Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Rio de Janeiro Community Protection Program

2014; Elsevier BV; Volume: 18; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s2212-5671(14)00922-8

2212-5671

Marcio Motta, Marcelo Abelheira, Orlando Gomes, Walter Luiz Moraes Sampaio da Fonseca, Daphne Besen,

Education and Digital Technologies

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the disorganized land occupation of Rio de Janeiro with houses being built on landplaning high risk areas (known as "favelas", or slums, in English) allied to the geological and geographical special characteristics of the city, transformed Rio in a very susceptible place to disasters related to landslides during heavy rains. With the goal of protecting the people living in those slums, especially the ones living in the risky areas, the Civil Defense of Rio de Janeiro has created the Community Protection Program focusing on three subjects: (i) Training of Local Agents, (ii) Community Alarm and Alert System, and (iii) Simulation exercises at public schools. Local Agents live and work in the community and their training is of a huge importance mainly because these residents know about the vulnerabilities and they are great multipliers, advising other people about the danger. Currently there are almost 6,000 trained Local Agents acting in the community. The Alert and Alarm System for rainfall consists of sending SMS messages (Alert) and activation of sirens (Alarm). The alert is rung when the meteorologists identify the possibility of rain and the Local Agents and Community Leaders, registered to receive these messages on their cell phones, are ready to support the community. Afterwards, the Alarm (sirens) is triggered when the rain gauge indicates that rainfall has reached critical levels, what can provoke accidents - sirens were installed in 103 communities, receiving also Simulation Exercises. The Simulation Exercises at public schools consists of training for the evacuation of the community in case of heavy rains. The school represents the community, while the Civil Defense tents assembled in the courtyard represent the support points, which are safe places around the community where residents can take shelter temporarily during an emergency. The students from the 5th grade act as monitors, helping the younger students and playing the role of Public Officials and volunteers. This whole mise-en-scène has been helping a lot of communities to overcome the challenges raised by the rains in Rio de Janeiro.