The global celebration of this day comes in appreciation of the great role played by civil defence and protection agencies to secure people from disasters of any kind and to strengthen the means of prevention and the foundations of public safety.
Here in Malta, too, we started commemorating this celebration on the first of March every year since the Civil Protection Department in Malta was founded in 1996 after the Italian Government had donated a number of fire engines to the Maltese Government which together with the already existing fleet complemented to set up the Department of Civil Protection for the first time. These fire engines were handed to the Malta Police Corps Fire Brigade in order to strengthen its firefighting and rescue capabilities. This was done until the Civil Protection Department could recruit its personnel in order to be able to take over from the Police Corps.
It was on 15 January 2000 that the Civil Protection Department (CPD) started functioning. In 2004 the Government of Malta enacted legislation whereby the CPD could recruit within its ranks a number of volunteers to serve and assist the department in its functions. Since its inception, the CPD has responded to innumerable emergencies, both man-made and natural and coordinates its response with the Police, Health, the Armed Forces of Malta and NGOs. The CPD officers are trained both locally and abroad with a number of entities in order to specialise in various emergency issues.
The Civil Protection Act (Cap.411) lays out the duties of the CPD, one of which is to assist government entities, the public and other entities to prepare their resilience in prevention, preparedness and response to identified disasters or incidents.
A National Risk Assessment report was drawn up in 2015 and gave a detailed explanation of existing risks (natural and man-made) that Malta could face in the coming years. It outlined the likelihood and possible potential impact of each identified hazard that could affect the country and its citizens in the coming years. The key risks that were identified, which include both natural and man-made hazards, were earthquakes and tsunamis, hurricanes and floods, structural fires, epidemics and pandemics.
During this one day during the year, we get to watch practical demonstrations in, among other things, abseiling, fire-fighting, dog-handling, Hazmat, diving and heavy and light rescue. We also get to view equipment used by the CPD in its daily duties and are able to meet with CPD personnel and find out more about the Department and its duties. It is a commendable activity along the lines of the yearly Police Day and Armed Forces open day events. Yet is this enough to truly and fully appreciate all the efforts and risks that go with the daily functions of the CPD? Do we give them enough recognition?
It should be a day for celebrating the significance of civil protection and commemorating those who have sacrificed for it. Civil protection personnel are always standing by all year round ready to protect facilities and the environment while also helping people grow and stay secure whenever and wherever the need arises. It should be an important day because it promotes awareness among citizens about disaster preparation, avoidance and self-protection. It aims to raise public knowledge of civil protection, emergency preparedness and crisis administration in better preparing citizens to assist in emergency situations and to minimise the risk of catastrophe.
The origins of celebrating this day can be traced back to 1931 when a certain Surgeon-General George Saint-Paul founded the Association of Geneva Zones. After witnessing the toll of war on the people, Saint-Paul wanted to create safety zones where civilians could get help in times of war. Civil defence and civil protection are about saving citizens from natural disasters by guiding them on how to protect themselves through knowledge of prevention, preparation, response, evacuation and recovery skills. We also celebrate the day to pay tribute to the efforts and accomplishments of all our national agencies engaged in civil protection services.
How can we not laud all the efforts put in by CPD personnel throughout the year in ensuring it can function to the fullest possible extent during and after an emergency, provide support to our emergency services, the police, the Fire Brigade and ambulance services while planning and providing for civil protection emergency management? They are always ready to spring into action to support our community during any significant emergency event. Indeed, in every such emergency situation of the past the CPD always successfully applied the four Rs of emergency management, Reduction, Readiness, Response and Recovery, in order to achieve maximum results.
Of course, such sterling service could never have been possible without the massive investment that the Home Ministry allotted to the CPD for upgrading its equipment. Over the last few years, Malta Industrial Parks (MIP) assisted it to procure a small fleet comprising two water bowsers having a capacity of 42,000 litres each, complete with pumps and one mechanical horse to pull and two truck bowsers having a capacity of 20,000 litres each. It is now possible for it to extinguish large-scale fires, including but not limited to those at industrial facilities. This was followed by an investment of €2.7m in a high-rise hydraulic platform and two fire engines to deal with emergencies in tall buildings, two new vehicles to carry heavy objects which cannot be carried with other equipment and special equipment in case of tsunami between Malta and Sicily.
Notwithstanding all this, however, we are all expected to do our part in collaborating with the CPD. The cost of educating ourselves about the prevention measures of disaster occurrences is much lesser than learning from tragedy. We must all be ready to learn and spread all the information simultaneously regarding the measures to protect our lives in many dire situations and take part in disaster prevention and simulation exercises to stay strong on the level of preparedness.
We ought to be proud of our CPD.
Dr Mark Said is an advocate