HMForces.co.uk

Benefits >> Browse Articles >> British Armed Forces Deployment

Deployment: Preparation for Emergencies

Plan Ahead:

Don’t wait for a crisis to prepare for an emergency. Prior to deployment, discuss how to handle situations as they arrive: car trouble, home maintenance, financial matters, family emergencies. Discuss what constitutes an emergency and what funds are available to support possible costs. Make sure that your partner has a readily available list of all of the phone numbers for emergency assistance in your community. They should also have the phone number of your nominated Unit Welfare Officer (UWO).

Emergencies: When you are deployed you will be issued with an Overseas Compassionate Leave/Travel card. This contains important information for contacting the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC). If an emergency occurs at home, such as the death or serious illness of a close family member, and your partner needs to contact you they should contact the JCCC on +44 (0)1452 519951 immediately. This number is manned 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Your partner will need to provide your Service Number, Rank, Name, home Unit and your current location along with full details of the ill relative, their location, the doctor’s name and any other organisation involved in the case. The JCCC will then decide whether Compassionate Leave Travel is recommended and authorised.

Compassionate Leave Travel can be authorised for;
• Parents or Step-parents
• Spouse or partner
• A spouse or partner from a previous relationship if their illness/affects children from that relationship
• Children, including step-children and children outside marriage. Also children that you provide permanent financial support for and/or the CO of you unit can vouch for the permanence of your relationship.
• Siblings
• Legal guardians or grandparents who had legal responsibility to act in place of your parents.

You will not be granted Compassionate Leave Travel for other relatives, but a message will be sent to you. If an emergency occurs with you during mobilisation or deployment, immediate family members will be notified via the military chain of command. If you hear about an accident or illness through the grapevine, immediately check with your UWO who will gladly verify the accuracy (or inaccuracy!) of the information.

Develop a Support System: Your partner will be losing their main source of emotional support while you are away, especially if they are living a distance away from their family and friends. Encourage them to meet with other family members from the unit prior to your deployment and plan to meet throughout the period of family separation. Families will be able to lend emotional support to one another and provide assistance with children and emergencies. Don’t let your partner wait for a crisis before determining who might be able to help them.

Back to: Benefits Home Page
Previous Section: Active-Duty Deployment: What Payments Do I Receive?
Next Section: Deployment: Your Children and Separation