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Resilient

Northern Ireland
A call to action
Photos
Cover Martin Hookway/BRC, Brian Morrison/BRC, Derek Gordon, Carla Dow/BRC. Page 3 Aaron McCracken/UNP.
Page 4 Derek Gordon/BRC. Page 5 Layton Thompson. Page 6 Martin Hookway. Page 8 Patrick Harrison.
Page 9 Jonathan Banks. Page 12 Anthony Upton/BRC.
Resilient Northern Ireland 1
Contents
> A call to action for a stronger
Northern Ireland
> A comprehensive framework
on emergency response
> An annual preparedness week
for Northern Ireland
> Delivering health and social
care in Northern Ireland
> Humanitarian and resilient
communities
> Supporting new arrivals to
Northern Ireland
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4
6
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9
12
2 Resilient Northern Ireland
Every day, the International Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement
helps people in crisis, working in 188
countries around the world.
The Red Cross in Northern Ireland
reaches out to support individuals,
communities and other organisations
at times of crisis via our local network
of 60 staff and 800 volunteers.
As an auxiliary to government, we
provide support to the emergency
services and other statutory bodies
in an emergency. We also provide:
services to individuals, families
and communities in times of crisis,
meeting their immediate needs
and supporting them through their
recovery; health and social care
services; support and information
to vulnerable refugees and asylum
seekers; and a programme of
humanitarian education in schools
and with youth groups. We are part of
an international network dedicated to
humanitarian assistance.
All of our work is guided by the
Movements fundamental principles
of humanity, impartiality, neutrality,
independence, voluntary service, unity
and universality.
We face many challenges at home
and overseas. The global economic
downturn, natural disasters, disease
pandemics, climate change and
conict threaten the well-being,
livelihoods and lives of vulnerable
people in Northern Ireland and around
the world.
By better integrating the expertise
of the Red Cross, and its staff
and volunteers, into civil society,
we believe Northern Ireland can
become a stronger, safer and more
resilient place.
This document is based on our
values and principles as well as our
experience of dealing with some of
Northern Irelands most vulnerable
people over several decades. It
outlines a series of simple changes
which we believe can enhance the
work of the Red Cross, and that of
our statutory and voluntary partners,
and thereby maximise the support we
provide in Northern Ireland to those
most in need.

Sharon Sinclair
Operations director for Northern Ireland
A call to action for a
stronger Northern Ireland
Resilient Northern Ireland 3
1 Emergency preparedness and
recovery
> an annual preparedness week
to improve the ability of
communities and individuals to
withstand and recover from a
range of emergencies
> the establishment of preventative
measures such as a ood alert
phone service to help avoid
damage and distress
> the introduction of overarching
civil contingencies legislation
to bring consistency to the
structures and delivery of
emergency response across
Northern Ireland.
2 Health and social care at home
> increased investment in
preventative community support
services to maintain health
and well-being and reduce
unnecessary admissions to
hospital or residential care
> an increase in health and social
care services that enable people
to regain their independence in
their own home
> the Department of Health, Social
Services and Public Safety
(DHSSPS) to promote actively the
added value of voluntary sector
providers of high quality health
and social care.
3 Building more humane and
resilient communities
> the growth of safer and more
resilient communities through
focussed humanitarian education
programmes for young people,
and through increasing the levels
of rst aid skills in the community
> increased levels of rst aid
knowledge among drivers to
contribute to ongoing road safety
strategies in Northern Ireland.
4 Refugees and asylum seekers
> access to free primary care for
asylum seekers, as well as the
opportunity to learn English on
arrival
> the publishing of specic Northern
Ireland data on asylum seekers to
help policy makers plan services.
We call on politicians in Northern Ireland to support:
4 Resilient Northern Ireland
A comprehensive framework on
emergency response
The Red Cross in Northern Ireland
works with the emergency services
to provide humanitarian assistance
to individuals and communities
affected by local emergencies and
major incidents. We support partners
including emergency services such
as the Northern Ireland Ambulance
Service, health and social care trusts
and utilities companies.
Our support includes specialist
response teams providing rst aid,
psychosocial support, emergency
drivers and specialist vehicles
and equipment, through formal
arrangements with our partners. Our
ambulances and crews support the NI
Ambulance Service in major incidents,
and our re and emergency support
service (FESS) teams provide practical
Resilient Northern Ireland 55
support for people affected by res
or ooding.
How we help
The Red Cross supports statutory
partners during severe weather
incidents, ooding, security alerts,
transport accidents, house res,
power outages and in searches for
people who have gone missing.
During severe ooding in Belfast and
Fermanagh in recent years, we helped
residents displaced from their homes
through emergency support centres,
emotional support and signposting.
Flooding is a cause of signicant
concern for some communities, with
around 46,000 houses in Northern
Ireland within the river and coastal
ood plain.

Throughout the winter of 2010/11, the
Red Cross deployed specialist teams
and vehicles to support people across
Northern Ireland during a period
of severe weather. Our innovative
partnership with a local 4x4 dealership
meant we were able to help almost
800 people by delivering essential
services including the distribution of
food, bottled water and medication,
particularly to vulnerable households,
as well as transporting emergency
staff and nurses to essential home
visits. The Red Cross is now
recognised as the leading third sector
agency in dealing with emergencies in
Northern Ireland.
Following the winter emergencies
in 2010/11, the Civil Contingencies
Group (NI), led by the Ofce of
the First Minister and Deputy First
Minister, reviewed emergency
planning in Northern Ireland and
issued a range of new protocols for
local councils to consider enacting.
We welcome this initiative and
would like to see further measures
to support local councils so we can
have a more consistent and planned
response to local emergencies across
the whole of Northern Ireland.
We call on politicians in
Northern Ireland to support:
> the introduction of overarching
civil contingencies legislation
to bring consistency to the
structures and delivery of
emergency response across all
areas of Northern Ireland.
6 Resilient Northern Ireland
An annual preparedness week
for Northern Ireland
It is difcult to predict when an
emergency will take place, but it is
far easier to ensure that individuals
and communities have the ability
to withstand and recover from
emergencies. Planning for
emergencies and being prepared will
ensure that Northern Ireland is stronger
and more resilient.

We believe it is essential that
communities are directly involved in
preparing and planning for potential
risks in their areas, through local
representatives.
Red Cross research into the impact
of ooding in Greater Belfast and
Fermanagh has demonstrated the need
for community preparedness and there
are many ways that leaders and policy
makers, working with the voluntary
sector, can help communities to co-
ordinate their resources and expertise
in a way that complements the efforts
of the statutory services.
The most basic of these are raising
awareness and improving education.
These activities will encourage people
to plan for a crisis situation, prepare
themselves by ensuring they have the
resources they need, and feel condent
and empowered to respond in an
appropriate way.
We call on politicians in
Northern Ireland to support:
> an annual preparedness
week to improve the ability of
individuals and communities
to withstand and recover from
emergencies in their area.
The promotion of community
self-help schemes will help
local communities to work
with emergency responders to
identify, plan and be prepared
for local risks
> the introduction of a ood alert
phone service, similar to the one
in Great Britain, to help people
living in ooding hot spots
receive an early call if the threat
of ooding arises in their area.
Resilient Northern Ireland 7
Delivering health and social care
in Northern Ireland
Northern Irelands healthcare needs
are changing. Our population is
getting older and developments in
medicines and health technologies
mean that more of us are able to live
independently for longer provided the
right support services are available at
the right time and in the right place.
The Northern Ireland Executive is
reforming how it delivers health and
social care to reect these changing
needs. The Red Cross welcomes
moves towards greater patient-
centred care with health services
increasingly delivered exibly in the
home and community, as described
in the Transforming Your Care
review. The implementation of these
recommendations will be vital to
delivering the change we need.
How we help
The Red Cross has over 30 years
experience of delivering health and
social care programmes and is
registered with the Regulation and
Quality Improvement Authority for
the provision of some of our
services, which:
> help people live independently in
their own homes
> reduce admissions to hospital,
residential care and nursing care
> facilitate early discharge following a
personal crisis.
Working across all ve health and
social care trust areas, the Red Cross
provides support based on promoting
peoples independence, choice, dignity
and respect. We use a combination
of staff and volunteers, who are highly
trained and skilled, to develop and
deliver our services in conjunction with
service users and their families.
Promoting independence
We provide intensive support after
someone returns home following a
period in hospital or residential care,
or after a serious illness or onset of
disability. We can, for example, provide
mobility aids, or help with the shopping
or cooking. Our staff and volunteers will
work with a service user, normally for
up to three months. We will help them
maximise their long-term independence
and minimise the need for ongoing
care. Early intervention and support of
this type can prevent vulnerable people
developing complex, long-term support
needs. This service is often delivered
as part of a wider package of
specialist care and support including
other agencies.
8 Resilient Northern Ireland
From hospital to home
We provide basic support for people
when they are discharged from
hospital, making sure their home is
ready for them to return to, with food
in the fridge and heating on. Our staff
and volunteers also befriend vulnerable
people and carry out other practical
tasks such as shopping, collecting
prescriptions, and transport to and
from outpatient appointments.
Care in the home
We can form part of a multi-agency
response to help a vulnerable person
avoid entering hospital or a care home,
or to get them out of statutory care
more quickly. This gives service users
maximum independence and enables
them to live at home. The support
would usually last around six to eight
weeks and be delivered according to a
personal support plan.
Loans of essential equipment
The Red Cross is contracted with all
ve health and social care trusts to
provide short-term loans of medical
equipment including wheelchairs
and other mobility aids. This can
help an individual get out and about
while recovering from an injury or
illness enabling them to live more
independently.
We call on politicians in
Northern Ireland to support:
> an immediate increase in
investment in preventative
community support services
that maintain health and well-
being and reduce unnecessary
admissions to hospital or
residential care
> the progressive increase of
health and social care services
that enable people to regain
their independence in their
own home
> the Department of Health,
Social Services and Public
Safety to promote actively the
added value of the third sector
as a key delivery partner in
health and social care.
Resilient Northern Ireland 99
Humanitarian and resilient
communities
Humanitarian education
The Red Cross holds a unique position
as a global, volunteer-led, politically
neutral organisation. Our response to
the humanitarian consequences of
conict or natural disaster is always
underpinned by our impartiality and
neutrality. Our humanitarian education
programmes help children and young
people explore issues and values that
enable them to understand, cope with
and respond to crisis, both locally and
globally. They help children and young
people to make sense of what it means
to be a humanitarian citizen; how to
deal with and respect difference; and to
see themselves as humanitarian actors
in their communities.
10 Resilient Northern Ireland
We believe that humanitarian education
can help tackle issues such as
sectarianism and racism and help
build a more integrated society. A Red
Cross report shows that humanitarian
education interventions made the
biggest positive impact on young
people with the deepest negative views
towards migrants and others.
Our humanitarian education
programmes are particularly relevant
here in Northern Ireland and make
a signicant contribution towards
the aims, objectives and intended
outcomes of the NI curriculum, youth
work curriculum, the ten-year strategy
for children and young people in
Northern Ireland (2006-2016) and the
forthcoming cohesion, sharing and
integration strategy.
How we help
Every year in Northern Ireland, Red
Cross engages with 8,000 children and
young people through schools, youth
groups, youth clubs and societies,
delivering humanitarian education
programmes designed to build their
resilience and condence, willingness
and ability to take humanitarian action.
Red Cross research shows that
teachers in Northern Ireland believe
working with young people to build
resilience can achieve independence,
condence, team-working skills and
coping strategies, all of which are
essential to building the next generation
of humanitarian citizens.
First aid
We want to help people in Northern
Ireland feel condent, willing and
able to help themselves and others if
they encounter an accident or health
emergency in the home, school,
workplace or community. In 2010,
over 7,000 children under the age of
four presented at the Altnagelvin Area
Hospital accident and emergency
department with accidental injuries
such as scalds and injuries from falls
or choking. Many of these could
have been treated by someone with
knowledge of basic rst aid.
Each year the Red Cross trains over
3,000 people in rst aid in Northern
Ireland, half of whom are from
groups most likely to deal with health
emergencies. These include elderly
people, people working with young
children, carers and their families and
people living in rural communities.
The number of people dying on
Northern Irelands roads has been
decreasing over the last ten years.
We welcome ongoing efforts by the
Executive to reduce these further, in
particular through the 2010 road
safety strategy.
However, even in 2010, more than
one person a week was killed on
Northern Irelands roads. We believe
that the number of deaths and serious
injuries on our roads could be
reduced even further through a
widespread knowledge of rst aid
among road users.
Resilient Northern Ireland 11 11
There is strong clinical evidence
showing how, in some cases, rst
aid can be a crucial factor in accident
survival rates, particularly if given in
the rst ten minutes after an accident
has occurred. At its simplest, if a
bystander can check and unblock the
airway of an injured driver while waiting
for the emergency services, this could
save lives.
The Northern Ireland road safety
strategy commits to considering a
requirement for vehicles to carry a rst
aid kit and safety equipment such as
hazard triangles and re extinguishers.
It also commits to investigating the
recruitment of young people from
high-risk communities across NI to
be trained in rst aid and to deliver
road safety messages to other young
people. We urge the Executive to
implement these initiatives.
In several European countries,
holding a rst aid certicate or
having completed some form of
rst aid training is required before a
driving licence is granted. We would
encourage the Northern Ireland
Executive to consider the introduction
of a pre-driver qualication in safe road
use, including what to do at the scene
of an accident.
We call on politicians in
Northern Ireland to support:
> a commitment from the
Northern Ireland Executive
to increase the levels of rst
aid skills in the community,
including with children and
young people and prioritising
those who work with children
under ve years of age
> the introduction of rst aid
education as part of driver
training and testing
> the Department of the
Environment to include rst
aid education as a central part
of road safety campaigns.
Vulnerable groups such as
schoolchildren, young people,
pedestrians and motorcyclists
should be a focus for particular
attention. Specic focus on
men aged 16 to 24 is essential,
as they are by far the most
affected group
> humanitarian education as part
of a nalised cohesion, sharing
and integration strategy for
building humane and resilient
communities in Northern Ireland
> the inclusion of humanitarian
education within initial training
for teachers and youth workers.
12 Resilient Northern Ireland
Supporting new arrivals to
Northern Ireland
In recent years, the demographics of
Northern Ireland have changed as we
have been joined by new arrivals from
Europe and beyond. These groups
include a small number of people who
come to Northern Ireland seeking
protection from events in their home
country. The Red Cross refugee
service helps around 300 people each
year, assisting new asylum seekers
and refugees in Belfast with a range
of specialist services including an
orientation service, destitution support,
practical assistance for new mothers,
and an international tracing and
message service.
Refugees and asylum seekers face a
number of unique challenges to life in
Northern Ireland and are often living on
Resilient Northern Ireland 13 13
the edge of extreme poverty. People
who have been refused asylum are not
eligible to receive free healthcare, and
may nd themselves with no access
to treatment while they appeal or while
they are awaiting deportation. This
means peoples needs are not being
met and as a result they are suffering.
The people of Northern Ireland are
generally welcoming and helpful to
their new neighbours; however, in
order for Northern Ireland and the
UK to meet international obligations
to protect those eeing persecution
and conict, we believe there needs
to be reform. We welcome the recent
pilot of a destitution fund, led by the
Ofce of the First Minister and Deputy
First Minister and the Community
Foundation, and supported by the Red
Cross. This initiative has helped many
people facing desperate hardship. We
would encourage future initiatives to
demonstrate our humanity to these
vulnerable groups.
We therefore call on the politicians
in Northern Ireland to press their UK
counterparts for an end-to-end asylum
support structure, including permission
to work, until the applicant is either
removed or granted leave to remain.
Destitution should not be an outcome
of the asylum system.
We call on politicians in
Northern Ireland to support:
> the provision of emergency
support to vulnerable migrants
who face absolute poverty
(destitution)
> practical steps to ensure that
an individual, regardless of
the outcome of their asylum
application, can access primary
healthcare services for the
duration of their time in Northern
Ireland, as is the case in
England, Scotland and Wales
> measures to ensure that ESOL
(English for speakers of other
languages) training be available
for asylum seekers upon arrival
to Northern Ireland, in line with
current provision in Scotland
and Wales
> pressing the UK Border Agency
to collate and publish specic
Northern Ireland asylum data,
which is not currently available.
This would greatly help with the
planning of services and policy.
For further information please contact:
British Red Cross
12 Heron Road
Sydenham Business Park
Belfast
BT3 9LE
Tel: 028 9073 5350
Derry/Londonderry: 028 7186 5151
Omagh: 028 8225 1116
Find out about your local services and
opportunities at redcross.org.uk
The British Red Cross Society, incorporated by
Royal Charter 1908, is a charity registered in
England and Wales (220949) and Scotland (SC037738)
Email: production@redcross.org.uk
Tel: 020 7877 7029

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