On Wednesday, half a million people will receive an alert message for chemical risk. This is the third and final Civil Protection test this year, which will also activate some 40 chemical risk sirens at 11 am in 16 municipalities in Barcelona, Baix Llobregat and Vallès Occidental.
The director of Civil Protection, Marta Cassany, explained to the media that this is a test “that is done so that the population identifies the sound of the sirens and knows what the starting sound is and what the ending sound is, to “internalise the idea and know that if they hear the sirens they have to confine themselves.”
On September 20, the first of these tests was carried out in Camp de Tarragona and Terres de l’Ebre and the second was on October 18 in Aran, Bages, Berguedà, la Selva, Vallès Oriental and the Vallès Occidental sector.
As detailed by Civil Protection, the test will last a total of 15 minutes. First, a message will be sent to mobile phones to inform them and at 11 a.m., the 40 chemical risk sirens will sound to warn citizens that they have to confine themselves. This alarm will last for one minute and will repeat three times.
“In a real case, no one would have to go outside until they heard this completion sound or until they received the alert message from Civil Protection alerting of its completion,” explained the deputy director general of Civil Protection Programs, Sergio Delgado.
In addition, he said that deaf people will receive a specific SMS-type message that will alert them that the alert sound has started and they will also receive the Civil Protection message.
After completing the test, citizens will be able to respond to a survey created by Civil Protection to assess the hearing of the sirens. “They are simple and anonymous questions. These surveys help us confirm that the theoretical coverage corresponds to reality,” said the head of technology, Raquel Canet.
