Emergency Management Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network Established

The Emergency Management Department of the Velocity Interoperability Network has been formally established. The Department is responsible for preparedness and for the coordinated response to emergencies at the sites of the Network. It maintains the register of emergency plans, operates the Network Coordination Centre, issues Network alerts, trains and directs the site response teams, and publishes guidance for households and for member organisations.

Before today, each member organisation of the Network made its own arrangements for emergencies. There was no common alert scale, no shared plan for hazards that cross more than one site, and no single point from which a response could be directed. From establishment those functions are held by the Department, and the plans, alert levels and response arrangements described on this site apply at every site of the Network.

With its establishment complete, the Department today launches its official website at emergencies.gov.vin. The site will carry press releases, official statements, the four Network alert levels, the register of emergency plans, preparedness guidance for households and the Department's statistical releases.

The opening of the Network Coordination Centre, the publication of the register of emergency plans, and the Department's first statistical release are the subject of separate announcements published today. General enquiries may be sent to contact@emergencies.gov.vin.