KIRKBY MALZEARD AREA COMMUNITY EMERGENCY TEAM

A team of volunteers has been formed to help co-ordinate the local response to any civil emergency which may arise within the Kirkby Malzeard, Laverton and Dallowgill Parish. Whilst this is led by the Parish Council, the team also comprises representatives of various local organisations and of residents from different parts of the Parish. Our work will be co-ordinated by the Emergency Planning team at Harrogate Borough Council led by Ian Speirs.

It is likely that most emergencies would be weather related for example, loss of power due to storms or heavy snow, or flooding following prolonged rain, but there may be other circumstances, in this day and age, such as terrorist related incidents or plane crashes, where action may be required at a local level to deal with the aftermath. 

We will be working alongside the emergency services once they have dealt with the immediate risk, to mitigate the consequences of what has happened by, for example, providing local knowledge, organising welfare centres, making sure that all vulnerable members of our community are safe, and helping generally to get everything back to normal. It is likely in a close-knit community such as ours that much of this would happen naturally, but it has been proved that it is better to be organised in advance, to make the process more efficient.

We have put together a 'Local Resources' and 'Local Skills' Register, being individuals who can provide specialist expertise in the event of an emergency as part of any response the community may be called upon to make. If you feel you could also help in a particular way please contact the Clerk to the Parish Council - email clerk.kmldpc@outlook.com setting out the area in which your skills lie, e.g. medical expertise, experience with rescue services, care provision, transportation, catering etc. or perhaps you may have equipment which you could use to help for example chain saws, building equipment, generators, temporary lighting etc. If any equipment such as chain saws require appropriate training and licenses to be used we would need confirmation that this was available.