The Somerset Major Incident Co-ordintation Group (SMICG) oversee the effective and efficient integrated emergency management for responding to an emergency within Somerset.

To be effective, timely intervention depends on continuous background monitoring of rainfall and river levels or the incidence of new medical cases, watching for signs that problems are about to occur. This monitoring would normally be carried out by specialist agencies (ie Environment Agency for flooding, Health and Veterinary Authorities for diseases).

Emergency Planning have a role here when their Duty Civil Contingencies Officer (DCCO) is alerted to potential problems through liaison with external agencies or Emergency Services. The Civil Contingencies Planning Officer is the first point of contact for all Local Authority services including the District/Borough Councils . From this monitoring by DEPO, alerts using Somerset Emergency Telephone Directory (Pink Pages) can then be passed to other agencies that are likely to be involved in any expanded response needed - both personnel and physical resources can be earmarked for use or even stockpiled if there is sufficient warning.

Emergency - The First Hour

Following an industrial or transport accident, there is usually a period of chaos while the responding agencies assess the scale of the incident and consider the nature of the response required.

Documents we produce are designed to provide guidance for actions depending on the type of incident or possibly on the location where there may be a specific risk of flooding or at industrial sites.

Examples of Emergencies

• Severe weather (flooding, snow, gales)
• Essential services disruption (fuel, plane/train accident)
• Terrorist incidents
• Toxic incidents (chemical spills, gas cloud)
• Radiation incidents (nuclear power, transport)
• Fires