Sergio Delgado: "We must all be prepared for emergencies longer than a blackout."

BarcelonaSergio Delgado, deputy director of Civil Protection programs, receives the ARA at the Operational Coordination Center of Catalonia (CECAT), in the Ministry of the Interior, from where he led the management of the great blackout last Monday.

Where were you on Monday at 12:33?

— We were starting a management meeting. From the director's office, we noticed the power outage. We quickly went down to the CECAT.

In situations like this, what is prioritized?

— The number one priority is to ensure there's no domino effect. That is, that this outage doesn't pose a security problem, especially for the chemical and nuclear industries, because it would have been much worse. At the same time, emergency calls are being received from 112. Then, we'll see what happens with the trains and the airports. And, at the same time, we must ensure that what should be minimally functioning is still functioning. That is, fire stations, police stations, hospitals, prisons... On Monday, our obsession was to make sure there wasn't a single train left that we couldn't identify.

In 2021, you said you were prepared for a blackout. How do you prepare for such an emergency?

— We plan for what is most likely, such as floods and forest fires, but we also think about what is less likely, which even in theory could not happen.

What other scenarios do you have in mind? A tsunami? An earthquake?

— First, we must consider having an emergency plan for each serious risk that could affect us. It's true that in the case of tsunamis, work hasn't yet been done in depth, but it's a task that has been commissioned and we will begin. And then we have the Procicat (Procicat), designed with a multi-risk approach. That is, if an emergency were to occur now that we hadn't even considered, the working methodology would exist. We already had the work done for the attacks. In this case, the blackout, we had it carefully considered and planned. We also learn a lot from the emergencies experienced in other parts of Spain, Europe, and the world.

And what can be improved on Monday's device?

— We're in the process of analyzing it. I would like to offer a positive assessment. If you think about it from the perspective of the people who spent many hours on the train, it's complicated; obviously, we would have liked to be faster. But we believe we didn't miss anything and were able to prioritize well. Now, let's analyze where we can improve. I also think it's important for everyone to reflect on their individual and organizational levels: What could I have done better? And how can I be better prepared?

How can people be more prepared?

— Having four very basic guidelines, discuss them at home and share them with your children. We must act calmly, we must ensure they are safe at school and at work. We must have meeting points, points of reference. We must be prepared as a society even for crises that may even be longer than the one we have experienced. I believe society responded very adequately on Monday. First, it is necessary to think about what I need in an emergency: have my documentation well-located, have cash, have medicines. If we can keep a backpack at the entrance, even better. If we have to stay home, a minimum is necessary. A radio is a basic necessity, but also long-life food and bottled water.

What would have happened if that blackout had lasted three days?

— This is the reflection we are currently undergoing. At the time it occurred, at 12:30 p.m., it was very light, a day without rain, neither cold nor hot. Under other circumstances, things would have been different. If it had dragged on, we believe that what affects basic services would have continued to function well because this system is in place, and we would even have had more time to strengthen it. We must continue working to ensure everything works as quickly as possible, but it's true that we need society to be individually prepared. We must be collectively prepared for contingencies and uncertainties. There are countries like Japan, South Korea, and Nordic countries where this is culturally normal.

When these emergencies happen in nursing homes, for example, what do you do?

— If you're well prepared and have the autonomy to use generators, the problem you'll have is getting someone to refill the diesel. It's clear, as I said before, that doing this doesn't mean that if there's a problem with a ventilator, you shouldn't do what Civil Protection did on Monday, which is to find a way for that person to continue to have that vital element. We must always try to ensure autonomy and that the batteries are at their maximum. If this happens again, how can I improve? We will do it as an administration, but society must do it too. The more we reduce the demand for services, the more we can prioritize those that are critical.

And what should Civil Protection improve?

— Internally, we analyze whether we responded in a timely manner, whether we needed more or fewer staff... It's true that to coordinate the system, we discovered we needed human resources. And this is no longer emergency management, but crisis management.

After this, will a contingency plan be created for blackouts?

— We'll see if any element might need to be reinforced, but from a functional perspective, everything has been thought out. So, perhaps it is necessary to identify some element, draft some document, some more specific protocol, but the working methodology exists. Therefore, we don't find ourselves wondering how we should work. We will identify very specific issues that we will need to address, such as fuel to power generators.

What role do city councils play?

— In the first moments of emergencies like blackouts or disasters, information is available at the local level and must be built from there. Municipalities must be able to assess and determine the severity of the situation. In November, a government agreement was issued to provide municipalities with training on plans for this purpose.

You've traveled extensively and are familiar with the emergency systems of other countries. What are the strengths of Catalan?

— Catalonia, seen from the perspective of the global world, is very small. This allows us to have a very cohesive system. On Monday, we managed with our resources and our system. At no point were we overwhelmed.

And any weaknesses?

— We have a system that has a long history in terms of prevention.

I understand that this also represents intensifying training work.

— We give about fifty talks at senior centers a year. We can't do more. We'd like to do more, yes, but with the resources we have, we can only do so much. This is what we're working on. The government agreement of November 5th gives us this opportunity for growth.

How to communicate with the public during a power outage without coverage?

— Communications media are a key element here. Radio, first and foremost. We must say that our main concern is having information ready for transmission. On the operational level, we were transmitting the information we had. We must say that there was a lot of uncertainty regarding the state of telecommunications and how far we could go. We have the capacity to deploy amateur radio operators who could move strategic points.

There has been much talk about the mobile alert, which was not sent.

— It was on the table. It was already discussed at the first meeting. This tool is a warning, a restriction, and a threat to people's lives. Another element that was assessed was the lack of knowledge about the state of the entire telecommunications system and what the potential impact could be on an already weak system.