Go in, Stay in, Tune in

In the majority of major incidents you will be advised to shelter (Go in), remain there until further advised by the emergency services (Stay in), and listen to local radio stations for more information (Tune in).

1. Go indoors, close doors and windows and shut down ventilation systems if it is safe to do so. Unless there is an obvious risk to the property this will give you good short-term protection against the vast majority of hazards.
2. Stay indoors until you know more about the situation and the appropriate action you need to take to protect yourself further. The action you should take will be different depending on the nature of the incident, so you could put yourself at more risk by not waiting for further instructions.
3. Tune in to local radio and television to find out more about what is happening:
   • BBC Radio Suffolk 95.5, 95.9, 103.9 & 104.6 FM
   
   
   • BBC Radio Cambridge 95.7 & 96.0 FM
   
   
   • BBC Radio Essex 95.3 & 103.5 FM
   
   
   • BBC Radio Norfolk 95.1, 95.6 & 104.4 FM
   
   
   • SGR FM 96.4 & 97.1 FM
   
   
   • Kiss FM 105-108 FM
   
   
   • The Beach 97.4 & 103.4 FM
     and
   • Radio Broadland 102.4 FM

Why?

Technical assessment of major incidents in the UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand involving chemicals has shown that it is generally more beneficial for the population at risk to shelter than to be evacuated. So where a community is being exposed to harm as a result of an emergency they are more likely to be told to shelter until given further advice by the emergency services.

This is recognised as the preferred strategy for the majority of serious incidents arising from the release of airborne substances where exposure would have serious acute consequences.

Residents and businesses in close proximity to sites such as Sizewell and Saxham, should be familiar with this strategy, but for incidents elsewhere when shelter is the best strategy it is less likely to be widely understood.

In the UK experience has shown that a decision to evacuate is unlikely to be taken in the first half-hour of an emergency. Thereafter, the actual time to evacuate a community of a thousand or more is likely to take several hours according to data relating to evacuations in Ipswich, Wealdstone, Flixborough, Barking, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.

It should also be noted that people do not always evacuate when told to do so. For example, it has been reported that, in two transport incidents in the USA, 81% and 59% respectively of those warned initially chose to disregard the warnings given. People may also suffer more harm from a short exposure during an evacuation than they would experience while sheltering. Actual experience to support this view is hard to find. However, although not statistically significant, it is interesting to note that, of nine interviewees who chose not to evacuate, only one may have been affected, compared with 20% of the 1275 interviewees who evacuated themselves from Nanticoke in 1987.

That this strategy is applied in the UK to most major emergencies is a good indication of the importance with which it is held by the emergency services and other emergency response organisations. (Figures from the National Steering Committee on Warning and Informing the Public (NSCWIP))