Keep calm and come together

Terrorism, crime and natural disasters may give us cause for concern but Caroline Lindsay finds there’s an army of experts ready to help

To borrow from the old Chinese saying, we live in interesting times. From the threat of terrorist attacks and missile crises to natural disasters and flu pandemics, there’s something to keep most of us awake at night, worrying.

But while it’s natural to be concerned, the key is to arm ourselves with as much information as we can from those whose jobs it is to protect us and look out for us. After all, knowledge is power.

All Courier Country’s local council websites include a section on dealing with, and preparing for, civil contingencies. Focusing on the effects rather than the cause of an emergency, these are generally categorised into four main areas of impact: people, infrastructure, environment and economy.

The guidance helps individuals, businesses and communities to identify and prepare for the hazards and threats that may disrupt lives. It covers everything from checking your risk of flooding, putting together a grab bag of things to take in an emergency and ensuring you have enough food and provisions, to preparing a business battle box to keep your business running and considering your preparation for cyber threats.

Inevitably, terrorism is high on most people’s worry list at the moment and the Uk-wide threat level – set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JATC) – is currently severe. Based in MI5’S headquarters in London, the JATC analyses and assesses all intelligence relating to international terrorism, at home and overseas.

When it comes to emergencies of all kinds – fire, flood, terrorism, severe weather, air or train crashes – Clive Murray, senior regional resilience coordinator for the North of Scotland, is essentially the bridge between the emergency services, utilities and voluntary sector and the Scottish Government.

“Response always begins at a local level and all responders will follow a generic plan, for all types of emergencies, which they have developed and exercised together,” Clive explains.

As one of the emergency responders, Police Scotland are prepared for any eventuality. With their motto Semper Vigilo – always vigilant – their number one priority is to keep people safe. In the CCTV room at Tayside Division’s Bell Street police station more than 30 screens monitor the city’s activity. People cross streets, park cars, pop into shops – it’s just an ordinary day in an ordinary town. But in the unlikely event of an emergency, the police and their partners are ready to spring into action.

“We have plans in place for all contingencies and carry out a number of exercises with our partners, fire and ambulance to test our response,” says Superintendent Graeme Murdoch of Tayside Division Police Scotland. “We have a generic major incident plan which details how Police Scotland would structure itself to respond. In the case of a major incident response, police would trigger that as the main blue light response and military, coastguard, and other utilities and partners would also be involved, depending on the nature of the event,” he continues.

When an unusual incident occurs, a flood of information, especially via social media, can cause chaos.

“The control room has to collate the information and work out what is actually happening,” explains Superintendent Murdoch. “Whether we’re looking at a terrorist threat, a petrochemical incident, storms or flooding, it’s also vital to coordinate the message that goes out to the public.”

Whether we’re looking at a terrorist threat... or flooding, it’s also vital to coordinate the message that goes out to the public