SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Sep 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –
A total of 456 people who have been evicted on the island of La Palma as a result of the volcanic eruption in Cumbre Vieja have been treated by the Red Cross in the Canary Islands in a provisional shelter deployed by its Immediate Response Team in Emergencies in the Barracks of El Strong, In Breña Baja.
It is an installation of the Army in which there is currently the capacity to serve 600 people. In addition, there are two meeting points on the island for the affiliation of evacuees: one in the municipality of Los Llanos de Aridane and another in El Paso; From these same places, if necessary, transfers are made to the shelter by Red Cross personnel.
Their Immediate Emergency Response Teams (ERIE) of Shelter and Logistics, Communications, Psychosocial Care and Search and Rescue participate in this device. A total of 70 volunteers and workers from the Red Cross are collaborating in all kinds of tasks, from data collection upon arrival to the delivery of blankets, hygiene products, food and drinks, support in evacuations, transfers, health care or psychosocial care. Also, 250 additional people are ready to join the device for relay or expansion when necessary.
Among the material resources are three ambulances, a logistics vehicle, a rescue vehicle, two adapted transport vehicles and four trucks to transport goods, 2,000 beds available, more than 3,000 blankets delivered, 7,718 food and beverages and 514 hygiene kits. and there is prepared, if necessary, an advanced medical post with 50 places that would allow reinforcing the Insular Hospital. In addition, there have been 12 medical transfers and 28 evacuations of people with reduced mobility.
Daniel Losada, displaced from the Emergency Unit of the Spanish Red Cross to La Palma, has especially highlighted how the Canarian volunteer service has turned to their neighbors, since “most of the staff is from the area”. In addition to the logistics or the delivery of goods in which they participate, he stressed that the psychosocial care they are providing is essential at this time, “and we are not only talking about the moment of the emergency, but about the importance of keeping in mind what this supposes in his life in the long term “, hence he emphasizes that it is essential” to take care of mental health at all times, and especially in emergencies “.
In addition to the people evicted by the emergency, the Red Cross also takes care of all the necessary personnel involved in it, who work every day on the ground, such as the Military Emergency Unit (UME), the Association of Professional Firefighters of the Canary Islands , sanitary personnel of the SAMU of Seville and the volunteer fire service of the Canary Islands.
The Red Cross is at all times in coordination with the Government of the Canary Islands to facilitate supplies and logistical support to those involved; Since September 11, when the first seismic movements intensified and concentrated, the Canary Islands Red Cross has participated in the actions contemplated in the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan, in accordance with the agreements signed with the Island Council and the Government of Canarias, as a collaborating entity of the National Civil Protection System.
During the eruptive phase, the Red Cross is participating in the meetings of the Steering Committee and Technical Committee of the Emergency Plan. The situation, which exceeds what is foreseen in the agreements, has been able to give an optimal response through the capacity for extraordinary response, installed in the Canary archipelago, for the attention of large arrivals of migrants and that is financed by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, which has made all its capacities available to this emergency situation.
The very nature of the volcanic risk manifested is of great uncertainty in its evolution. We are facing a situation that can be prolonged in time and expand the affected area of the Island. It is foreseeable that as the emergency actions in the field of civil protection are completed, the Red Cross will support the affected people in the recovery phases, with special attention to family nuclei that have suffered the total loss of their homes and means of subsistence.
Among the priorities are the following: to resume school activity in the short term in schools that are currently occupied by collective shelters; guarantee the food security and health of the evacuated population (installed in shelters or relocated with family or friends); rehabilitate with mitigation measures the road infrastructure of the affected area, the situation of damaged bridges; the rehabilitation of all basic services in the affected areas: electricity, drinking water, among others; evaluate the viability of the new settlement that includes a process of physical, economic, psychological and social recovery, with a risk management approach; school support and minimize the impact of the catastrophe on young people; technological support in the disaster zone; health and food training for the population of La Palma; psychosocial support for affected people; and so on.
