Council gritters were out late last night and again this morning. BCC Control advise main routes have been treated with salt. The Met Office update highlights the risk of ice on roads and pavements posing a risk to motorists and pedestrians.

The advice remains the same; if you are planning on going out and about listen to local radio and check traffic/travel websites before you set off. As ever the advice is “Be prepared”.

Update as at 1450hrs

Council winter maintenance action is in full swing and the gritters have been out looking after main roads and priority routes. If you’re planning on going out and about this afternoon or evening the advice is to listen to local radio and check traffic/travel websites:

www.centro.org.uk/bus/services.aspx

www.nxbus.co.uk/west-midlands/information/service-alerts

www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions

www.traffic-update.co.uk/traffic/birmingham.asp

Birmingham Resilience Team have produced a number of advice articles related to winter weather:

Initiatives discussed included the development of a portable ‘Z-Card’, which people can carry and will provide crucial information on being prepared for emergencies, and also to allow people to indicate information about themselves that may prove invaluable to the emergency services should they find it and are unable to communicate with the card-holder (for example details of medications taken / medical conditions).

The group also agreed to input into vital resilience activity around the ongoing development of the Birminghamprepared Website, and forthcoming Resilience film which is being produced for the benefit of Birmingham’s many and diverse communities.

The Focus Group proved to be extremely useful, and a range of innovative suggestions and amendments to the developments of these products were agreed, which will ensure that individuals and communities derive the maximum benefit.

More details on the ongoing development of the above mentioned products will be detailed on this website and other mediums in due course.

The Met Office have issued a Level 3 Cold Weather Alert which indicates that there is a 100% probability of severe cold weather up until 10.00 am on Sunday 5th February 2012 that is likely to affect parts of England, including the West Midlands. For more details follow the attached link to the Met Office Website http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/coldweatheralert/ and http://www.birminghamprepared.gov.uk/advice/specific-risks/snow-and-low-temperatures/  for helpful advice during snow and low temperatures.

The cold weather health watch comprises four levels of response based on cold weather thresholds. The thresholds have been developed to trigger an alert when severe cold weather is likely to significantly affect people’s health. The alerts take account of temperature along with other winter weather threats such as ice and snow.

The Carers Emergency Response Service (CERS) is the emergency service for Carers, offering FREE back up support to Carers for 48 hours or 72 hours on a Bank Holiday.

CERS is now accepted as a major part of care delivery in Birmingham, working closely with many other agencies to ensure that when an emergency happens, we can provide a complete service to support the Carer and the person they look after. Taking the pressure off in a time of need is what we are here for. Carers have to be registered to access the service, and then support in an emergency is just a phone call away.

We have now had over 4000 people wanting to register, and since ‘going live’ in April 2009 we have had 450 emergencies….so far! Sometimes our Care Staff have needed to be there for the whole 48 hours, whilst on other occasions we have just popped in two or three times a day as necessary, or got someone up in the morning and to bed at night. There have been times when we have given a bit of extra support to a Carer who has an illness or injury which means they can’t complete their usual tasks. One lady couldn’t carry out personal care as she had hurt her arm, and a Young Carer had an operation and needed us to help with a hoist. There have been many occasions when a Carer has been rushed into hospital, and fortunately ten occasions when paramedics have found our card on a Carer in an emergency and called us.

On many occasions in emergency situations, we have negotiated with ’Social Care and Health’ to get care packages increased, or to find respite accommodation. We also work closely with NHS hospital discharge teams to make sure that a Carer being discharged from hospital gets the extra support they need whilst they are recovering. Before CERS existed a Carer would have had to sort all this out themselves, but now we can do it, and it’s all FREE!

One Carer who used the service in an emergency said “I found the service excellent from start to finish. I wouldn’t have known who to turn to if CERS hadn’t been there. The support we received was caring, professional and very respectful. They made a stressful situation a lot less fraught and I can’t thank you all enough”. Another Carer summed up how CERS should be viewed “It’s like an insurance policy, you hope you’ll never need it but it’s there if you do”.

Please contact 0845 468 1338

Email:info@cers.org.uk

Website:www.cers.org.uk