Emergency Management

• Municipal Emergency Management (MEM)
• Community Emergency Risk Management (CERM)

Municipal Emergency Management (MEM)

Major emergencies can affect any community at any time causing injury, death, damage and disruption. The State Government requires every municipality to have an Emergency Management Plan to cope with such events.

In establishing our Emergency Management Plan we have worked closely with Victorian State Emergency Service. Banyule now has a detailed plan to ensure any emergency in the municipality is handled efficiently and effectively. The plan also looks at ways of preventing emergencies.

Planning for an Emergency

In Banyule we need to plan for events such as:

• house fire
• storm damage
• flood
• major accident
• bushfire

What to do Now

The best way to deal with an emergency is to be prepared. Here are three simple steps you can take right now.

1. Be sure you know how to safely turn off your gas, electricity and water when told to do so by officials or by official media broadcasts.
2. Make sure you have a torch and first aid kit handy. Check them regularly to make sure the batteries are working and the kit is complete.
3. Put a transistor radio in a safe place. Check it regularly to make sure the batteries are working. It will help you keep informed if your power goes off.

What to do during an Alert

1. Find out if your neighbours need help.
2. Protect your family and pets.
3. Stay off the phone (including mobiles and Internet). Use it only for emergencies. Keep lines clear for emergency services. If you need essential information, phone 9490 4222. This number will operate at all hours during the emergency.
4. Stay tuned to the official media:

   Radio 3AW (693)
   ABC Radio (774)
   3INR FM (96.5)
   Plenty valley FM (88.6)
   Channel 7

5. Stay inside unless protecting your property. Even then, only go outside if it is safe to do so.
6. Do not use the roads unless you absolutely must. Keep them clear for emergency vehicles.

Evacuation

The Victorian Police is responsible for evacuation. If you are required to evacuate your home, the Police will tell you. They will either knock on your door or send out messages via emergency radio or television channels.

Evacuation centres will be established as required, at safe locations next to emergency area to provide short term shelter, catering, first aid and information.

The locations of these centres will be published on noticeboards at road blocks, broadcast on the emergency radio station and television channels, or will be available by ringing Customer Service on 9490 4222.

 

Community Emergency Risk Management (CERM)

Council is responsible for developing and maintaining a Municipal Emergency Management Plan to deal with a wide range of possible scenarios from flood, storm and fire to major road accidents and chemical spills.

Council has worked closely with the Victoria State Emergency Service and other key agencies such as Victoria Police, Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Country Fire Authority and St John Ambulance to develop its plan.

A big part of emergency planning is identifying and assessing risks so action can be taken to avoid them, minimise them and deal with them if they happen

With this in mind Council has developed a draft Community Emergency Risk Management (CERM) plan. CERM is a process which aims to reduce risks within our community. Risks identified here include common hazards such as fire in the natural or built environment, flooding, storm damage and road incidents as well as potential hazards such as water contamination. Council would welcome feedback on the identified risks and any other major municipal emergencies that they feel should be included in the Plan.

Comments can be forwarded until the end of March to mero@banyule.vic.gov.au  or sent to: Municipal Emergency Resource Officer, Banyule City Council, PO Box 51, Ivanhoe 3079.