Broadcasters and emergency planners will need to draw upon their shared knowledge to predict what kind of emergency situations require a special response.

There will be different views about what constitutes an emergency and these will have to be reconciled. For instance:

• A school bus crash on a country road in which several pupils are seriously hurt might not justify reaching for the Emergency Plan. A tanker accident in the middle of a city and the threat of an explosion probably would.
• A heavy snowfall does not automatically prompt the opening of an Emergency Control Centre, but serious flooding would.

BBC Scotland would see all four examples as likely to require a special response to meet public expectations.

• For hundreds of parents, the school bus crash would be a major incident and the traffic disruption would be an issue too.

Whilst snow, unlike flooding, is not likely to threaten life unless prolonged and heavy, the disruption to communities could be large scale and BBC Scotland would have a pivotal role as an information provider.