The deputy delegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, presided this morning the act of delivery of diplomas to 18 volunteer radio amateurs of the National Emergency Radio Network (REMER) in the provincial territory in recognition of their long activity and their selfless collaboration with this Civil Protection network.
This year the recognition for his work in REMER for 40 years has been for Edison Hit, a 76-year-old Coruñés who, among many other experiences, remembered the maritime tragedies experienced on the Galician coast such as the sinking of the Casón and the Aegean Sea.
All the radio amateurs distinguished today, agreed that what motivates them to remain active in this network, for so many years is their spirit of collaboration and willingness to help in those situations in which their help is required.
At today’s event, held in the Delegation, a diploma was also given to 13 volunteers who have been in service for 30 years, 2 to volunteers who have been in service for 20 years and 2 to those who have been in service for 4 years.
During her speech, the subdelegate wanted to highlight “the altruistic and generous dedication to public service” of the fourteen radio stations honored, as well as “the importance of the work of all the members of this network that, in a digital world, represents a reliable and secure alternative to guarantee communications when the rest of transmissions stop working”.
The subdelegate thanked the volunteers for their efforts “to keep this network alive, to keep your teams up to date, to be always available in case something goes wrong, as has happened in the case of the pandemic”, a period in which REMER remained in a pre-alert position.
María Rivas stressed that the diplomas awarded today “are not a simple accreditation of the years of dedication, but the recognition of the commitment to service to citizenship in a selfless way”.
The head of the Civil Protection Unit in the Government Delegation, Dolores Gómez, and the coordinator of the REMER in the province, Jesús Varela, accompanied the subdelegate during the presentation of diplomas.
The role of the REMER
The Emergency Radio Network is a complementary organization to the Command Network of the General Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergencies of the Ministry of the Interior. At the provincial level, it has 113 members (5 of them women) and depends on the respective government delegates and sub-delegates in the different autonomous communities and provinces.
Its fundamental task is to bring closer to Civil Protection a communications network that ensures transmissions between the different services involved in the accidents and provide comprehensive and timely information on the circumstances and evolution of the same.
This network is particularly important when terrestrial infrastructures and facilities are vulnerable in certain emergency or disaster situations; when telecommunications are unavailable, damaged, congested or overloaded; or when there is a lack of coverage in emergency areas of remote locations.
The network is made up of radio amateurs who, on a voluntary basis, are integrated into the structure to collaborate in emergency situations. Currently, about 4,000 employees are part of REMER, 112 of them in A Coruña, who provide a service in an altruistic way.
As they are personal, autonomous and independent teams of the professional communication services of Civil Protection, radio amateurs can sometimes be the only effective alternative in communications before any eventual failure of other ways. To belong to this Network, you must have the title of radio operator and the relevant license of the General Directorate of Telecommunications. The members of REMER have several transmission equipment and are located 24 hours a day, which allows their immediate incorporation in case of an emergency (floods, forest fires, earthquakes, accidents of special relevance, etc. ).
In the province, the network is structured in three working areas, covering the whole of its territory: Monte Faradión (A Capela), Monte Zapateira (A Coruña) and Monte Ruña (Mazaricos).