From the Publishers Desk
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Portuguese Volunteers Same As in the United States
Our editors do wander around the country, as most of our readers are aware. Last year they hit 17 spots from coast to coast. And this year it probably will be the same—with one exception, in that Jim Casey, has already logged one trip from continent to continent.
At the invitation of the League of Portuguese Volunteer Firemen, Jim made a speech at the University of Coimbra (one of the oldest universities on the European continent) on the subject of the emergency medical service as it functions in the United States. Jim says it was almost a three-hour speech, complete with slides and an interpreter. And that the audience was very much impressed by our EMS and its equipment. It seems that in Portugal the ambulance service is just that—providing first aid and transportation only. But Portugal has just formed its own Servicio Nacional de Bombeiros (similar to our USFA) and an emergency medical service, complete with the latest in sophisticated equipment, is high on the list of the Servicio’s priorities.
Jim also found out that the Portuguese fire service looks to the West for inspiration and guidance. Carlos A. Serra e Moura, who is the technical director of the Liga Dos Bombeiros Portugueses, told Jim that it is his belief that the U.S. fire service “has the best planning, most advanced technology and is superior in tactics and strategy.”
Moura is a frequent visitor to the States and has been a friend of Jim Casey (and Fire Engineering) for several years. He never misses the annual conference of the IAFC nor a visit to our offices.
Casey, who visited a few of the volunteer fire stations during his stay in Portugal, saw a lot of familiar apparatus and equipment—a reflection of Moura’s visits no doubt.
Jim, who will have more on the Portuguese fire service in our August issue, claims that the European “brothers” are similar to our own volunteers, particularly in attitude and spirit.
