Emergencies

This section covers:
A&E
999 Emergency Services
Doctors
Dentists
Utility Services
Vets
Village Emergency Plan

Accident & Emergency Unit
The nearest A&E department is at the the Ipswich General Hospital, Heath Road.
It can be reached in about 20mins via junction 57 on the A14.

999 Emergency Services
Always ring 999 (112) if:
- life is threatened
- people are injured
- immediate action is required

When you contact the Emergency Controller, remember that you need to state:
What? What is the problem
Which service? Need Police/Fire Rescue/Ambulance/Coastguard
Where? Give:
- your telephone number
- the name of road, house number and town
- any other nearby landmarks - outside Post Office, near Bus Station, etc

When you ask for the Ambulance Service you will need to provide some additional information, including:
- The patient's age, sex and medical history;
- Whether the patient is conscious, breathing and if there is any bleeding or chest pain; and
- Details of the injury and how it happened.

Before help arrives, you can help the ambulance crew by doing the following:
- If you are in the street, stay with the patient
- Call back if the patient's condition changes.
- Call back if your location changes.
- If you are calling from home or work, ask someone to open the doors and signal where the ambulance staff are needed.
- Lock away any family pets.
- Write down the patient's GP details and collect any medication that they are taking.
- Find out if the patient has any allergies.

When you ask for the Fire Service you will need to provide some additional information, including:
- What is on fire?
- Is there anybody trapped?

Doctors
The joint Holbrook & Shotley practice serves the peninsula. Shotley is slightly quicker to get to from Chelmondiston but Holbrook has slightly longer hours.

In the event that you need to call a doctor outside surgery hours you should ring: 0300 130 3066. You could also consider using NHS Direct (Tel: 0845 4647).

Dentists
For dental emergencies, phone Patient Advice & Liaison, Weekdays 0800 389 6819

Utility Emergencies
- For Electricity emergencies, call UK Power Networks on 0800 783 8838
- For Water & Sewage emergencies, call Anglian Water on 08457 145 145 or, if you supect a leak call Anglia Water Leakline on 0845 070 3448

Vets
The nearest vets is the Orwell Vet Group at Stutton . The Ipswich surgery of the same Group at Berners St has considerably longer hours and so will probably be more able to help in the event of an emergency - but you should always 'phone (01473) 257 557 before attending to check the best place to take your pet.

The out-of-hours emergency number for the Orwell Vet Group is (01473) 333 677

Emergency Plan
The village has an Emergency Plan which complements the formal emergency services. The purpose of the plan is enable the village to be better prepared for an emergency situation, and to as far as possible minimise the impact of emergency situation whilst waiting for the professional emergency services to arrive. The plan is maintained by the Parish Council and consists of 3 elements:
- Information to the community about how to prepare for an emergency and what to do if an emergency situation occurs
- Information about what expertise and assistance is available within the community
- Team structure to liaise with the community and the emergency services
The a document download is available which outlines the plan and provides some advice.