Our partners
Birmingham is rapidly developing a reputation for being at the cutting edge for emergency planning and response. A published report by the Reader’s Digest ranked the city first for preparedness amongst ten high-risk urban areas in the UK.
As a city, our success in dealing with emergencies has always depended on working effectively with our emergency planning and response partners:
- Emergency services (the police, fire and ambulance services)
- Health agencies of the NHS including Primary Care and Hospital Trusts
- Other government agencies such as the Environment Agency and the Health Protection Agency
- Utility bodies and other organisations that supply services such as water, power, communications and transport.
- The City Council.
However, we also recognise that Birmingham is in the centre of a major Conurbation surrounded by Coventry, Solihull and the Black Country areas of Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and Sandwell. Our planning for emergencies will impact on these areas and vice versa. Consequently, we work closely with these other local authorities, to ensure planning and response arrangements are fit for purpose across the entire area of the Conurbation. This work includes joint risk assessment and training and exercising, and is conducted through the West Midlands Conurbation Resilience Forum.
Partners in the Community
In addition, our various communities, voluntary organisations and business partners have a major role to play in improving the resilience of Birmingham and its neighbours. If we all know how to respond in different situations we are more likely to reduce or even minimise the impact of any emergency and recover from it as quickly as possible.
Also, as individual citizens we are responsible for our own safety and well being. We should ensure that we have access to useful numbers and information and that we make some basic arrangements with family and neighbours. Making these arrangements will improve our own safety in emergency situations.
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