Army prepare for local emergencies caused by coronavirus

The army has released a member of its personnel to Gloucestershire to prepare the county for incidents and emergencies caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The army has released a member of its personnel to Gloucestershire to prepare the county for incidents and emergencies caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

A planner from the army is working out of Waterwells, Gloucestershire Constabulary’s headquarters in Quedgeley, to provide help to the Local Resilience Forum (LRF).

The forum is made up of multi-agencies such as local public services to ‘plan and prepare for localised incidents and catastrophic emergencies’.

The army has sent planners to LRFs across the country to prepare for the unfolding situation created by the coronavirus.

The total number of people with coronavirus is reportedly 2,626 in the UK – an increase of 676 in the last 24 hours.

A spokesman for the Local Resilience Forum said: “Nationally the Army has released planners to support Local Resilience Forums and the one for Gloucestershire is working out of Waterwells.”

What are Local Resilience Forums?

According to the Government’s website, they are: “multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS, the Environment Agency and others. These agencies are known as Category 1 Responders, as defined by the Civil Contingencies Act.

“LRFs are supported by organisations, known as Category 2 responders, such as the Highways Agency and public utility companies. They have a responsibility to co-operate with Category 1 organisations and to share relevant information with the LRF. The geographical area the forums cover is based on police areas.

“LRFs also work with other partners in the military and voluntary sectors who provide a valuable contribution to LRF work in emergency preparedness.

“The LRFs aim to plan and prepare for localised incidents and catastrophic emergencies. They work to identify potential risks and produce emergency plans to either prevent or mitigate the impact of any incident on their local communities.”