Resilience Month Aberdeenshire: Vulnerable People

Week Two: Vulnerable people

Over the course of September, Aberdeenshire Council is encouraging residents to consider how they might respond to a household emergency or severe weather incident. This week, we are focusing on the theme of ‘vulnerable people.’ 

The emergency services and their partners support people of all ages and abilities when an incident happens, but for those who require extra support several additional services are available. 

If you – or a friend or relative – may benefit from some extra support during a crisis, here are some resources that you may find helpful.   

Age Scotland has produced the Building Resilience: Preparing for emergencies and beyond booklet, which is free to download. 

Aimed at those aged 50 and older, the booklet provides a range of information around preparing for emergencies, organising your paperwork, helping with finances, and reducing risk at home. 

It also provides guidance on social connection for wellbeing, caring for your health, and planning for the future. 

For immediate support when an issue arises, the Priority Services Register (PSR) is a free, UK-wide service which provides extra help during power cuts or when there’s an interruption to your electricity, gas or water supply. 

The service is open to a wide range of people, including everybody over 60, those who use medical equipment reliant on electricity or water, and people with a disability. 

This includes people who are blind or partially sighted, deaf or hard of hearing, or who have chronic illness. The register is also open to those with children under five, and people with a mental health condition. To find out more, and to register, visit www.psrscotland.com 

And it’s never too early to learn how to react when an emergency happens. For younger residents, the free ‘Let’s Get Ready for an Emergency!’ children’s activity book can be downloaded and viewed on screen, with individual pages printed out if desired.  

These, and other resources around resilience and emergencies, can be found at www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/resilience-month

As well as considering your own circumstances, please also think of friends and neighbours who may benefit from the advice and information, particularly if they have limited or no access to the internet.