Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — Keeping a watchful eye, Civil Defense women personnel have swung into action along with their male counterparts in ensuring an incident-free Hajj this year.

In their military uniform, they have assumed various tasks and are carrying out safety missions at the holy sites around the clock. Some of them are tasked with ensuring the safety of pilgrims’ camps, while some others are stationed to prevent and protect the camps from fire, and yet others are there to monitor the functioning of fire extinguishers and electrical appliances.

They also supervise the preventive and rescue missions around the clock as they are trained to handle modern technologies, deal with emergency cases and work on organizing inspection tours throughout the Hajj days and using modern applications that facilitate monitoring operations.

Security efforts led by the General Directorate of Civil Defense during the Hajj season are aimed at harnessing all human and technical capabilities to ensure overall safety. The directorate uses specialized teams equipped with the latest technology and equipment to respond to any emergency event, as well as prepare comprehensive plans to deal with any emergency situations.

It also carries out direct coordination with the National Center of Meteorology, to learn about weather forecasts and any possible rainy or extremely hot weather conditions so that the situation can be dealt with accordingly smoothly following fast procedures. The directorate makes preparations to deal with possible emergency scenarios, conducts mock drills to measure the effectiveness of its plans and operations.

Rapid response field centers are stationed throughout Makkah and the holy sites manned by firefighting and rescue teams, rapid intervention teams and preventive supervision teams. They work to create an appropriate and safe environment for pilgrims, in coordination with all sectors that are working to serve pilgrims.