Civil defense is an organization whose function is to provide support to the population in the context of emergencies generated by natural disasters or other phenomena. These entities have the support of governments for their operation.
Those who make up civil defense, also called civil protection , work to guarantee the security and survival of residents and their assets in the face of the consequences of any phenomenon. The birth of this type of organization occurred in 1949 through a protocol added to the Treaty of Geneva to assist victims of war.
When reference is made to the organization in general , that is, without referring to any group in particular, the expression is written with a lowercase letter ( civil defense ). On the other hand, if the intention is to mention a specific organization, it should be written with a capital letter: Civil Defense of Egypt , Civil Defense of the Municipality of San Benito , etc.
Civil defense members perform multiple tasks to safeguard people. They can create shelters, coordinate evacuation, install first aid and health services, delimit a dangerous area, carry out decontamination tasks, capture dangerous animals and organize vehicular traffic, for example.
Beyond acting during and after a disaster, members of civil defense also fulfill important prevention functions. To do this, they must carry out an analysis of possible risks and work with the population to minimize the possibilities of contingency. They also have to plan the necessary action in case of emergency (determining how to declare the alert , evacuate people, etc.).
Stages of civil defense intervention
Broadly speaking, we can differentiate three stages in the actions of civil defense in the context of a disaster, with the aim of minimizing damage .
The first of them is the prevention stage , within which there is also a division, which begins with the information phase ; Throughout it, the organization carries out education and information tasks so that people are aware of the phenomena and their consequences, as well as the possible paths towards prevention .
During the preparation phase , civil defense implements certain prevention-oriented activities, such as disaster drills to train people in the best way to act against them; This includes identifying the nearest exit from the building and safe areas, for example.
The alert phase is the last that makes up this stage, and is carried out without rest, since it consists of constant monitoring to inform citizens of any anomaly as soon as it is detected.
While the disaster itself is taking place, the second of the major stages develops, the emergency stage, during which all resources are put at the service of society. Here we can also speak of the survival phase to refer to the putting into practice everything learned to face the problem, both to save oneself and others.
Finally comes the reconstruction stage , where the reestablishment of basic services is carried out, such as the supply of electricity, drinking water and wastewater collection services and telecommunications, among others, in addition to the reconstruction of the areas that have been destroyed due to the disaster .
Throughout all these stages it is very important to have the help of a large number of volunteers who work to disseminate information and raise awareness in society, both before the disaster, during and after.