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What if flood water was lapping at your front door or what if there was a chemical leak and you needed to evacuate your home in the middle of the night – would you know what to do?

What about your family and friends who live away – maybe due to work or university – maybe you have elderly parents in another part of the country or a vulnerable neighbour down the street - could they cope during an emergency?

‘What If ……’ is a three-day campaign running on BBC Oxford designed to help you and your family be better prepared to face some of the challenges life can throw at us.

We cannot prepare for every single eventuality but there are some common problems that might result from flooding or fire – power failures, loss of water supply or loss of communications like telephones – for which we can prepare.

Over three days – between Monday January 12th and Wednesday January 14th, we’ll be joined by experts from our Local Emergency Planning Departments, Police, Fire, Medical and Utility Services as well the Environment Agency and Met Office – who will provide you with some simple measures that could help you cope with the risk of flooding, fire, chemical leaks or even pandemic flu.

These experts will explain some of the things they can do to help you during a time of crisis and what measures you can take now to help yourself. They will also explain some of the things they cannot do.

The information isn’t rocket science – many of the messages we’ve heard time and time before – like checking the batteries in our smoke alarms. However, as we all know, it’s one thing to hear a message and another to act upon it.

‘What If…’ is an interactive campaign – we want to hear about your experiences and how you’ve coped with disaster in the past – we can all learn from experience.

On this page there are links to a quick checklist so you can see how well you’re prepared to cope with an emergency. There are also links to a few PDF documents providing some of the information available about preparing things like grab bags in case you need to get out of your home in a hurry.

USEFUL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

PREPARING FOR EMERGENCIES – UK GOVERNMENT WEBSITE
Advice for individuals, families and businesses on all sorts of risk including flooding, fire, pandemic flu, terrorism.
http://www.preparingforemergencies.gov.uk/

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
Advice about flooding and pollution issues
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk

MET OFFICE
Forecast advice and severe weather warnings
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/

BBC
Latest UK Weather and Flood warnings
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/ukweather/warnings.shtml

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Latest advice about Pandemic Flu, who would be at risk, alert phases and latest preparations.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Flu/PandemicFlu

HEALTH PROTECTION AGENCY
Advice about infectious diseases and pollution, flooding and chemical threats.
http://www.hpa.org.uk/

NHS
Advice about symptoms, 750 medical conditions and local health services near you. Also has a leaflet about coping with the stress of a major incident.
http://www.nhs.uk/Pages/homepage.aspx

HIGHWAYS AGENCY
Advice about roads , traffic and driving in difficult conditions.
http://www.highways.gov.uk/

NATIONAL RAIL
Advice trains and the UK rail network
www.nationalrail.co.uk/

ROSPA
Advice about safety and prevention of accidents at home, leisure, schools, on the roads and in the workplace
http://www.rospa.com/

COMMUNITIES & LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Advice about fire safety & prevention
http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/firesafety/prevention/

FIRE KILLS CAMPAIGN SITE
Advice about all aspects of fire and specific information about vulnerable people, children, pets, homes and businesses.
http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/firekills/

COMAH
Control of Major Accident Hazards – advice about chemical storage and leaks as well all substances like asbestos.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/comah/index.htm

HOME OFFICE
Advice about terrorism and latest security advice.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security

MI5
Information on the current major threats to UK security and security advice.
http://www.mi5.gov.uk/

FOREIGN & COMMONWEALTH OFFICE
Advice about Security and Safety when travelling abroad.
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/

MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY
Advice about Maritime Safety and Coastal Waters
http://www.mcga.gov.uk