The Regional Secretary for Health, Teresa Machado Luciano, met today with the Board of the Nordeste Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters and the Nordeste Fire Department Command on S. Miguel Island. This meeting is part of a series of visits to every association and fire brigade of the Azores to become better acquainted with the different realities of these entities.
 
The association's financial situation, future projects, volunteer service in this fire department as well as its equipment and vehicle needs were some of the topics under discussion at the meeting.
 
With these initiatives, the Secretary for Health, who is responsible for the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service, also intends to take a direct approach to the existing reality. This will allow her to outline future goals so as to ensure that the assistance to the populations is efficiently provided.
 
Furthermore, Teresa Machado Luciano intends to assess the way rescue operations are conducted in view of the specificities of each municipality, namely in terms of municipality size, population, number of occurrences and relief features.