The President of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service (SRPCBA) revealed in Angra do Heroísmo that the number of training courses organised by SRPCBA in the archipelago has increased 43% since 2017.

"In 2019, we conducted a total of 211 courses, 63 more than in 2017, representing an increase of 43%," highlighted Carlos Neves.

These training courses are mainly directed to fire brigades, but also to health professionals. In addition, this department also organises training courses for other private entities.

In the case of training for firefighters, Carlos Neves specified that "104 courses were held last year, covering about 1,100 trainees, which corresponds to an investment from the Regional Government amounting to more than 182 thousand Euros."

The President of SRPCBA also mentioned that 2019 also stood out for the new areas introduced into the training plan, such as the case of Water Rescue Scooter course, the Decision-Making Support Techniques course, the Firefighting - level I course or the Initial Intervention Courses in Collapsed Structures.

Carlos Neves spoke on the sidelines of a visit to the two Initial Intervention Courses in Collapsed Structures taking place at the Azores Civil Protection and Fire Service Training Centre with the aim of preparing teams to work in situations of collapse or damage to infrastructures in the event of an earthquake.

"The new techniques and procedures will have immediate effects on improving the capacity of the response provided to the population, thus justifying the continued and increasing investment in these courses," stressed the President of SRPCBA.

As for awareness-raising actions, there was also an increase of 6% in the number of initiatives promoted by SRPCBA last year, compared to 2017.

“We ended 2019 with 226 awareness-raising actions, 12 more than in 2017, covering about 15 thousand participants," revealed Carlos Neves. According to him, these figures "were the result of the implementation of the Civil Protection Clubs project in 38 regional school establishments, the Basic Life Support mass training initiatives, field trips, lectures, the promotion of awareness-raising actions on 'Civil Protection and Local Power' and the 'PC Senior' project.”

"These data demonstrate that our initiatives to promote and disseminate a culture of safety are reaching a larger number of people, helping citizens to be better prepared in the event of catastrophe or serious accidents," said Carlos Neves.