Are You Prepared?

12 July 2010

Blue Light Services and Other Agencies Team Up at the Great Yorkshire Show

What if unprecedented amounts of rain fell in your area and your home was affected by flooding? If an incident caused major pollution and affected the local environment that you live in? If a new strain of pandemic flu arrived in the UK and threatened the health of you and your family? Are you prepared?

These are just a few of the questions that representatives from emergency services across Yorkshire and the Humber, and other organisations involved in planning for emergencies, will be asking visitors at this year's Great Yorkshire Show.
Nine local authorities, two police forces, two fire and rescue services, the Health Protection Agency and the Environment Agency will come together at the show to host an 'R U prepared?' themed stand in an effort to get people to think about preparing themselves for the unexpected. This is the fourth year the organisations have held the stand at the show, which has proven popular amongst visitors in previous years.

Visitors to the stand will be able to find out what they can do to ensure they're prepared for emergencies by taking simple steps. Local council representatives will be able to advise on how every family can make a household emergency plan to keep their family safe. Fire and Rescue services will be warning of the dangers of fire, and will also be demonstrating the devastation that can be caused by road traffic accidents through the use of a real-life crash car.  

Visitors, particularly children, are encouraged to come and speak to health professionals from the Health Protection Agency to find out how to carry out effective hand washing, using glitter bug potion and a special UV glow box. The demonstration has proven popular in previous years at the show, showing how parts of the hands can be commonly missed when hand washing, putting people at risk of catching infections, or passing germs onto others.

Other fun activities for children include finger printing, provided by the police forces, which children can take away locked in a key ring.

Nick Best, Deputy Director of Regional Resilience at Government Office Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "I'd encourage all visitors to the Great Yorkshire Show to take advantage of this one-off opportunity to come and speak to emergency planning experts from the blue light services, and other organisations involved in planning for emergencies.

"Emergencies are happening somewhere almost every minute of every day. Most are dealt with by the police, fire, and ambulance services as part of their day to day work, but sometimes an incident is more serious and needs to involve other agencies - such as local councils, the Environment Agency, the Health Protection Agency and the wider health family, amongst others.

"All of these agencies work together continuously to plan how we would react and manage any major emergency. We have plans in place to protect people, communities and the environment in a range of emergency situations.

Nick added: "Whilst we can't prevent emergencies happening, we can all plan ahead to minimise the impact, and this is a great, fun way to come and pick up advice, information and tips so you know what to do in an emergency, to help keep you and your family safe. A few minutes thinking about it now could make a big difference to the outcome for you and your family. So don't wait for the unexpected to happen - prepare now!"

Ends

Notes to Editors

The 'R U Prepared?' stand is located on Avenue J, Stand 477 (close to the rabbits, pigeons and poultry).

Representatives will be present on the stand from:

- Harrogate Borough Council
- North Yorkshire Police
- North Yorkshire County Council
- North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Environment Agency
- South Yorkshire Police
- City of York Council
- Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber
- Wakefield Council
- Health Protection Agency Yorkshire and the Humber
- West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
- City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council
- Leeds City Council

For further information, or to request an interview, contact Charlotte Farrar, Media and Communications Officer on 07810 684 104 charlotte.farrar@hpa.org.uk

 

 

 

Last reviewed: 7 December 2010