Prepared together: National Crisis Center launches practical guide to help people prepare for emergencies

How do you shelter safely? Where can you find reliable information during an emergency? What should be included in an emergency kit? How do you create an emergency plan? And how can you help vulnerable people in your community during an emergency situation?

These are not questions most people think about every day, but in an emergency, the answers can make a significant difference. That is why the National Crisis Center is launching a brochure designed as a practical guide today to help everyone prepare for emergency situations. The brochure contains practical advice, recommendations and step-by-step guidance for before, during and after an emergency.

A shared responsibility

In recent years, Belgium has faced several emergency situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the devastating floods of 2021, multiple storms, heatwaves and, more recently, the major wildfire in the High Fens. These events demonstrate that emergencies can occur unexpectedly and affect any one of us.

Being prepared helps reduce the impact of emergencies. Preparedness is a shared responsibility. Authorities and emergency services work every day to protect the population, but everyone has an important role to play.

“Crises and threats are becoming increasingly frequent, both in Belgium and abroad. For some people, this creates concern. Others believe that it only happens to someone else. We must strike the right balance: never give in to panic, but never be naïve either. That is why I have made resilience a policy priority, starting with the resilience of every citizen. Together with the National Crisis Center, we are launching today the second phase of the ‘Prepared Together’ campaign. Our message is clear: those who are well prepared are better protected.”

Bernard Quintin, Minister of Security and the Interior 

Step by step

To support citizens in their preparedness efforts, the National Crisis Center is launching a brochure designed as a practical guide today. The brochure helps people prepare themselves and their household step by step for emergency situations. A few simple steps can make a big difference: 

• Learn about the risks you may face and where to find reliable information.
• Sign up to BE-Alert.
• Make an emergency plan with your family or household members.
• Prepare an emergency kit.
• Know the right actions to take in an emergency, such as calling 112, sheltering safely and evacuating when instructed.

By being well prepared, you can better protect both yourself and others. It enables you to remain self-reliant during the first hours of an emergency, allowing emergency services to focus their efforts on the most vulnerable people.

The launch of this brochure forms part of the four-year campaign ‘Prepared together’, introduced by the National Crisis Center earlier this year. Through this campaign, the National Crisis Center aims to encourage citizens to adopt the right actions before, during and after an emergency.

The brochure is available in four languages (Dutch, French, German and English) and can be downloaded here.

A print-ready version is also being made available to public authorities and organisations so that they can further distribute it within their communities.

“Good preparation starts today. You don’t have to be an expert to be prepared. With reliable information, an emergency kit and the right preparation, you are already well equipped to deal with unexpected emergencies.”
Jack Hamande, Director-General of the National Crisis Center

National BE-Alert test day

It is no coincidence that this brochure is being launched on the first Thursday of October. For several years now, this date has marked the national test day of the BE-Alert warning system.
From now on, we will use this day every year as an opportunity to prepare together: emergency services and public authorities by testing their systems and procedures, and citizens by taking practical steps to improve their preparedness for emergencies. This brochure provides concrete, practical and easy-to-apply advice to help citizens become better prepared for potential emergencies.

Let us use this day to get prepared together!

Today, 260 cities, municipalities and provinces are sending a test message to their residents. The aim is not only to raise awareness of BE-Alert but also to practise using the alert platform outside a real emergency situation.
For the National Crisis Center, this test provides an opportunity to verify the system’s sending capacity and speed under peak-load conditions. This is essential to ensure that citizens can be informed quickly and effectively during an emergency.

If you receive a BE-Alert message today from the numbers 1789 or 0477 77 77 55, save these numbers in your phone immediately. This will help you recognise future messages or calls as genuine BE-Alert communications. You should also mark the BE-Alert email address as a trusted contact in your mailbox to prevent messages from being incorrectly flagged as spam.

Despite technological capabilities such as location-based alerts, it remains important for citizens to register for BE-Alert. Anyone who signs up can register up to five addresses and receive notifications even when they are outside the geographical area affected by an incident. This can be particularly useful in situations such as fires, drinking water contamination or severe weather conditions.
Registration also allows you to stay informed about emergencies near your workplace, the home of a vulnerable family member or your children's school. Registration is free via www.be-alert.be.

These simple measures are an excellent first step towards greater preparedness. The brochure then provides a wealth of practical advice and recommendations to help you, together with your family, relatives, neighbours or community organisation, become even better prepared for emergency situations.