how civil protection is preparing for Paris 2024

These are the women and men in orange and blue who help emergency services during events by providing first aid to the injured. To cope with the Olympics, volunteers were recruited in large numbers.

For four days, the eight students have been training in a classroom in Seine-et-Marne. First aid kit placed on the ground and fake victims installed in front of the chairs… Everything is ready for the day’s activity: a role-play in front of Vivian Leroy, their trainer. “The objective for them is to intervene as close as possible to reality while respecting the principles and conduct to be followedhe explains. There, we have a victim who is conscious, traumatized. They’re doing pretty well. Stress plays a big role. They need to get used to their emotions and how they manage stress.”

Céline, 42, mother of five children, joined civil protection last December. “I wanted to feel useful”, she explains. If she succeeds in her training, she will finally be able to take part in major events like the Olympics, for example. “It’s a little bit stressful but at the same time, it’s a captivating, global event. It makes you want to,” she confides. And she is not the only one interested in this event, notes the trainer. “Several of our volunteers ask us questions about the sites, about the coverage that will be associated with themrelates Vivian Leroy. More than curiosity, I think we can talk about desire.”

More than 60% of Olympic venues to be covered

These volunteers can be students or even retirees, but above all they are people of all ages and from all walks of life who come in their free time. Some have already started to register for the various missions which cover a large part of the Olympic sites. “We will cover more than 60% of the Olympic and Paralympic sites,” reports Lise Vallienne, director of communications for civil protection.

“In Paris, we are present at the Bercy Arena, Roland Garros, the Eiffel Tower stadium.”

Lise Vallienne, director of communications for civil protection

at franceinfo

In total, nearly 1,000 volunteers will be mobilized every day throughout France for the Olympics. Obviously, to meet demand, Civil Protection, which has 32,000 members, has recruited many more members. “Over six months, we recruited 2 486 new volunteers. Last year, over the same period, we should have been at 1,500, so we are still at 1,000 more.” notes Lise Valliene.

The Olympics are at the center of the civil protection congress which is being held on Saturday March 2 in Troyes. The association is confident it will have enough volunteers for the Olympics. And the little extra, according to the speaker, is also that all these new members will allow the association to develop after the event.