March 1, World Civil Defense Day - survival is in our hands

Date in 2021: March 1, Monday.

Every day our planet looks more and more like a powder keg. Military conflicts and terrorism, natural and man-made disasters have simply overwhelmed the lion's share of the population on Earth. And, unfortunately, it is almost impossible to insure against such situations. But everyone can learn how to protect themselves and their children in the event of an emergency. It is these issues that are dedicated to the holiday, which has international status - Civil Defense Day.

Usually it is difficult for a person to judge the premises and true reasons for any military action. Moreover, no matter how much the majority strives for peace, conflicts have constantly flared up and wars have been waged on the planet throughout the existence of mankind. And with the development of military technology and the emergence of increasingly new and terrible weapons, the consequences of such events become unpredictable.

Therefore, governments are trying to find not only ways to influence a potential enemy, but also how to protect their own population. Moreover, the issues of protecting citizens have become so relevant that they began to be addressed at the international level. And in honor of selfless people who risk their lives protecting ordinary people, a special holiday has appeared - World Civil Defense Day.

history of the holiday

A holiday designed to convey knowledge about protection to the population was established in 1990. All ICDO member countries agreed with this initiative. Therefore, the celebration acquired international proportions from the first year. The date of the holiday was March 1, the day when the organization’s Charter was signed.

Russia joined this organization in 1993, and since 1994 the country began to celebrate World Civil Defense Day on March 1 together with other participants in the international project.

History and traditions of the holiday

It is generally accepted that civil defense originated in revolutionary Petrograd. Here, in 1918, a set of rules was published to help protect the population during enemy air raids. However, the answer to the question of why this day was appointed on October 4 must be sought in events that occurred much later. In 1932, the “Regulations on the Air Defense of the USSR” appeared, adopted by the Council of People's Commissars. It contained instructions for saving the population, and also regulated the creation of an air defense system around large cities.

After World War II ended, the documents were revised and updated. Nuclear weapons appeared, from which there was also a need to protect the population. However, all systems were still focused on protection from living opponents. After the end of the Cold War, there was an understanding that environmental and natural disasters also pose a danger. During "perestroika" there was a reorientation of civil defense in this direction.

In modern Russia, the Ministry of Emergency Situations is responsible for ensuring civil defense. It is this structure and the people involved in its work that organize and celebrate Civil Defense Day.

Goals and objectives of the holiday

Initially, the organized defense of the civilian population was aimed at protecting against the negative consequences of war. This was the basis for the subsequent unification of representatives of several states into a single public organization.

Help for victims

But later the tasks began to expand - it is worth highlighting a key event in the development of defense, which was the creation of “security zones” where people could be sheltered at the outbreak of hostilities.

Today, fifty states are members of the ICDO. Outside observers also work with them.

The main focus of both the activities of this organization and the holiday itself is to convey information to the masses about the importance of self-defense, as well as behavior in extreme situations and first aid.

From the history of civil defense development in our country

For the first time, states became concerned about the need to save the population living in combat zones during the First World War. With the development of military equipment (aviation, artillery), the military had the opportunity to carry out measures to disrupt the enemy’s rear zones. Therefore, the warring parties had to take care of protecting their settlements and civilians from enemy air attacks. The first measures to protect the population were carried out in Petrograd in the spring of 1918.

In the Soviet Union, much attention was paid to air defense measures. Bomb shelters were built in cities, and the population was regularly trained in protective measures in case of air and chemical attack.

During the Great Patriotic War, the efforts made allowed us to save many human lives. It was mandatory to take courses to gain basic knowledge of what to do during enemy air raids. The adult population was organized into self-defense groups; members of these groups were on duty on rooftops during raids in order to timely identify impact sites and neutralize incendiary bombs. These groups were able to prevent many fires and save buildings from destruction.

After the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War, the tasks of civil defense organizations became even broader, since they were entrusted with protecting the population during natural and man-made accidents.

Nowadays, the task of protecting citizens is solved by a specialized organization - the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia. The main task is to protect people and economic facilities from the consequences of emergency situations of fires, floods, disasters caused by wear and tear of equipment or the human factor.

What is important to know?

Today, the civil defense system in Russia is widely developed. The main burden of solving current issues and eliminating the consequences of natural disasters falls on the shoulders of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. But besides this, there are many public and local, federal and charitable organizations that are actively involved in popularization, current and strategic issues of defense.

Instructing squad members

The responsibilities of such organizations include providing public warning, evacuation, medical assistance, liquidation of consequences, rescuing victims and other important tasks associated with large-scale events.

Undoubtedly, the level of protection of the population in the country is at a high level. But it is foolish to hope that one’s own fate and the lives of loved ones will depend on the activities of outsiders. As practice shows, the first immediate self-defense measures play a key role in salvation.

Every person should know how to pack an “alarm suitcase,” where the nearest bomb shelter is located, how to behave in the event of man-made disasters, and what measures to take to help the victims. After all, it is this knowledge that will help you not to get confused at a critical moment and make the right decision.

Therefore, thematic classes have been introduced into the curricula of general education and professional institutions. And on Civil Defense Day, everyone has the opportunity to get acquainted with modern approaches to defense, and also, if desired, take part in exercises.

World Civil Defense Day - celebration traditions

In modern society, the term “defense” is considered irrelevant, and it is proposed to replace it with the word “protection”. Employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations talk about civil protection of the population in peacetime. On this day, they go to meetings with schoolchildren, students of technical schools and institutes, enterprises and organizations, where they talk about the importance of civil protection activities, as well as the need for every person to understand its basics.

The holiday has the main goal of attracting public attention to civil defense issues and disseminating valuable knowledge. And without the support of the media, his goals would have been impossible. In cooperation with the media, representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations disseminate information about preparation for natural disasters, means and methods of protection, and the possibilities of self-defense in case of accidents and disasters.

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Also on this day, training seminars, conferences, open days are held in the departments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and they also sum up the results of their work. In 1997, the ICDO Medal was established to recognize civil defense officials for courage and dedication during humanitarian operations. The award ceremony is also held on March 1.

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Features of the celebration

Not only the war, but also the infamous events of April 26, 1986, when a serious disaster occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which killed thousands of people, clearly demonstrate how unprepared both ordinary people and specialists, as well as higher education, can be for emergency events. government leadership.

Now you can see many programs, documentaries and even TV series dedicated to the events of those years, and regardless of the presentation of the material, they are of great benefit, clearly demonstrating to viewers common mistakes and rules of conduct in various non-standard situations.

Government program

October 4 is not just a professional holiday for rescuers and other civil defense workers, but also another reminder of how unprepared humanity can be for disaster. There is only one way to counter this - large-scale training, which is why the state program provides for their implementation, and in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation, without exception.

As for the event itself, its duration is at least three days, including three main stages. We are talking about the following:

• The first stage is purely organizational in nature, implying the processing of all received notifications and an emergency gathering of representatives of various government structures, which is necessary to analyze the situation and make appropriate decisions.
• At the second stage, it is planned to carry out the necessary civil defense activities with the further delivery and deployment of specialized units to eliminate the consequences of the emergency.
• The third stage comes down to local management and control with the provision of broad powers.

The undoubted benefit of such training is that not only employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but also the civilian population can take part in them, and usually the total figure is about 40 million people, including the younger generation, since exercises are also conducted in educational institutions in order to develop the correct algorithm of behavior in case of emergency even for the youngest citizens.

Personal responsibility

It is worth noting the importance of lectures on civil defense, as well as the mandatory introduction of this subject into the curriculum of schools and universities, because in the vast majority of cases, the person himself is to blame for the development of an emergency situation. Simply put, it is necessary to constantly carry out preventive measures with visual instructions presented in the form of demonstration photos and videos.

According to experts, despite the fact that in society there will always be those for whom the law is not written, regular preventive work with the population bears fruit. Thus, it is important to constantly remind representatives of various age groups that they should not leave an unextinguished fire behind, ride or fish on the ice during the pre-flood period, and violate other provisions included in the civil defense program.

Of course, there is still time for celebration, which, as a rule, comes down to organizing special events. As part of these programs, those who have distinguished themselves are honored and given various certificates and awards, as well as concerts with songs and amateur films dedicated to the peculiarities of the difficult service in the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

They also remember those who died untimely, who gave their lives to save ordinary people, because what is the feat of the liquidators of the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant worth. In addition, they pay tribute to labor veterans, for whom congratulatory events can be organized on an individual basis.