In January, Deputy Minister of Interior Affairs Vitalijus Dmitrijevas, Fire Department Director Saulius Greičius and Lithuanian Red Cross Secretary-General Kristina Meidė signed an agreement for cooperation in educating citizens on civil defense.
Red Cross volunteers will be teaching citizens in all municipalities about preparation for and reactions to crisis situations, threats of war, technical and natural catastrophes. All three institutions will advertise the availability of the website www.lt72.lt and the emergency telephone number 111.
Over the past one and a half years, the ministry has worked with municipalities to establish a network of 3,310 shelters to protect citizens from air strikes and gunfire. Currently there is space in designated shelters for 912,000 residents (of a total 2,857,000), and more are being identified. Statistics show that 47% of the population knows where to find information about local shelters. There are 927 functioning warning sirens.
At a press conference in February, Internal Affairs Minister Agnė Bilotaitė announced the latest news in the area of civil defence. Centralized instruction sessions for municipal officials have begun at the fire fighters’ training school, and a map of nation-wide shelters is available. Municipal civil defence officials will be instrumental in increasing the network of shelters and preparing civilians for emergencies.
According to the Minister, civil defence was largely ignored for many years. Since the beginning of the independence period, the number of specialists in this field decreased from 1,000 to 100. To remedy this situation, crisis management and warning systems have been reviewed, and a network of shelters created, together with an increase in human resources.
Fifty civil defence officials have already been assigned for full-time duty, with job descriptions prepared by the Ministry. They are responsible for increasing the network of shelters, drawing up and updating plans for crisis situations and evacuation, educating citizens and organizing civil defence exercises.
