The subdelegate of the Government in A Coruña, María Rivas, today highlighted the impact of the Government Recovery Plan on improving emergency management through new technologies with the Es-Alert System, which was tested today in the city of A Coruña and its area. This system was used this morning by the Galician Emergency Agency during the accident simulation at the Repsol refinery, in which the subdelegate also participated as a member of the Emergency Management Committee at the Advanced Command Post.
María Rivas stressed the value of the new system of alerts to the population before emergencies (Es-Alert), which the Ministry of the Interior tested in Galicia for the first time in the City of Maceda, and which is currently being tested in different places in Spain.
This system was deployed in 2022, the result of an agreement between the Ministries of the Interior and Digital Transformation, and is part of the National Civil Protection Network. The Government made it available to the emergency coordination centres of the Autonomous Communities, such as AXEGA in the case of Galicia, within the framework of the National Civil Protection System. These centers, together with the National Center for Emergency Monitoring and Coordination of the Ministry of the Interior, are responsible, within their area of competence, for defining and issuing alerts when the situation requires it.
María Rivas stressed the importance of this technology “which today allowed us to send a simultaneous text message to about 300,000 mobile phones”, and which adds to the tools already available to the National Civil Protection System.
Collaboration with the simulation
María Rivas stressed that these exercises are “essential for the authorities, to be able to improve the performance in the face of an emergency or disaster, and also to test the operation of new tools such as Es-Alert”. He also reported that the Subdelegation participated in the preparatory meetings and in the development of the exercise, as part of the direction of the emergency, and contributed human resources for the execution through the State Corps and Security.
Regarding the security forces, the subdelegate indicated that there are 38 National Police and Civil Guard troops that are part of the simulation. He explained that there are 32 people in the National Police, since 4 police intervention units (UIPs) and 1 radio patrol units participate. For its part, the Civil Traffic Guard and the Citizen Security Unit participate, bringing a total of 6 people together.