Even with the restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the work pace remains the same, only virtually.
The voluntary and non-profit work carried out by the Support Foundation for the Fire Department of the Military Police of the State of São Paulo (FUNDABOM) has made it possible to train thousands of professionals to work safely in the various areas related to fire protection and emergency services.
The courses, workshops, lectures, and other activities are planned in the building located at 25 Anita Garibaldi Street, formerly occupied by the Association “Sociedade de Veteranos de 32 – MMDC”, an acronym representing the names of the martyrs of the Constitutionalist Movement of 1932, Martins, Miragaia, Dráusio, and Camargo.
With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, FUNDABOM adopted a full-time work-from-home regime for its employees, restricting in-person meetings to an absolute minimum. However, the work pace remains the same, only now in a virtual format.
In an exclusive interview with the Incêndio portal, the president of FUNDABOM, Colonel Frank Itinoce, reported that throughout 2019, the foundation carried out a series of activities, such as the public education programs “Firefighters in Schools” and the “Safe Flame Program,” in addition to promoting research with the “2nd Seminar for the Study of Incorporating New Technologies in Fire Safety.” Among other initiatives, the foundation explored opportunities in the areas of education and culture, projects and activities related to firefighting services, civil defense, environmental preservation, professional training, the preservation of the cultural heritage of the Fire Department of the Military Police of the State of São Paulo (CBPMESP), engineering and architecture services, and sports practices.
“The fruit of this work generated a large increase in FUNDABOM's activities in early 2020, reaching its peak on March 8 of this year, when we supported the Government of the State of São Paulo in coordinating, together with the Secretariat of Sports, the 1st SP Women's Run. We reached a record audience of nearly 16,000 runners, one of the largest women's races of all time in São Paulo,” says Itinoce. The event had the participation of all state secretariats and the funds raised were directed to Civil Defense, which at the time was facing severe difficulties in responding to landslides in the cities of the São Paulo coast.
Another prominent work remembered by Itinoce was the support for the construction of the Fire Department Museum in the city of Olímpia, where the City Hall of Olímpia, under the leadership of Mayor Fernando Augusto Cunha, granted the land for the building's construction through a free loan agreement.
Itinoce recognizes that society's efforts to control the pandemic, which has claimed thousands of lives, are undoubtedly a worldwide and urgent concern, both in the health and economic spheres. “However, we cannot forget that fires and burning can also affect people's safety, including on a global scale; fire protection, although not as visible as other prevention actions, is also essential to save lives and property. And as Albert Einstein used to say: An intelligent person solves a problem, a wise person prevents it.”.
Rescheduled calendar
To ensure the health and safety of participants in FUNDABOM activities, all in-person events this year, such as classroom courses, seminars, and races, had to be canceled. “We made the decision to cancel the 2020 events rather than postpone them, considering that there is no exact forecast for the resumption of public gathering activities in the State of São Paulo and that 2021 will bring a new calendar,” says Itinoce.
Also according to the president of FUNDABOM, among the prominent activities that were canceled this year are the “Seminar for the Study of Incorporation of New Technologies in Fire Safety,” in partnership with the SALVAR Foundation of Minas Gerais; the São Paulo Fire Department Running Circuit, with the support of Caixa Econômica Federal; the promotion of Civic-Military Schools; and the regularization of legal fire prevention projects for public agencies.
Most activities are free, such as webinars, campaigns, and lectures. Only a few courses require a fee to cover expenses for instructional materials, instructors, and, in some cases, the rental of fire training facilities and classrooms. And even the paid courses offer discounts—in some cases up to 50%—when there are sponsoring companies.
FUNDABOM partners with various public and private organizations, always aiming to promote knowledge production activities in favor of fire safety. “Among our public partnerships, the National Fire Safety Forum (FONACI), the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT), and the Military Fire Departments themselves, especially the São Paulo Fire Department, stand out,” clarifies the president.
Regarding the dissemination of free events, such as the educational programs “Chama Segura” and “Condomínio Seguro” and fire prevention webinars, FUNDABOM develops studies on specific private financial contributions to make each event viable. The counterpart is typically the promotion of the supporter's brand at the events they contributed to, such as the financing of scholarships in the foundation's courses.
“An extremely important task for us is the dissemination of knowledge, and based on this statutory premise, we are developing for 2021 a specialization course in fire prevention and firefighting for occupational safety technicians, in a virtual and/or in-person format, under the supervision of Professor Luís Carlos Gabriel, a consultant for CIPA Magazine, reveals Itinoce.
SOURCE:
FIRE
