Azores Civil Protection continues to promote Initial Intervention Course in Collapsed Structures for firefighters in 2020
The President of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA) stated that the Initial Intervention Course in Collapsed Structures for firefighters will remain a priority this year.
"This is the first stage of search and rescue in collapsed structure training, which prepares firefighters to act in situations such as an earthquake or a landslide," said Carlos Neves.
The SRPCBA Training Plan for this year includes four scheduled courses: two will begin Thursday and Friday on the island of São Miguel, while the remaining two will be held in February at the Training Centre pf the Azores Civil Protection and Fire Service (CFPCBA) on the island of Terceira.
These courses will cover about fifty firefighters in the Azores, namely from Ribeira Grande, Vila Franca do Campo, Povoação, Nordeste, Angra do Heroísmo, Praia da Vitória, São Roque do Pico and Santa Cruz das Flores. According to Carlos Neves, the SRPCBA's goals is "to reach, throughout this year, more members of different fire departments as well as other islands."
Last year, 12 firefighters from Angra do Heroísmo and 12 from Praia da Vitória attended this training course.
"The skills acquired during the course will contribute to the evolution and consolidation of the knowledge of our firefighters, especially in the provision of assistance and rescue of victims trapped in collapsed structures, which clearly improves the quality of the assistance provided," stressed the President of SRPCBA.
Carlos Neves added that "the final goal will be the creation of nine specialised teams, one for each island of the archipelago, and two specialised search and rescue intervention brigades that will be headquartered on São Miguel and Terceira to promptly respond to any island of the archipelago."
The Initial Intervention Course in Collapsed Structures will be conducted by four SRPCBA trainers who have acquired training at the University of Texas, USA.