Press Release

Only three percent of Britons are prepared for an emergency

30 November 2007

Only three percent of the population has taken what the British Red Cross consider the five necessary steps to prepare for a disaster or emergency, despite 68 percent thinking that they are prepared, according to a poll released today. The Red Cross encourage people to use its new, free, online information resource to prepare for the unexpected: www.redcross.org.uk/prepare.

The survey, sponsored by the Brit Insurance Charitable trust, is based on the five basic Red Cross criteria for personal emergency preparedness: first aid training, owning a first aid kit, torch, working smoke alarm and hard copy of emergency contacts.

Results of the survey also demonstrate that:

• Less than half of respondents (49%) own a first aid kit
• Only 17% are first aid trained
• Less that a quarter of respondents (23%) have a hard copy list of emergency contacts

The interactive online resource will provide information on the simple precautions that can be taken to prepare for a range of emergency situations, along with advice on how to cope when they do. This includes both major emergencies such as floods, fires, heat waves, terrorism, adverse winter weather and personal emergencies including first aid, fire prevention and safety and car breakdowns.

The public will have the opportunity to put their queries to Red Cross experts through an ‘Ask the Experts’ section and can test what they have learnt in online quizzes. Downloadable forms will be available to produce hard copies of contacts for times of emergency.

Tony Thompson, Head of Emergency Response at the British Red Cross said: “Most people go through life with a ‘this will never happen to me’ attitude, but as recent floods in the UK have shown, it is not only personal emergencies that we should all be prepared for. As an emergency response organisation, Red Cross teams know first hand how emergencies can affect individuals. This online resource will give the public jargon-free knowledge on how to prepare for emergencies and cope with them when they happen. Being prepared is straightforward and costs next to nothing. Just a few minutes of planning can make all the difference - it pays to be prepared.”
www.redcross.org.uk/prepare