The director of the Civil Protection and Emergency Agency, Irene Cortés Calvo, has today closed this three-day course organized within the framework of the Proctepger_Horizonte_27 project funded by the POCTEP 21/27 program, which took place at the Cistierna fire station and the White Water Canal of Sabero-Alejico (León).
May 8, 2025
Castilla y León | Ministry of Environment, Housing, and Territorial Planning
Until the end of 2026, the Civil Protection and Emergency Agency is immersed in the execution of the PROCTEPGER_HORIZONTE_27 project for the protection of people, property, and the environment. This is a cross-border collaboration project in which, on the part of Castilla y León, besides the Junta de Castilla y León, the City Councils of León, Salamanca, and Zamora and the Provincial Councils of Ávila, León, and Salamanca participate. The Portuguese side is represented by the Intermunicipal Community of Beiras e Serra da Estrela (CIMRBSE).
One of the pillars of the project is the cross-border training of human resources in the civil protection systems of the partnership territories. The purpose of the training is to provide these personnel with the necessary tools and knowledge for their intervention during risk management to be effective and to restore normality as soon as possible after the emergency.
One of the common risks shared by the project partners are floods and inundations, which increasingly cause significant imbalances in the economic and social life of the territories. Hence the importance of preparing firefighters for rescues and salvages in rivers, floods, and inundations, as members of the fire prevention, extinguishing, and rescue services that are essential services in the civil protection system.
With this focus, between May 6 and 8, at the Cistierna fire station and the White Water Canal of Sabero-Alejico (León), a course has been developed to provide these professionals with the basic knowledge to deal with emergency situations related to aquatic surface rescue in rivers, floods, and inundations; familiarize themselves as rescuers with this aquatic environment; know the action protocols, the appropriate personal and collective equipment, and the specific material for this type of emergencies.
During the 21 teaching hours of the course, 18 firefighters from Castilla y León and two Portuguese have covered topics such as accident prevention in aquatic environments; aquatic surface rescue and salvage; self-protection and personal safety equipment; collective equipment for rescue and salvage in rivers, floods, and inundations, and emergency medical assistance in aquatic environments.
The course concluded with a simulated accident involving a vehicle falling into the bed of the White Water Canal, trapping people inside. To extract them, firefighters had to use specialized extrication equipment and practice different intervention techniques, depending on the type of victim entrapment encountered.
The director of the Civil Protection and Emergency Agency attended this practical exercise and highlighted in her intervention that, although she hopes that the attending firefighters will never have to apply what they have learned to a real situation, the Ministry of Environment, Housing, and Territorial Planning advocates for this type of training because «investing in the human capital of the Community’s Civil Protection system is investing in public safety, which translates into being prepared to face all kinds of critical situations that, unfortunately, are increasingly recurring.»
Irene Cortés also reminded firefighters that before the end of the current parliamentary session, it is expected that the Courts of Castilla y León will approve the first law of Castilla y León regarding the coordination of fire prevention, extinguishing, and rescue services, which will standardize for the entire Community the statutory relationship that these professionals maintain with their respective local administrations.
Finally, the director noted that the investment in the course was €18,000 and that the repetition of new editions will depend on the evaluation made by the professionals who participated in it.