Luís Cabral emphasises "contribution of new technologies" to improve the performance of Civil Protection services in the Azores
The Regional Secretary for Health stressed today that the monitoring and response capacity of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA). It is becoming "increasingly adequate" in the event of catastrophe, which reflects the investment that has been made in new technologies.
Speaking on the sidelines of Touro152 Drill, organised by SRPCBA in partnership with the Municipal Civil Protection Services of São Miguel Island, Luís Cabral highlighted the benefits of real-time image transmission that was tested today on São Miguel in the context of this drill.
"We can see in the real-time image transmission drill five situations taking place simultaneously. This will allow those at the Command Centre to access all the information on the site and, thus, take the most appropriate decisions," said the Regional Secretary.
Luis Cabral, who oversees Civil Protection Services, stated that these technological systems are already implemented in various fire brigades throughout the archipelago.
"Since the beginning of 2015, we have been purchasing tablets for ambulances as well as for the command cars of each fire corporation in the archipelago in order to keep a record of events in digital format, providing the necessary information to doctors and to the hospital," added the government official.
The Regional Secretary also stated that the registration of these images can be useful for a "further evaluation with professionals," which will allow the analysis of errors or errors and, thus, "improve their performance on the ground."
The Touro152 Drill, which runs until Friday, aims to train the operational structures of the different entities in the area of Civil Protection, based on the principles of the Integrated System of Protection and Rescue Operations (SIOPS). The drill simulated an intervention during bad weather conditions.
"In order to involve all municipalities, we had to create a drill that could cover the entire island, so the chosen situation was the passage of a tropical storm called ‘Laurinda,’" stressed the Regional Secretary.
In this scenario, the tropical storm will "generate the typical hazards of these events, including heavy showers, floods and landslides on roads," so that each local authority on São Miguel "may respond accordingly with the provisions of its Municipal Emergency Plan."
Luís Cabral also praised the commitment shown by SRPCBA and the participating authorities in this drill.