Activa JavaScript para disfrutar de los vídeos de la Mediateca.
Coping in a crisis
Ajuste de pantallaEl ajuste de pantalla se aprecia al ver el vídeo en pantalla completa. Elige la presentación que más te guste:
We live in an unpredictable world where disaster can strike at any time. But that does not mean all calamities are inevitable or that it is impossible to plan a rapid reaction to tragedies. Catastrophes can be natural, like the South Asia Tsunami that left over 300 000 people dead in 2004. Or they can be man made, like the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah fighters, which caused huge suffering and damage, particularly in Lebanon. This detailed news report looks at the global support mechanisms put in place by the European Union to respond to man-made and natural disasters. Footage includes images from the Monitoring and Information Centre - or MIC - the heart of the EU's new, co-ordinated civil protection system. The report also provides interviews with Pia Bucella, the European Commission Director responsible for Civil Protection, and a Danish civil protection expert.
That wave is a good 15-20 feet tall. Easy.
00:00:00
We live in an unpredictable world where disaster can strike at any time.
00:00:07
Catastrophes can be natural, like the South Asia tsunami that left over 300,000 people dead in 2004.
00:00:12
Or they can be man-made, like the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah fighters,
00:00:20
which caused huge suffering and damage, particularly in Lebanon.
00:00:25
But whatever the cause, getting help to victims is always a race against time.
00:00:30
The aid and assistance that arrives in a disaster zone in the first hours and days is vital.
00:00:37
It can make the difference between a catastrophe being brought under control
00:00:42
or degenerating into a major humanitarian crisis.
00:00:45
All European countries have a long history of dealing with disasters both at home and abroad.
00:00:51
They've all drawn up what the experts call national civil protection plans
00:00:56
that set out what to do if the unthinkable happens,
00:01:00
and include regular training exercises and simulations.
00:01:03
These Danish civil protection volunteers are learning advanced first aid techniques, for example.
00:01:08
But in 2001, Europe's approach to civil protection entered a new era
00:01:15
when EU governments agreed to set up a system that would allow them to pool their resources.
00:01:19
The decision created one of the most comprehensive and advanced disaster relief mechanisms anywhere in the world.
00:01:25
An essential part of this mechanism is preparation.
00:01:32
Today, disaster relief experts from across the European Union regularly train together
00:01:35
so that they can efficiently work hand-in-hand when tackling catastrophes.
00:01:40
Here, for example, experts from Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Sweden
00:01:45
are taking part in an exercise designed to help them deal with a suspected biological weapons attack.
00:01:50
At the heart of the EU's new coordinated civil protection system
00:01:58
is this rather small room in a European Commission office building in Brussels.
00:02:01
It's called the Monitoring and Information Centre, or MIC for short,
00:02:06
and it plays a vital role in helping the EU to help disaster victims.
00:02:10
The MIC is where emergencies are managed.
00:02:14
From here we send requests for help to Member States.
00:02:23
We gather requests from countries asking for help
00:02:29
and we try to match them with offers of assistance.
00:02:33
We work together for the common objective,
00:02:38
which is to offer help where it is needed.
00:02:41
Since its creation, the MIC, which is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,
00:02:49
has coordinated the EU's response to many major civil protection operations.
00:02:54
Aside from the tsunami, it was involved with aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina,
00:03:00
which ripped through much of the southern United States in 2005.
00:03:04
It also helped manage EU civil protection assistance to victims of the Lebanon War
00:03:09
and has been involved in relief operations following major earthquakes
00:03:14
that shook Morocco, Iran and Algeria.
00:03:18
Closer to home, the Monitoring Centre helped coordinate efforts to combat the pollution
00:03:22
caused by the wreck of the Prestige oil tanker in 2002.
00:03:26
It was involved recently in the fight against forest fires in France, Portugal and Spain.
00:03:31
It's also played a key role in disaster relief work
00:03:37
following the floods that have affected many regions of Europe in recent years.
00:03:40
Peter Korsklessen is a Danish civil protection expert.
00:03:47
He's been sent to disaster zones all over the world
00:03:50
and most of his operations have begun at this training facility near the city of Billund.
00:03:53
The centre boasts a warehouse full of specially packed equipment,
00:03:58
everything from field toilets to tents to generators to satellite telephone links.
00:04:01
All of it ready to fly anywhere at a moment's notice alongside Mr. Korsklessen or his colleagues.
00:04:07
His career began before 2001
00:04:13
and he now often works as an EU coordinator on disaster relief operations around the world.
00:04:16
So he's well placed to see how the new system has changed the way Europe responds to disasters.
00:04:21
Before the system was put in place,
00:04:26
we tended to have bilateral assistance from individual EU countries
00:04:29
to states that asked for help.
00:04:33
Now we're coordinating the way we work much more.
00:04:36
We're trying to pull together our efforts
00:04:46
so that there's one single aid provider
00:04:49
instead of a lot of small individual countries.
00:04:53
The EU's civil protection strategy is constantly under review
00:05:07
with both EU governments and the Union's institutions keen to find new ways to make it work even more efficiently.
00:05:11
Of course the system will never stop disasters happening
00:05:17
but when they do, Europe can now ensure that the right equipment and expertise
00:05:20
reaches those who need it as fast as possible.
00:05:24
- Valoración:
- Eres el primero. Inicia sesión para valorar el vídeo.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- Idioma/s:
- Niveles educativos:
- ▼ Mostrar / ocultar niveles
- Nivel Intermedio
- Autor/es:
- The European Union
- Subido por:
- EducaMadrid
- Licencia:
- Reconocimiento - No comercial - Sin obra derivada
- Visualizaciones:
- 946
- Fecha:
- 5 de diciembre de 2007 - 13:39
- Visibilidad:
- Público
- Enlace Relacionado:
- European Commission
- Duración:
- 05′ 30″
- Relación de aspecto:
- 4:3 Hasta 2009 fue el estándar utilizado en la televisión PAL; muchas pantallas de ordenador y televisores usan este estándar, erróneamente llamado cuadrado, cuando en la realidad es rectangular o wide.
- Resolución:
- 480x360 píxeles
- Tamaño:
- 12.77 MBytes
