Emergency planning

Further to the change in security procedures at UK airports and the need to check all luggage into the hold, the issue of medicines essential for the flight has arisen.

This page links to a number of online services for stakeholders of the Department of Health Emergency Preparedness Division.

Published 13 October 2005. The purpose of the guidance is to describe a set of general principles to guide all NHS organisations in developing their ability to respond to a major incident or incidents and to manage recovery whether the incident or incidents has effects locally, regionally, or nationally, within the context of the requirements of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. It replaces the NHS Emergency Planning Guidance 1998 and all other material previously included in or associated with that Guidance.

This paper sets guidance and policy to assist the NHS to plan for a major incident of very serious proportions involving potentially large numbers of casualties – ie casualty numbers that are beyond the capacity created by the local implementation of major incident plans - or other major disruptive challenges to the delivery of health care, regardless of their cause.

Information about specific substances or agents that could be used in terrorist attacks. Of special use to Directors of Public Health (DsPH) and Consultants in Communicable Disease Control (CsDC).

A pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus, which people have no immunity to, emerges and starts spreading as easily as normal influenza. The Department of Health is working to support NHS preparedness and to reduce the impact of pandemic flu on the UK population.

Patient Group Directions (PGDs) are documents which make it legal for medicines to be given to groups of patients - for example in a mass casualty situation - without individual prescriptions having to be written for each patient. They can also be used to empower staff other than doctors (for example paramedics and nurses) to legally give the medicine in question.

Effective emergency planning measures by healthcare organisations in the UK.

The purpose of the leaflet is to inform NHS staff in England and Wales about the financial support they could currently expect to receive if they were injured or killed in the course of their duties, as a result of an act of terrorism.

Reference documents for health organisations producing major incident plans. Covers protective equipment, mobile treatment centres, the specific responsibilities of different agencies, and priority access to cellular radio systems.

Useful websites for those engaged in or interested in emergency planning.

Emergency planning terms, acronyms and abbreviations. The glossary can be downloaded in Portable Document Format (below) or read as a webpage as part of the 2005 Emergency Planning Guidance.

Comment on this area of the Department of Health website.

The Audit and Assessment Framework for Major Incident Planning supports the development, maintenance and reviewing/testing of NHS major incident plans. It complements the other parts of the “Operational Doctrine” and should be used to review and improve major incident plans in light of up to date advice. Please note: This database is currently undergoing development.