It is called civil defense to one organization whose function is provide support to the population within emergencies generated by natural catastrophes or other phenomena. These entities have the backing of governments for its funtionability.
Those who integrate civil defense, also called civil protection , work to ensure the security and the survival of the inhabitants and their heritage in the face of the consequences of some phenomenon. The birth of such organizations came in 1949 through a protocol added to Geneva Treaty to assist the victims of the fighting.
When referring to the organization in general , that is, without referring to any particular group, the expression is written in lower case (civil defense ). On the other hand, if the intention is to mention a specific organization, it should be written with an initial capital letter: Egyptian Civil Defense , 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 sanitary services, delimit a dangerous area, develop decontamination tasks, capture dangerous animals and organize vehicular traffic, for example.
Beyond acting during and after a catastrophe, members of the civil defense also fulfill important functions of prevention . For 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 one 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 to prevention .
During the preparation phase , the civil defense implements certain prevention-oriented activities, such as being disaster drills to train people in the best way to act against them; This includes the identification of the nearest exit of the building and of the safe areas, for example.
The alert phase it is the last one that composes this stage, and it is carried out without rest, since it consists of constantly monitoring to inform citizens of any anomaly as soon as it is detected.
While the disaster itself takes place, the second of the great stages unfolds, the of emergency , during which all resources are put at the service of society. Here you can also talk about survival phase to refer to the implementation of everything learned to deal with the problem, both to save oneself and others.
Finally comes the reconstruction stage , where the restoration of basic services is carried out, such as the supply of electricity, drinking water and sewage and telecommunications collection services, among others, in addition to the reconstruction of 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 that work to disseminate information and raise awareness in society, both before the disaster, and during and after.
