Regional Government offers new edition of "Civil Protection at Home" book to all families in the Region
The Regional Secretary for Health announced today that a new edition of the "Civil Protection at Home" book will be distributed to Azorean homes from the end of July, reinforcing the awareness that “civil protection begins at home, with the knowledge and behaviour of each citizen."
At the presentation of the publication, which marked the 16th anniversary of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service Training Centre in Angra do Heroísmo, Teresa Machado Luciano announced that the book will be distributed by CTT (Portuguese Postal Services) “to more than 98 thousand residences in the Region, with the first copies expected to be delivered by the end of July."
The "Civil Protection at Home" book, whose first edition dates back to the early 2000s, falls within “the strategy that the Regional Government has put into practice in the areas of training, information and awareness raising. It is an “excellent tool that can make a difference, reducing consequences in the event of an accident or catastrophe,” said the Regional Secretary.
The book aims to instil in citizens “the awareness that everyone is a civil protection agent and, therefore, should know the preventive measures and the self-protection rules recommended for each risk situation, observing them with serenity and a spirit of solidarity," said the Regional Secretary.
Regarding this new edition, Teresa Machado Luciano noted that “it addresses the most relevant themes at the moment, which help us facing new challenges, such as the PROCIV Azores application or the Emergency System for the Hearing and Speech Impaired."
Another novelty, according to her, "is the section dedicated to basic life support for adults, which explains how to take action during a cardiopulmonary arrest emergency," an action that can substantially increase the victim's probability of survival when performed in the first minutes after cardiac arrest.
The government official also pointed out that the creation of the Azores Civil Protection and Fire Service Training Centre on the island of Terceira on July 10, 2004 was a “determining factor” in the evolution of the quality of training provided by the Azores Regional Civil Protection Service and Fire Service.
“Since the creation of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service until March this year, this space has hosted more than 250 training initiatives, covering more than 3,000 trainees,” Teresa Machado Luciano stressed, adding that “the courses encompass more than 41 training areas."
The Regional Secretary also stated that the "Future in Safety - Preventive Approach to Risk Mitigation" project is under development, an initiative aimed at raising awareness and prevention among the Azorean population, from preschool age until senior age.
The Training Centre, which now celebrates its 16th anniversary, includes infrastructures for the training of operational personnel from Fire Brigades and other regional and national entities in an area of about five hectares, responding to the specific characteristics and needs of the Region Autonomous of the Azores.
It provides specialised technical training skills in pre-hospital emergency, structural firefighting, industrial fire training, intervention in road rescue and extrication, rescue at height, rescue in confined spaces and intervention in catastrophe.