Disasters and emergencies
How you can help in Bedfordshire

Whatever the emergency, fast action is needed

What you can do to help people affected by an emergency.

Introduction
How can you help?
How to join the Bedfordshire emergency volunteers
Benefits of becoming an emergency volunteer
What types of activity will you get involved in as an emergency volunteer?
What training will you receive?
Would your charity, community group or organisation like to join BLEVEC and help in an emergency?
Other ways to help in an emergency
BLEVEC member organisations
Download the full leaflet

These web pages explain how you can help people affected by an emergency.

In Bedfordshire the emergency services, local authorities, voluntary organisations and many others are well prepared to respond to emergencies. We have formed a partnership known as the Bedfordshire and Luton Local Resilience Forum (BLLRF) and we work together to prepare for emergencies.

The local authorities in Bedfordshire manage volunteers and are strongly supported by the police, fire and rescue service, ambulance service and the NHS.

How can you help?

Volunteer: sign up as an emergency volunteer by joining the Bedfordshire and Luton Emergency Volunteers Executive Committee (BLEVEC). This is a local partnership of charities, community groups and volunteers who work together as part of BLLRF to prepare for, and respond to, emergencies.

How to join the Bedfordshire emergency volunteers

You can join the volunteers in two ways.

You can become a member of our own group of emergency volunteers and specialise in emergency response by contacting volunteering@bllrf.org.uk or calling us on 01462 611145.
You can join an organisation that is already a member of BLEVEC (click here for a full list and their contact details).

What are the benefits of becoming an emergency volunteer?

If you become an emergency volunteer, you will:

learn specialist skills
become involved in an active emergency-response network
get involved in the community
meet new people and make friends
help others and make a difference
get a chance to influence local emergency procedures
help us prepare for and respond to all types of emergency that may affect Bedfordshire
be active and valued in your community
receive your own emergency kit and gain recognition through a uniform
help make your community more resilient.

What types of activity will you get involved in as an emergency volunteer?

Some of the activities of our emergency volunteers include:

being the first to respond in an emergency
staffing and managing emergency centres to look after the victims of an emergency
warning and informing the public in times of risk and danger
helping stranded motorists
providing emergency feeding, transport, communications and first aid
setting up and managing disaster appeals and memorials
managing and staffing telephone help and support lines
working with different faith, ethnic and nationality groups in the community
working with people with disabilities
carrying out risk and impact assessments
working with the families and friends of victims who have died or been injured
working at emergency mortuary facilities
helping with animal welfare
helping build resilience to emergencies in their communities
promoting and developing community emergency plans.

As you may be working with vulnerable adults and children, you may be asked to complete a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check.

Training

What training will you receive?

If you join our local group of emergency volunteers, you will benefit from monthly evening training, held on the second Tuesday of the month from 7.30 to 9.30pm.

Training will cover a range of topics such as:

flood response
emergency management
health and safety
vulnerable children
managing violence and aggression
managing trauma.

We also hold specialist training sessions for people who want to gain qualifications in areas such as first aid and food safety.

If you join an existing BLEVEC member organisation (click here) you will:

benefit from all the training mentioned above
be able to take advantage of other training and development opportunities and activities offered by that organisation.

Would your charity, community group or organisation like to join BLEVEC and help in an emergency?

If so, contact us at volunteering@bllrf.org.uk or by calling us on 01462 611145. By becoming a BLEVEC member organisation, you will benefit from:

free monthly emergency training
free specialist training courses
receiving a grab pack for all volunteers (includes ID card and uniform)
the opportunity to get involved in live emergency exercises
being able to influence local, regional and national emergency planning
being part of a nationally recognised partnership.

Other ways to help in an emergency

If you can´t join us before an emergency happens, there are ways you can still help.

In big emergencies that affect many people:

Make a donation: this is the easiest and most effective way that people, businesses and organisations can help. In an emergency, the local council and BLEVEC members may set up a widely publicised disaster appeal that you can donate to.
Check the rest of the website: the latest information on an emergency will always be available.
The local resilience partnership may organise books of condolence and memorial events that you will be able to attend.
Don´t collect and send donated goods: instead, convert goods into cash. A common public response to emergencies is to organise the collection and donation of goods that you think are urgently needed. This may cause more problems than it solves. If these things are needed, our partnership will already have arranged to get them and distribute them quickly in bulk.
Volunteer: the effects of an emergency are often long term. By registering an interest in volunteering you can make it much easier for the BLEVEC organisations to call on your skills and keep you up to date with events.
Make a regular donation: you could make a regular donation to a BLEVEC member organisation by clicking here. This will help them to build up their funds, enabling them to respond to emergencies immediately.
Equipment and resources are vital: consider offering special equipment before a disaster happens rather than on the day. If offers of special equipment like machinery or transport are made and agreed in advance, we can build them into our plans and arrange to receive them more quickly and easily if a disaster does happen.

For a full list of BLEVEC member organisations (click here).

Click here to download the full leaflet

Even more information about how you can help your own family or others can be found on the Red Cross site by following this link. Explore its interactive games for kids too.