The Civil Protection Department (CPD) intends to join forces with local councils later this year to hold courses in emergency response for volunteers in various communities.

The courses will be held in a bid to have a core of six to eight persons in each and every locality in Malta and Gozo trained to respond to any emergency that might crop up.

The head of the CPD Peter Cordina told The Times in an interview (see page 13) that with the help of the media he also intends to raise public awareness on what members of the public should do in different emergency scenarios.

The department will also seek suggestions from the public about how it can improve its services, with Mr Cordina saying the whole population should feel part of the CPD and get involved.

He described how in spite of their tough and difficult job, his personnel derived satisfaction from saving people's lives.

"It is of the utmost satisfaction when someone comes up to us and says 'you saved my life'," he said.

He appealed to the public to obey instructions the CPD issued from time to time during emergencies so as not to put his people's lives in danger unnecessarily.