Emergencies

NB This page is under construction

Cancellation

There are occasions when an event needs to be cancelled. The decision is with the Organiser, but it is expected that they would consult with controller and planner and probably committee members.

Reasons include:

• Loss of permission for all or a significant part of the area, or facilities such as parking

• Area becoming unusable eg because of flooding or access issues

• Weather

Cancellation due to Weather

An Organiser has a duty of care, including checking whether weather warnings are in place. Any decision will need to take into account the area being used and its condition before the event, either of which can increase or decrease both the likelihood and the severity of the risk:

• Met office advice to avoid inessential travel would normally require cancelling the event

• severe (red) weather warnings would also usually require cancellation

• amber or yellow warnings may trigger cancellation, depending on the circumstances. For instance, there may be significant risk of falling branches in the area being used, or it may be more sheltered, younger forest. The met office warnings are of necessity broad brush in terms of time and area ("S and E England between 0400 and 2200") and more up to date or detailed weather forecasts may increase or decrease the risk for this event.

• a particular concern is the risk of lightning strikes. They tend to be high impact, localised and occur with relatively little warning or build-up. A lower likelihood threshold may be appropriate for lightning than for other weather events. If lightning is close, the safest place for people to be is in a car. You should wait 30 minutes before going out again.

Missing Runner

There's no requirement to have a missing runner search plan for a Saturday event, but remember what your Event Safety Course said about searching.

The SI team can give you the missing runner's (or their parent's) mobile phone number.

The critical thing is to have enough people around. Your control collectors are a good start and it's worth saying to a few others - especially experienced orienteers - "we're still missing someone, can you stay around?

Medical Emergency

Your First Aider(s) will deal with the casualty but may need logistic support eg someone at the main road to direct an ambulance in, clearing access for an ambulance.

If the issue is serious, you may need to use the Emergency Contact people put on SI Entries, ask the SI Team. If very serious, BOF need to be informed.