This Monday at 11:30 in the morning, the alarms sounded in public and private buildings throughout the state, as part of the 2021 Macrosimulation that had a hypothesis of an 8.1 magnitude earthquake in the municipality of Cihuatlán.
More than 3,000 properties completed this exercise that seeks to improve prevention and civil protection culture. The exercise was carried out after one year of suspension due to the pandemic, and in the shadow of Tropical Storm Dolores.
It took three minutes and 20 seconds for the nearly 300 workers of the Government Palace to evacuate the property. Enrique Ibarra Pedroza, Secretary General of the Government, pointed out that all public servants of the state and municipalities are increasingly committed with strengthening their internal civil protection systems.
"You have just seen it, it is taken with all seriousness, and fortunately we in the state and the municipalities have been strengthened in all areas of civil protection and a very willing attitude of the people."
Víctor Hugo Roldán Guerrero, General Director of the Jalisco State Civil Protection and Firefighters Unit, stressed that this year the participation of the population in this event was lower than in previous years due to the pandemic, which reduced participation in this exercise in public and private schools.
Roldán Guerrero, assured that Jalisco remains a benchmark for good participation by the population, and remarked that the culture of Civil Protection has increased in Jalisco, in part, due to the earthquake of 2017.
"Let us remember that the 2017 earthquake was a watershed when people did the drill, and did not take it so seriously. Within minutes we had a real event where everyone had to take action and I think that is what the civil protection culture keeps increasing."
Finally, the State Government, through the Jalisco State Civil Protection and Firefighters Unit, invites the population to continue participating in this type of event, with the intention to improve the response in case of emergencies and that we all know how to act and what to do against eventualities such as earthquakes or other natural phenomena.
Puerto Vallarta interim mayor Jorge Quintero Alvarado highlighted the importance of resuming this type of exercise to prevent the population from any natural phenomenon.
With the primary objective of having a society better prepared in terms of civil protection, to act in the face of any natural phenomenon that may occur in Puerto Vallarta, the municipal government chaired by Jorge Antonio Quintero Alvarado, joined this Monday the first National Evacuation Drill 2021 .
The exercise, which was carried out in the municipal presidency building and in the Municipal Administrative Unit, in addition to other public buildings throughout Puerto Vallarta, and open to the general population, was carried out in an orderly and successful manner, complying with all the protocols established by the National Civil Protection System.
After the drill in which around 230 Vallartans participated, including public servants from the different offices of the municipal palace and citizens, the acting mayor highlighted the importance of this type of exercise by citizens in the event of any eventuality caused by nature, which would require coordination between the areas of Civil Protection and State and Municipal Firefighters, through the internal brigades.
He thanked the councilors who participated in this drill, as well as Commander Adrián Eliseo Bobadilla García, director of Civil Protection and Firefighters, who successfully carried out this activity through the brigades. The drills had not been carried out for almost two years, and it is considered essential that they be retaken to preserve the lives of citizens.
The official report of this exercise was given by the head of this agency, Adrián Bobadilla, who pointed out that the evacuation time was 3 minutes and 10 seconds, 20 seconds less than the evaluation of the last drill.
He stated that with this type of activities, the points to be improved are observed, as well as the organization, but above all they contribute to promoting the culture of civil protection not only among City Council employees, but also with citizens and tourists who are within the installations.
He also highlighted that in our country there has been an important advance in regulations and in legislating comprehensive risk management, issues on which Puerto Vallarta has also worked by modifying the Municipal Civil Protection Regulations, to provide better legislation to all companies, public entities, and citizens.