I remember when we were young we used to ask civil defense officers about the nature of their work. We wanted to know whether their work was just confined to putting off fires and rescuing people from drowning.
The picture that school children had in their minds for a civil defense officer was reflected in the kind of stories their teachers told them which mainly centered on old women being rescued from fire by the brave soldiers.
Of course, the role of civil defense is more than just running after fires that break out here and there and rescuing people who enter the water without knowing how to swim. The complications of modern life made the work of a civil defense officer an expanding and diverse one that demands an increasing number of skills.
One thing we continue to lack as a crucial means of safety during times of crisis is that our cities lack any war shelters. This is a dream that our civil defense workers would like to see being fulfilled. They want to see our cities having shelters to be used by the residents for protection against danger in the street.
In Europe, which now enjoys the most stable period of its turbulent history, and in other parts of the world, building shelters remains a top priority for city planners.
Our civil defense officers retire at the end of a long service without seeing their wish being realized. They wanted to see the department doing an efficient and ever expanding job that responds to the changing needs of our time. Like them, we cannot understand why until this day our cities continue to lack shelters.
The department is however aware of the situation and is trying its best to educate the public on how to respond to an emergency, including building their own shelter at home.
A pamphlet issued by the civil defense department advises people how to build shelters at their homes to protect against chemical and other types of threats. Among the advice given is a suggestion to use the basement or a room on the ground floor and to stockpile food and other necessities including medicines, a radio and a television set so that people inside would not be cut off from the outside world.
Given the circumstances under which they operate, that was all the department could do at this stage. When are we going to hear from our municipality and city planners?
