Domestic Civil Defence - Community Action in a Crisis

Annex : Community Action in a Crisis -
Rest Centres and Welfare

Introduction :

Rest Centres are buildings laid out to accommodate people made homeless in a crisis. The main part of the Rest Centre, as the name indicates, is seating (and sometimes beds) for those forced to use the facility. Rest Centres also provide basic facilities for sanitation, feeding, information, first aid and a crêche for young children. The best British organisation for Rest Centres remains the Women's Royal Voluntary Service. This section draws on their excellent Emergency Handbook.

Welfare means a number of things. To the Social Services, it means the care of people in their homes, to the Benefit Agency it is a term that can be loosely applied to financial assistance. The most accurate interpretation is the generalised care of the individuals and families in the community, be they in their homes or some kind of organised accommodation. In a disaster, welfare is the care and aftercare required within a community - often sadly neglected once the media are tired of reporting dramatic events. The most successful welfare arrangements are organised by and for a community and its members; this is one reason why ethnic, religious and common-interest groups (e.g. Ukrainians, Mormons and Masons) are so successful at crisis care of their membership. A community with a common identity survives where a bunch of rugged individualists can collapse.

Parts of a Rest Centre :

This assumes that use is being made of something like a school or a municipal building. Already in place should be :-

• Office space with telephone and computer.
• Canteen facilities for refreshments and maybe for cooking.
• Limited provision of flush toilets, urinals and wash-basins.
• Rooms of sufficient size, possibly with some usable tables, chairs and desks.
• Outside paved parking areas.
• A First Aid box and Fire Extinguisher(s).
• In some cases, battery-based emergency lighting systems in case of evacuating the building.
However -
• Mains electricity may not be available - lighting, heating and wall-sockets may not work.
• The telephone system may have failed.
• The water supply may not work.
• Food, drink and sanitary supplies may be absent.

Community Organisation and Emergency Information :-

[Assessing Needs and Resources] [Holding a Public Meeting] [Neighbourhood Support]
[Rest Centres] [Communal Feeding] [Communal Services] [First Aid Post] [Law and Order]