
v)If you get separated from other household members, where will you meet up?
vi) Are there two different places where you know you could be offered temporary accommodation? (And can you offer the same in reverse?)
viii) Do you have a first aid kit, emergency supplies, a Grab and Go bag?
ix) Are there neighbours you should look out for?
x) Is there a community hub that would be a place to seek refuge?
Here are a couple of other examples from different local areas.
https://hiowprepared.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LRF-Household-Emergency-Plan.pdf
Emergency planning will likely need to cover three different scenarios.
The first scenario of staying put has given rise to the advice – given both here in the UK (low key) and across Europe (more loudly) – that households should maintain a stock of supplies that would meet their needs for 72 hours – three days. In some countries this recommendation has been increased to 7 days – consider that in the event of a flood or power outage it might take a week for services to be restored and shops restocked.
The second scenario of having to leave in a rush, has given rise to the advice of preparing a Grab and Go bag.
The third scenario of not being able to get home is less often considered, but would probably give rise to something similar to the preparation of a Grab and Go bag – but who would want to carry that around? For those who regularly use a car, keeping a Grab and Go bag there would be a more convenient option. Maybe this option should be the Have to Hand kit?
72 Hour stay-put supplies – what might this include?
Food – this needs to be food with a long shelf life – dried and tinned as opposed to frozen (freezers don’t work during power cuts). If there were a power cut, it would also be sensible to ensure that much of the food is such that can be eaten with little or no cooking. Most tinned food can be eaten cold although some options may be more palatable than others. Oats can be eaten raw or after soaking. Dried fruit would be excellent as would biscuits, crackers and oat cakes, plus jam, yeast extract, nut butters etc. Of you have a camping stove you would be able to make hot drinks and cook simple foods such as pasta, millet and quinoa. But do have regard to all necessary precautions when using a camping stove.
UHT milk and fruit juice, and tetrapacs of tofu and cream would be another addition. Pickles and saurkraut have a long shelf life, and you could also store bottled fruits and vegetables – maybe jars of olives? Dried food is another option – provided you have enough water. And a couple of bars of chocolate may be very welcome in an emergency!
To buy everything you need in one go might be too expensive but you could build up your stores over time. When you finish something you regularly use, replace it with two then you will have one to use and a spare in hand. To ensure everything is in date, do use and replace what you have in your store cupboard on a regular basis.
Hopefully even if you have to rely on your 72 hour supplies, there won’t be a power cut, and it would be sensible then to keep in your stores things you regularly use and enjoy. You might make sure you always have enough onions, root vegetables, apples and bananas to hand, packets of tea and coffee etc. If you do a big shop every week try and make sure that even on the day before you do that shop, you still have enough food to last 72 hours. Think of this as keeping a well maintained pantry!
If you have pets, include in your stores enough food for them too.
Water – a minimum of 2.5-3 litres of drinking water per person per day is recommended by the World Health Organisation. You may also want to store extra water for washing etc – say 10 litres per person. You may have a cold water tank in your house that feeds the bathroom and toilets – if you don’t use the shower/ bath and only use waste water to flush the toilet (eg washing up water) you may well have enough water there for hand and dish washing to last three days. But for drinking water you would need to store bottled water (make sure you keep checking it is in date). Rather than buying bottled water, might refill clean demijohns with sufficient water for three days, and rotate and refill these on a daily basis.
Another item you might add to your supplies would water sterilising tablets in case there is a risk that your tap water is temporarily tainted.
Medication – make you sure you always have at least three more day’s worth of any medication you take regularly. At the same time make sure you keep an up to date first aid kit, plus supplies of whatever painkillers, antihistamines, indigestion tablets, sore throat medications etc that you would normally use. As well as keeping an up to date first aid kit, add in a first aid manual and if you can, undertake some first aid training.
Torches and radio – in the event of a power cut, having fully charged torches and a radio will be useful and either spare batteries or opt for a windup torch/ radio. A fully charged power bank for recharging mobile phones would also be useful. You might consider a solar powered power bank.
Clothes etc – you might want to stock up on extra layers so that in case of a power cut and/ or cold snap, you can keep warm – fleeces, woollen hats, extra thick socks, blankets and sleeping bags, thermal underwear etc. Equally you may already have enough in your cupboards. Assuming you not coping with a power cut, but cold weather, hot water bottles are good for warming beds and making people feel cosy.
Wellington boots would be good and maybe a snow shovel.
In the summer, wet towels to hang over the windows can help cool your home – as can closing both curtains and windows in the morning before it gets hot and opening them in the evening to allow in cool air. Maybe some traditional paper fans would also be useful.
Hygiene – make sure you have a sufficiency of toilet paper, hygiene products, toothpaste etc to last three days – which perhaps really means don’t leave replenishing your normal stocks until the last minute. A bucket would be useful for collecting waste water from any washing of hands or plates, or for rainwater which can be used to flush toilets if the is an outage/ shortage of water. Another addition for your stores, would be hand wipes and sanitiser – again do check their dates and use and replace them as necessary.
Entertainment – maintaining mental as well as physical health is important. Being stressed is wearing and doesn’t always help us to make good decisions. If we are housebound for three days we may also get bored. Books, playing cards, jigsaws are all self sufficient when it comes to electricity. Telling stories, playing words games, charades etc are also good options. And maybe pencils and paper for more games, doodles etc.
Grab and Go bag – what might that contain? The following suggestions come from West Berkshire Council. (See above)
Ideally they should fit into an easy to carry rucksack and be kept where they can easily be picked up.
Other essential items (this will vary according to your needs and the weather):
Other items to consider:
The Red Cross also suggests a whistle and pencil and paper. Another useful item might be a high viz vest.
If you have a pet, prepare a grab and go pack for them too, including for example
Some of these items I would keep permanently in handy bag – and check and replace items on a regular basis – but I’m not sure I would be able to justify keeping a separate set of waterproofs, clothes, phone charger etc there too. Maybe I could store my phone charger in my ‘Have to Hand kit’ (see below). Maybe I could waterproofs, spare blankets, sleeping bags etc alongside my Grab and Go bag.
Have to Hand kit – this sounds like it would be a subset of the Grab and Go bag, and might therefore contain some of the following.
Other things worth thinking about to improve household resilience
