On 8 November 2018, Catalonia held its second emergency drill of the year, coordinated by the Catalonia Operations Coordination Centre (CECAT). The main aim was to check that the warning sirens worked properly and to build risk awareness among the public.
How the drill went
From 10 a.m., 86 sirens were activated across 38 Catalan municipalities. In Camp de Tarragona, almost half of the alarms were activated, and a total of 46 schools took an active part. According to Eli Llombart, head of Civil Protection in Tarragona, “the aim is to check that they work, that they sound and can be heard and, above all, that people know what they mean and how to act; we need a culture of risk, to know where we live and what to do if an emergency occurs”.
The exercise involved activating the alarms that tell the public to shelter in place, followed ten minutes later by a second activation to announce the end of the risk episode. Drills like this aim to reduce the number of calls to 112 during real emergencies, a sign that the public better understands the protocols.
Lafcarr's role in installing the sirens
Sirens installed by Lafcarr were activated in several areas, including the Llobregat chemical sector, Vallès Occidental and Bages, Vallès Oriental, Flix and Tortosa, the Port of Barcelona and Zona Franca, Tarragona's north and south industrial estates, the Llobregat chemical sector, Tordera and Neoelectra Aran. The only incident was in Martorell, where one alarm failed to sound due to a battery problem.
The importance of risk awareness
These drills are essential to prepare the public for possible chemical emergencies. The active involvement of schools and the wider community underlines the importance of knowing and following established protocols to keep everyone safe.
For more information, see the original article in La Vanguardia:
https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/tarragona/20181108/452822021831/simulacro-emergencia-sirenas-catalunya.html
