On the past days of January 30th and 31st, in the cross-border area between Cilleros, Spain, and Monfortinho, Portugal, the presentation of the decision-support digital platform “VESPRA” took place. This platform was developed as part of the Vulnerable Elements in Spain and Portugal and Risk Assessment project.
In an international consortium coordinated by the Spanish company Meteogrid, with the University of Aveiro, ADAI from the University of Coimbra, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the CIM of Beira Baixa, the Junta de Extremadura (Spain), and INFOEX, a LivEx exercise was conducted involving civil protection agents from both countries. They had the opportunity to test this new tool.
Over the course of two days, incidents of a cross-border rural fire were recreated, which resulted in a road accident involving a tanker carrying chlorine. Using the VESPRA platform, civil protection agents from both countries tested and defined a joint emergency response strategy for this international incident.
The VESPRA Platform was developed to analyze and assess the vulnerability of elements exposed to different hazards, such as rural fires, industrial accidents, including nuclear accidents, and episodes of extreme weather. The tool can provide decision support, both in the planning phase and in the emergency response phase for these types of incidents. This project is supported by the European Commission through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
For more information: https://vespra.org/