Civil Protection Corps

The Civil Protection Corps (: Cuerpo de Protección Civil, CPC) is a government-chartered private charged with, , and  duties in Ventora. The organization receives some funding from the state and counts on donations from individuals, businesses, and charities for much of its support. CPC also requests reimbursement for its services from those it assists based on ability to pay, but such revenues are minimal and inconsistent at best.

Head offices are in Plenas, Arava. Emigdia Águeda Abarca Décoto is the current executive director. The organization has over 10,200 full-time personnel and 7,265 ready reservists who serve two-week periods of duty annually. There are 79,453 volunteers who make up the bulk of CPC's personnel.

History
A number of individual coastal life-saving organizations decided to confederate in 1878 for the purposes of coordination and increased attention to the issue of mariners lost to maritime incidents, such as floundering ships and ships lost in storms. As a result, a dozen life-saving services formed the Confederated Maritime Rescues (Salvamentos Marítimos Confederados) with head offices in Lora, Castellano.

Increased industrialization resulted in a need for some level of technical expertise in emergency response capabilities. During the Second World War (1940–1945), a number of business concerns,, and utilities agreed to pool resources and expertise through the Emergency Technical Association (Asociación Técnica de Emergencias).

The beginnings of the Third World War drove the government of Ventora to form a more unified and coordinated civil defense and disaster response capability. On September 1, 1954, King Florián III chartered the Civil Protection Corps as an officially recognized civil defense and public safety organization. Thus, while CPC remains a, it is independent but does receive some government funding.

Structure
The Enterprise Services Branch (Sucursal de Servicios Empresariales, SSE) provides administrative and logistical support across the organization. This includes executive offices, purchasing and procurement, accounting, personnel, and training. The SSE has charge of the Civil Protection Academy (Academia de Protección Civil, APC) which provides training and advanced education in civil defense, emergency preparedness, and emergency response management. The Academy is renowned for its continuing education programs and its annual EmerCon emergency preparedness and response conferences held in southwest Alutra.

CPC has three main operational branches:

Maritime Safety Service
The Maritime Safety Service (Servicio de Seguridad Marítima, SSM) is the oldest and most active branch of CPC. It provides search and rescue services at sea using small and medium-sized rescue boats as well as helicopters. It has operations posts in most port cities, both on the Abayadi Sea and along navigable rivers. Its equipment includes a fleet of 16 ocean-going vessels, 205 boats of various sizes, 36 helicopters, and 3 aircraft.

Technical Assistance Service
Technical Assistance Service (Servicio de Asistencia Técnica, SAT) is the second oldest branch of CPC. It provides emergency planning assistance and technical and logistical support and relief during and after natural and man-made disasters, particularly with matters of a technical nature. Operationally, there are 26 assistance coordination centers allocated on the basis of one per duchy. Depending on population, many duchies have satellite assistance work centers where equipment is stored and personnel muster in preparation for response.

Work groups consist of varying numbers of personnel, depending on their tasking and responsibilities. Each work group specializes in a particular capability, although there are a number of general work groups that do not have highly technical roles, providing additional manpower instead. Some of the types of work groups include:
 * Bridge building or repair
 * Debris clearance
 * Demolition/blasting
 * Electricity supply
 * Water supply
 * Communications
 * Emergency logistics
 * Radiological survey/containment
 * Chemical survey/containment
 * Flood control
 * Recovery
 * Wildfire extinguishment
 * First aid
 * Housing and subsistence (for responders and/or displaced populations)

SAT has a wide variety of equipment, much of it specialized. The equipment is assigned to the various work groups according to their duties and expertise. The service may be called out to assist after floods, severe weather, for earthquake mitigation, or in response to s. SAT also has some aircraft available for transporting equipment.

Search and Rescue Service
The Search and Rescue Service (Servicio de Búsqueda y Rescate SBR) provides search and rescue services on land, including specially trained and equipped groups for urban, rural, and mountain environments, depending on locale. Some personnel are trained and equipped for high-angle, trench, or mines rescues, as well. The branch was formed in the 1970s primarily in response to natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic activity. The service has vehicles, helicopters, and aircraft to assist with its mission and for mobility.

International operations
The vast majority of CPC operations take place within Ventora. Nonetheless, the organization is an affiliate of the International Relief Operations Organization (IROO)). As such, the CPC deploys personnel and equipment on a fairly frequent basis to disasters, particularly those in the Abayadi Sea basin. In this regard, CPC personnel are welcomed because of their expertise in recovering from activity. That said, the CPC does not usually deploy resources to areas that are part of on-going conflicts. Instead, they are willing to assist when the situation has been stabilized.

Personnel
CPC has a total of 96,945 trained personnel available. These consist of 3,415 full-time employees, a majority of which work at head offices and see to operational planning and organizational support. Nonetheless, about a third of full-time employees have field assignments directly involved in search and rescue and technical assistance roles. Generally, they supervise the national service personnel and volunteers.

Since 1977, a small number of national service personnel have been able to fulfill their duties with selected public safety organizations, including CPC. National service personnel first complete their basic military training and then attend CPC training to prepare for their assigned duties. They then fulfill three years of active service, similar to full-time employees, followed by three years of ready reserve duty in which they work two weeks each year for CPC. In 2020, national service members accounted for 6,812 full time and 7,265 reserve personnel (about 280 personnel for each two-week period).

Volunteers account for the vast bulk of CPC personnel. As of 2020, CPC had 79,453 volunteers across the organization. Over 90% of volunteers work in operational branches, with Maritime Safety and Technical Assistance having the most volunteers at about 45% each.

Funding
CPC receives some funding from the state but counts on donations from individuals, businesses, and charities for much of its support. CPC also requests reimbursement for its services from those it assists based on ability to pay, but such revenues are minimal and inconsistent at best. For international operations, CPC receives reimbursement for services from the IROO.

Controversies
As an NGO with essentially governmental responsibilities, CPC has long been criticized for its apparent propensity to serve upper and middle classes.