FEDERAL ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC CIVIL ASSISTANCE

The Federal Organization of Public Civil Assistance is a federal service working for the governor of West-Flanders. The service is responsible for the emergency planning of this province.

Belgium holds responsibility for safety of a part of the North Sea of about 3600 km². It is sometimes called the 11th province. It may not be a large area compared to the land side, but it has one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Container ships, ferries, tank ships, yachts, they all sail this part of the sea. Next to that, there is a lot of activity going on eg. fishing. This services makes sure the province is ready to act in case of an emergency.

MIRG EX is an international joint partnership. Safety Region Zeeland (NL), which brings together crisis management, fire fighters and medical assistance, is lead partner. The other partners in the project are: the Fire Brigades of Antwerp, Beveren and Ghent (BE). These brigades are linked to important international ports, that accommodate large chemical production plants. Being able to effectively fight fires on board ships is simply essential. In addition to the fire brigades, the Federal Organisation of Public Civil Assistance in Brugge, the Agency for Maritime and Coastal Services-Shipping Assistance Division and the Maatschappij van de Brugse Zeehaven nv (Zeebrugge Port Authority) are partners in the MIRG-EX project. The French Service départemental d’incendie et de secours de Pas-de-Calais and the English Kent Fire and Rescue Service complete the partnership. Both are confronted with heavy traffic on the Channel and the North Sea. An incident may be just around the corner, but this doesn’t mean it can be easily reached let alone be dealt with. Working with similar teams on both shores, reduces will help to reduce response time.