Definitions of Emergencies

Civil Contingencies Act 2004 Definition

“An event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the UK, the environment of a place in the UK, or war or terrorism which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK”.

This definition of emergency deals with the consequences rather than the cause or source.  Therefore, an emergency inside or outside the UK is covered by this definition, provided it has consequences inside the UK.

Emergency Services Definition

A Major Emergency is any event, happening with or without warning, causing or threatening death or injury, damage to property or to the environment or disruption to the community, which, because of the scale of its effects, cannot be dealt with by the emergency services and local authorities as part of their day-to-day activities.

Major Incident

The emergency services have the ability within their own organisation to declare an incident that they attend as a “major incident”. As the police perform a co-coordinating role in virtually all “major incidents” it is of relevance to understand their definition of the term “major incident”.

• The rescue and transportation of a large number of casualties.
• The involvement, either directly or indirectly, of large numbers of   people
• The handling of a large number of enquiries likely to be generated both from the public and the news media usually to the police
• Any incident that requires the large-scale combined resources of the emergency services
• The mobilisation and organisation of the emergency services and supporting organisations, e.g. Local Authority to cater for the threat of death, serious injury or homelessness to a large number of people

Serious Incident

A Serious Incident is any incident that is NOT a Major Incident, but:-

• Has the potential to develop into a Major Incident
• Involves contamination of the environment, water courses or air
  pollution
• Involves the evacuation or the potential for evacuation of members
  of the public
• Involves major road closures
• Involves the distribution of health advice to any members of the public