The president of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service stated in Angra do Heroísmo that "all goals intended to be achieved with the 'Bull 2017' drill have been met."
 
Carlos Neves spoke at the press conference for the presentation of the drill outcome. He stressed that the scenarios were created in order to "increase the difficulty in coordinating and managing the communication capacity as well as to test the response of the agents involved to the limit."
 
In this regard, he considered the results "very satisfactory," adding that all entities involved "were able to overcome and solve the problems posed to them.
 
"We have taken steps that will allow us to improve the coordination of means and the use of equipment," said the president of SRPCBA.
 
About the training component, Carlos Neves revealed that it is necessary to "focus objectively on the area of search and rescue in collapsed structures."
 
"Bull 2017" was the largest Civil Protection drill organised by SRPCBA. It consisted of a simulation of several seismological events, two of which felt by the population, reportedly with a magnitude of 4.5 and 7.2 on the Richter scale, causing about 30 occurrences throughout Terceira Island.
 
In this context, there were several simulated calls for assistance made by civilians as well as various scenarios that included destroyed houses, obstructed roads, isolated populations, evacuations of populations, missing persons and other accidents that might happen in an earthquake situation.
 
The president of SRPCBA thanked all entities involved "for their commitment, dedication and professionalism in their performance throughout the whole drill."
 
The "Bull 2017" involved the fire brigades of Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória, various members of São Jorge, Pico and Faial fire corporations, and a fire brigade from Madeira.
 
The drill also involved the Regional Directorates for Health, Tourism, Public Works and Communications, Housing, Environment and Forest Resources as well as the Regional Civil Engineering Laboratory, the Azores Social Security Institute and the Information and Seismovolcanic Surveillance of the Azores.
 
Moreover, the Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória City Halls, through their Civil Protection Municipal Services, took part in the drill, in addition to PSP (Public Security Police), GNR (National Security Guard), radio amateur associations from Terceira and the Azores Operational Command through its different branches.