Malta's Civil Protection Department is still in its infancy, having been set up in 2000. Its members are the people who risk their lives to save others. Their head, Peter Cordina, tells Rosanne Zammit about the department's plans to get the whole community more involved in civil protection.
The head of the Civil Protection Department has a dream - to involve the whole country in civil protection responsibilities.
Peter Cordina wants every town and village in Malta and Gozo to have a core group of six to eight people trained in first response to emergencies that might crop up in their localities.
To achieve this, he intends roping in the local councils. Special courses will be run with their help to establish a whole community of people able to assist in civil protection duties as required.
Mr Cordina intends to start the courses this year, on a voluntary basis - approval has already been granted by the Department of Local Councils. He is convinced that the response will be good since people have always shown great interest in the work of the CPD.
Throughout this year, Mr Cordina also intends to raise awareness, with the help of the media, on what members of the public should do in different emergency scenarios.
This is being done under an EU public awareness programme together with another two countries and the International Civil Defence Organisation, of which the CPD is a member.
The department has already adopted an educational role. Its personnel have visited various schools in Malta and Gozo giving lectures and it believes that by reaching students it will also reach parents.
The CPD is now working on a quality service charter to ensure a good response to public emergencies. Through the charter, Mr Cordina said, the CPD wants to show that it is not afraid of criticism and suggestions. The department receives hundreds of letters of appreciation from the public. It would also like to receive suggestions about how it could improve its operations.
The whole population, he said, should feel part of the CPD and get involved.
Mr Cordina, a lieutenant colonel, is the only member of the CPD who is also a member of the police force (having joined the force from the army). He has been with the department since the early days in 2000, when it was still under development.
He was previously the director of prisons but had asked for a transfer for family reasons. Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg had obliged and Mr Cordina took over the CPD.
He has since worked to build it up into a department with a permanent staff of 135 and 35 volunteers working in eight different sections. Half the staff came from the police force on a voluntary basis and the others from the civil service.
Among its personnel the department counts fire fighters, rescuers, divers and dog handlers. It has an EU office, a marine unit, a humanitarian aid unit (HAU) and an operations centre.
At the beginning, the CPD's sole responsibility was fire fighting, as one of rescue services on land, but its role has expanded over the years in large part thanks to assistance given by other countries and organisations.
All the CPD's land and sea equipment, for example, has been donated by the Italian government through the fourth financial protocol.
But the CPD is now proud that Italy has chosen it to train two of its CPD volunteers. A branch of the Italian Red Cross, the Gruppo Edelweiss, will also send people to Malta to be trained by the CPD as part of a twinning project.
The department is affiliated to the International Atomic Energy Association and the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, from whom it has received training and equipment.
Another benefactor is the United States, which also provides training and equipment including for decontamination purposes in the event of a chemical incident.
Mr Cordina recalled that in 2003, an agreement was reached between the 25 EU countries under which their civil protection departments would help each other in an emergency. This means that if a calamity were to take place in Malta that the CPD could not handle on its own, help would be guaranteed within hours.
The agreement was on the verge of being put into practice that very year, when Malta was flooded on September 15. Had the heavy rain continued, the EU had been ready to send the assistance required.
Thankfully, Mr Cordina said, the rain stopped and the situation was brought under control without the need for overseas help, although the EU later gave financial aid.
On that day, the CPD had asked people to stay at home. "Everyone obeyed and many were pleased they had a good excuse not to go to work," he observed with a smile.
Turning deadly serious, he noted that others ignored the emergency warnings issued by the CPD through the media, putting their lives and those of others in danger.
He appealed to people, especially the elderly, to listen to the radio if ever there is an emergency and to also have a battery-operated radio on hand in case of a power cut.
The CPD tested the EU agreement in a mock exercise last year when it requested the help of other countries for a "major earthquake" in Malta. Several countries immediately offered to send helicopter assistance and expert teams.
Malta, in turn, has been quick to respond to real international disasters, giving the biggest pro-rata assistance to Sri Lanka in the Tsunami disaster. It also sent medical supplies to Romania when floods struck that country, as well as $12,000 in response to the US Katrina disaster and medical supplies, food and tents for victims of the Pakistan earthquake.
The department's humanitarian unit collects stocks of blankets, bedding, clothes, tinned food and water to be used in case of a national emergency. The stocks are used when an international emergency requiring such supplies comes up and are then replenished.
The CPD has drawn up contingency plans - which it is obliged to do by law - for floods, earthquakes, major fires, firework factory explosions and gas depot explosions. It is also involved in the avian flu contingency plan that has been prepared by the Health Department.
The CPD is on the scene in serious incidents such as fires and traffic accidents where people with major injuries get caught in cars. It has the unpleasant duty of extracting accident victims from their vehicles, so post-trauma assistance is offered to all CPD personnel through the Richmond Foundation.
But although the work of the CPD is tough and sometimes gory, it gives its personnel the opportunity to save lives, Mr Cordina said. "It is of the utmost satisfaction when someone comes up to us and says 'you saved my life'."
Last year, a call for applications for volunteers to join the CPD was issued and taken up by 35 people. The volunteers are involved in the day-to-day work of the CPD and in emergencies.
"They are so enthusiastic we do not have to call them if there is an emergency. They come without being asked and make themselves available for service."
In the dog section, the CPD has trained four Labradors to trace people caught under collapsed buildings or rubble.
The CPD's marine unit is in charge of rescue at sea and coordination in case of major oil spills. Malta, Mr Cordina said, will be hosting a seminar on oil pollution at sea in June as part of the EuroMed project. At least 20 countries will be taking part.
Since joining the EU, the country has to be in line with European developments. The directors of all the CPDs in Europe meet once every six months to discuss operations and how they can be of assistance to each other.
The EU Monitoring and Information Centre is also in constant contact with the department and provides daily information on meteorological and seismological activities in the world with emphasis on Europe and the Mediterranean.
The CPD is regulated by the Civil Protection Council which is led by Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and includes the heads of the Armed Forces, the police, the health, public works and industrial and employment relations departments, the Gozo Ministry, non-governmental organisations, local councils and Enemalta. This council meets every so often to discuss the action being taken by the different bodies for purposes of coordination and cooperation.
There is also a scientific committee made up of experts from different departments, the aim of which is to advise the CPD in case of national emergencies.