ALBUFEIRA BOMBEIROS have adopted a system run in other countries that helps tourists who have mobile phones in cases of emergencies.
Tourists can programme the person who should be contacted in emergency situations into their mobile phones under the letters ECE, which means Em Caso de Emergência (in case of emergency). In the event of an accident, the bombeiros will go through a person’s mobile phone to look for the ECE entry in the contacts list and this person will then be contacted and kept up to date with the situation.
This system was launched two years ago and is still going strong. It helps both the families of an accident victim and saves time for the bombeiros looking for contact numbers for relatives.
This year’s campaign, which runs throughout the summer, will continue until September 28. António Rosado from Albufeira Bombeiros told The Resident: “A total of 50,000 leaflets, in both English and Portuguese, have been distributed to all hotels, restaurants, bars and tour operators in the Algarve”. There is also a board inside the airport with the ECE info.
There is a team of English-speaking volunteers assisting the bombeiros every time an accident involving a tourist occurs in order to help with the translation, if need be. This team has a car at their disposal, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which they are able to use for emergency support.
The system is similar to that which has been operating in the UK for a number of years, where emergency contact numbers are logged under ICE in a mobile phone.
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