Humanitarian Assistance in Emergencies
Background
Emergencies affect individuals, families and communities in a wide range of
ways. This part of the site is focused on all aspects of humanitarian
assistance, including the care and treatment of people involved in or
affected by emergencies.
The provision of humanitarian assistance is a multi-agency activity and it
is important that this work is co-ordinated across a range of agencies,
including: the National Health Service; police services; local authorities;
commercial organisations (e.g. transport companies); and voluntary
organisations. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the
designated Lead Government Department (LGD) when central government is
engaged.
It is important that responders are aware of and make arrangements for the
key groups of people affected by emergencies - including the injured,
families and friends, the deceased and rescuers and response workers - and
that structures and processes are put in place to provide care and
assistance to meet their needs.
Effective care and treatment also requires responders to meet the specific
needs of children and young people; faith, religious, cultural and minority
ethnic communities; elderly people; and people with disabilities.
Key Documents
You should refer to:
Key Links
-
DCMS
[External
website] - lead on supporting victims of major disasters
-
Voluntary sector bodies
Training
-
The Emergency Planning College
(EPC) [External website] is the leading provider
of training for emergency preparedness, attracting delegates with
responsibility for preventing, planning for, responding to or recovering
from a major incident. The EPC runs these courses on the care of people
as well as other aspects of civil protection:
Other Links
You may also wish to refer to:
-
Counselling
Directory [External website] A huge counselling
support network, enabling those in distress to find a counsellor close to
them and appropriate for their needs. This is a free, confidential
service. The website contains a number of sections on emotional disorders
(types of distress section) and provides some useful statistics.
[return to top]
