County Council works with county volunteers to keep
critical services running
Worcestershire County Council has called on
the County Volunteers Emergency Committee (CVEC) and are working
together to help maintain critical services around the county.
A number of CVEC's members have sprung into
action following the recent bout of severe weather to help deliver
critical services, such as county council social care and homecare,
as well as hospital and district nursing.
The Red Cross and St John 4x4 units are
actively supporting West Midlands Ambulance Service and the County
Council for the transport of medical patients or recent
discharges.
Gloucester & Worcestershire 4x4 Response
has been extensively engaged by the County Council for transporting
critical staff such as Registered General Nurses and District
Nurses.
Sue Pidduck, County Council Operations
Manager for Adult Social Care, said: "Homecare and social
care staff are often the unsung heroes in this sort of event. The
essential closure of daycare services has placed an increased
workload on homecare to support vulnerable service users - many of
whom live in villages and isolated homes.
"Our staff are working tirelessly to make
4,000 home visits today, getting to work by all means necessary to
make sure that our service users are safe, warm, and have essential
food, hot drinks and medication where required. We would like
to thank the Gloucestershire & Worcestershire 4x4 Response Team
and British Red Cross for all their support transporting some of
our critical staff where normal transport is unsafe or
unavailable."
The County Council would also like to ask
residents to look in on their neighbour and help out those who are
most vulnerable.
Many older people live alone and can find the
severe weather tough to deal with but a simple check by a friendly
neighbour can make such a difference.
Making sure that elderly neighbours and family
members have access to a hot meal every day, are drinking enough
fluids to keep hydrated and are keeping warm are a few examples of
things that you can do to help an elderly neighbour during the
winter months.
Making a special effort to befriend or look
out for an elderly neighbour and perform a friendly deed can make
the world of difference to their lives and help to keep them safe
and well.
Handy hints for winter
- Eat regular hot meals and drink hot
drinks;
- Wear several thin layers of clothes in order
to keep the warm air trapped between them;
- If you get wet, change into dry clothing as
soon as you get indoors;
- Keep warm at night, leave your heating on if
you are able to, otherwise use a hot water bottle or heated
blanket;
- Keep your living room and bedroom as warm as
possible, use draft excluders;
- Keep a supply of candles, matches,
batteries and a torch handy in case of a power cut;
- Ensure you have a battery operated
radio close to hand tuned to the local station (BBC Hereford and
Worcester 104FM, 104.6FM or 94.7FM),
- Compile a list of useful telephone numbers
including utility providers, your local authority and local
police.
Working together - (From left) Victoria
Anstey, Operations Director for British Red Cross (Herefordshire,
Worcestershire and Shropshire), Darren Bourne, Chairman and
Controller for Gloucestershire and Worcestershire 4x4 Response,
Ashley Young, Controller for Gloucestershire and Worcestershire 4x4
Response and Mike Warner, Worcestershire County Council Emergency
Planning Officer.
