Help for you in an emergency

If you look after someone who cannot look after themselves without your support, you may be worried about what would happen if you were suddenly unable to help them.

There are local organisations that will help you to plan ahead for emergencies, including registering for the Carers Emergency Card.

Carers Emergency Card Scheme

This is a great scheme which helps you develop a plan for what might happen if you had an emergency yourself and were unable to carry out your normal caring responsibilities. When you register, the plan will be agreed, giving the names and contact details of two people from your family, friends or local organisations who can take over from you in an emergency. Don't worry if you can't think of anyone – you can still join the scheme.

You’ll be given a card to carry in your purse or wallet which has the Careline telephone number and your own ID number to identify your personal emergency action plan. A top tip is to store the number on your mobile phone under ICE (In Case of Emergency). If you’re unable to make the call to action your plan, someone coming to your aid will be able to do it for you. Once a call is made to Careline, they’ll try to contact your two nominated people. If they can’t help, either Careline will arrange cover, or they’ll contact the Adult Social Care Emergency Duty Team.

The scheme provides 48 hour emergency cover for the person you care for, which can be extended to up to 96 hours if it runs into a weekend. After that time, Adult Social Care will take over the responsibility. The service is free for up to 72 hours, then our normal council contributions policy applies.

Who can join and how?

You must be caring for someone aged 18 or over and you must have had a Carers Assessment within the last 12 months to be eligible. The assessment can be a joint one with the person you care for or an individual one.

To register, contact the Adult Social Care Access Team or download the application form(pdf, 23KB) and plan of care(pdf, 31KB).

Carers First Alert Scheme

Richmond Carers Centre now offers a service called Carers First Alert Scheme for carers who find they have to cope alone. Staff at Richmond Carers Centre will make regular contact by phone or email and, if there’s no response, will raise the alarm with an agreed contact. The service is dependent on staff capacity and, therefore, limited. To receive this service, carers must be registered with Richmond Carers Centre.

Data Link Canister Scheme

The Data Link Canister Scheme provides emergency information that could save you life, or that of the person you care for, if you or they are rendered unconscious or seriously confused.

You place a small plastic bottle in your fridge containing medical and personal details to identify you, advice on relevant illness, allergies and medication, as well as contact details of next of kin, a neighbour or friend, who can take over in an emergency. Then you put specially designed stickers on your fridge door and on the inside of your front door to let people know it's there. This means that should the emergency services need to come to your home they will know exactly where to look for this important information.

More information

Our Carers Directory(pdf, 598KB) contains information on all aspects of caring.

Useful contact

Richmond Carers Centre

Address: 5 Briar Road, Twickenham, TW2 6RB
Phone: 020 8867 2380
Email: info@richmondcarers.org
Web: www.carers.org/local/london/richmond

Richmond Carers Centre also has a list of useful local organisations. You should contact them directly about the Carers First Alert Scheme.

How to get in touch

Please contact Richmond Carers Centre about the Carers First Alert Scheme and the Data Canister Co-ordinator about Data Canisters.

For the Carers Emergency Card Scheme or Carers Assessment please contact the Adults Social Care Access Team on 020 8891 7971.

Please contact me about this service

If you’re still unsure you can contact the Adult Social Care Access Team