The President of the Government announced on the island of Pico that the Regional Government is already working to improve the tools available for the Region in state of emergency situations in the context of the Legal Scheme on the Civil Protection System of the Autonomous Region of the Azores. 

"We are talking about the improvement of solutions that were in force during the state of emergency. Some of these solutions concern the competences and powers of the Regional Health Authority and beyond," said Vasco Cordeiro. 

At the opening ceremony of the expansion works of Lajes do Pico Fire Station, the President of the Government sated that this work is the result of “one of the lessons” that can be learned from the pandemic situation in the Region in area of Civil Protection. 
 
“The Regional Government is already working on the legal aspect of providing the Legal Scheme on the Civil Protection System with the appropriate tools in face of situations like the one we are currently experiencing,” said Vasco Cordeiro. 

"This is work is already in progress with the aim of improving our capabilities in this area," ensured the President of the Government. On the occasion, he took the opportunity to praise the work of Azorean firefighters and all those who were involved in the first phase of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Quoting Winston Churchill during World War II - “never so many owed so much to so few” -, Vasco Cordeiro considered that, in the current pandemic situation and still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Lorenzo, this also applies not only to Azorean firefighters, but also to professionals from the Regional Health Service, Regional Civil Protection, Security Forces and many other services in the Region. 

“The 40 years of the Azores Regional Civil Protection and Fire Service that are now being celebrated are rich in examples and testimonies demonstrating that, whenever necessary, Azorean firefighters have made the difference between life and death," stressed the President of the Government. 

At this opening ceremony, Vasco Cordeiro also highlighted the investments made in terms of infrastructures, such as the ongoing construction of Povoação fire station, estimated at around 2.6 million Euros, as well as the new Faial fire station, which will start soon. 

In addition, the new regulations for the provision of ambulance patient transport services, carried out by the Humanitarian Associations of Voluntary Firefighters, entered into force this week, providing for an increase in the monthly allocation for this service by 17%, said the President of the Government. 

This was the third consecutive increase in allocation for patient transport services, which had already increased 10% in 2018 and 10% in 2019. 
 
“This does not mean that everything is done, but it means that we are on the right track, that we are keeping up with the efforts and trying to strengthen this essential component of our collective life,” concluded the President of the Government.