During the summer holidays, Ballarat welcomes many visitors and it’s important to make sure that everyone in your house knows what to do in the event of an emergency.

The City of Ballarat encourages all residents to create an emergency plan and communicate it with all your family members and visitors.  Take a few minutes to discuss emergency situations and your planned responses – it’s a discussion that could save your life.

Planning for an Emergency

• Decide how family members will stay in touch in the event of, or after, an emergency

• Talk with your family, household members and neighbours about your response to a variety of emergencies
• Agree on a place for family or household members to meet if separated
• Organise an out-of-town person your family or household members can contact in the event of separation.  Make a list of the agreed person's contact details (home, mobile and work phone numbers, email) and provide them to your workplace and to your children's school
• Agree on how you will contact each other, who will collect family members, and who will check on neighbours
• Make arrangements for pets to ensure they will be safe and have food and water

When discussing your family’s plans for emergencies, customise your plan to your family and visitor situation and consider a variety of scenarios…

• You may be separated, for example children at school and parents at work or children residing with another parent
• Normal communications might be difficult or impossible
• Power supplies may be cut
• You may be injured, or others may be injured or deceased
• There may be fire or other dangerous elements present
• Information about the emergency may be limited in the early stages of the event.

Be Prepared 

• Store important documents including wills, passports, photos, birth and marriage certificates, powers of attorney and insurance policies in a fire and water-proof container or safe deposit box.

• Review your insurance policies to ensure they are current and adequate.  If you keep them in your home, try to take them with you if you evacuate.  Consider arranging authorised copies to be kept at an alternate secure location.

• Find out how and where to turn off electricity, gas and water supplies in your home.

• Make a record of your local emergency telephone numbers (State Emergency Service (SES), City of Ballarat, gas, electricity, water, etc.) and keep them near your phone. These numbers are easily accessed at the front of the local telephone book.

• Call 000 for police, fire and ambulance attendance during life or property threatening situations. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, dial 106 through your textphone (TTY) to obtain emergency service attendance.

• Important phone numbers:    
          City of Ballarat – 5320 5500
  SES - 132 500

• When notifying all emergency services of your location, ensure you provide the exact street address and the nearest cross roads.

Emergency Kits 

At times of high risk, preparing an emergency kit is a good idea. Emergency kits may include:

• Spare clothes including strong shoes, broad brimmed hat, leather gloves and sunscreen for each household member

• Sleeping equipment
• A mobile phone, spare battery and charger
• Strong plastic bags (for clothing, valuables, documents and photographs)
• Extra car and house keys
• Copies of important family documents (birth certificates, passports and licences)
• Contact details for your agreed out-of-town contact
• Credit cards, key cards and cash
• Books, playing cards or games

During an emergency, you may have to remain in your home for several days and power, water or gas may not be available. Consider keeping the following items on hand:

• Bottled water and enough easily prepared packaged food to last for at least three days.  Remember to update supplies to prevent spoilage

• Fire blanket or fire extinguisher.  Seek CFA advice on where to purchase appropriate equipment
• Barbecue or portable stove with fuel

Important Emergency Management Websites 

City of Ballarat’s website    www.ballarat.vic.gov.au

VicSES                                  www.ses.vic.gov.au

CFA                                        www.cfa.vic.gov.au

Red Cross                             www.redcross.org.au

Victorian Government Health Information (Pandemic & Heatwave): www.health.vic.gov.au

Department of Human Services   www.dhs.vic.gov.au/home