Curcio: “The Civil Protection system is alive and based on Giuseppe Zamberletti’s Friulian vision”

UDINE. «The Civil Protection system is very lively, it changes with the changing needs of society and is based on the Friulian vision of our father Giuseppe Zamberletti. We must always think about how to intercept the needs of citizenship today and tomorrow ».

This is in summary the principle and the modalities that animate the Civil Protection system, according to the Head of the Pc Department, Fabrizio Curcio, on the sidelines of a ceremony to thank the Fvg volunteers. Curcio participated – on Saturday 16 July – in a meeting at the Martignacco Fair, organized to thank the volunteers for their commitment in any type of emergency.

“We must think together about the challenges of the future – said Curcio -. Being here is a sign of respect for a fundamental component in the system ». In Fvg there are over 10 thousand civil protection volunteers, numerous local mayors and institutions were also present at the meeting at the fair.

“Civil protection has always been at the forefront in the management of emergencies, first of all, in recent years, the pandemic in which even in the most critical moments the role of the voluntary system has been fundamental: from the lockdown with the assistance provided to citizens, to the organization of vaccination hubs.

Saying thank you is not enough because it is thanks to the many volunteers that hospitals have been able to give answers not only to those who had contracted Covid, but also to all other diseases. Without the generous and punctual work of the Civil Protection system it would not have been possible to open the vaccination hubs. Our Civil Protection system is an added value and an excellence recognized also at national and international level “.

This was stated by the governor of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Massimiliano Fedriga, on the occasion of the event organized to thank the volunteers and the regional civil protection system for their commitment in dealing with the many emergencies of recent years: from the Vaia storm of 2018, to the flood of November 2019, the snowy events of December 2020 and January 2021 up to the Sicily emergencies in August last year, Ukraine and Covid-19.

Also present at the event at the Fair were the deputy governor with responsibility for the Civil Protection of the Fvg, Riccardo Riccardi, the councilors for productive activities and tourism Sergio Emidio Bini, for agri-food, forestry, fish and mountain resources, Stefano Zannier, in infrastructures and Graziano territory Pizzimenti with the participation of all the components of the Friuli Venezia Civil Protection system, municipal groups, voluntary associations, mayors, institutional bodies and law enforcement agencies.

Fedriga retraced the beginnings of the pandemic, the difficulties encountered in the face of a virus that caught everyone unprepared and the difficult choices made “but the results obtained in this region are the result of teamwork – said the governor -; we have demonstrated what it means to be a community in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The earthquake of ’76 is not only a necessary memory but a living experience in the people of this land that re-emerges in difficulties “.

“I never expected to be president of the Region in a pandemic – Fedriga pointed out – in a Friuli Venezia Giulia which, especially in the second and third wave, was one of the most affected territories.

Thanks to the regional direction of Health, to the Civil Protection system we have made some difficult but fundamental choices to carry out a community in moments that sometimes seemed insurmountable “.

He also thanked the entire regional council, first and foremost to the deputy governor, and to the mayors “because regardless of the political color, the great sense of collaboration, responsibility, institutional unity, fundamental in the management of emergencies, has never been lacking.” as he expressed his gratitude to the police, to the prefectures, to the regional council.

Fedriga shared the concerns about the urgent choices made “decisions that entered into people’s daily lives and that I made by reasoning also as a father and not just as an administrator”.

“A complex legislature”, Riccardi commented, thanking the entire regional system and the council, expressing personal gratitude to Fedriga for the ability to work as a team, and to the volunteers “women and men who are fundamental to countering emergencies experienced and in progress, whose role was crucial in an important alliance with the health system “.

The deputy governor then renewed his commitment to the Civil Protection voluntary service system with a large investment of around ten million euros for training and equipment that “will allow us to further expand the system’s ability to react”.

Among the objectives, Riccardi recalled prevention, with the lesson of Giuseppe Zamberletti, “who taught us to do things sooner than what can happen later” and the challenge to feed the voluntary system: “An experience that it cannot end, to be carried out with the involvement of young people; on this we must create the conditions so that it can continue “.

Amedeo Aristei, general director of civil protection of the Fvg, Amedeo Aristei, illustrated the numbers of the emergencies dealt with (Covid-19 Vaia flood, 2019 flood, 2020-2021 snow emergency, Sicily and Ukraine), who summarized a total of 127,737 man days donated to the community an equivalent of 12 million euros.

On the sidelines of the event, Pizzimenti underlined how today was a day of celebration and gratitude for the constant commitment of the volunteers while Zannier recalled in particular the further important service of the Civil Protection in support for forest fire and Bini noted the characteristics of the Civil Protection model which has always been characterized by professionalism, solidarity, altruism and expressed how it represents a great source of pride for Friuli Venezia Giulia.