The (General directorate for civil defense and crisis management) is a

civil defense Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: Risk management, prevention, mitigation, prepara ...

agency of the

French Government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

. It operates for the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

and employs some 2,500 civilian and military personnel over 60 sites. Known as the until 1976, the is split into several branches: * The , which is in charge of auditing the

public policies. * The are the French

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s. * The is the crisis oversight service. It includes the units involved in

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fun ...

coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

, mountain rescue,

air ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...

and

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to patients requiring evacuation or transport using medically equipped air ambulances, helicopters and ...

, and

aerial firefighting Aerial firefighting, also known as waterbombing, is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to Wildfire suppression, combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers ar ...

duties. * The (sub-directorate of international affairs, resources and strategy).

Aircraft

aircraft operate for the Rescue operation and civil-military cooperation branch under the (Aerial Group). Aircraft carry the title SECURITE CIVILE on the fuselage sides, together with the international civil defence symbol. The aircraft are divided into the (Helicopter Group) and the (Water Bomber Group).

Helicopter group

The helicopter group has 23 helicopter bases in mainland France and its overseas territories. It has a fleet of 35 helicopters and employs 230 pilots and flight engineers and 50 ground engineers. Over its 50 years of activity, the helicopter group has an impressive track record, with 480,000 flight hours, 250,000 rescue missions and 225,000 people rescued. Helicopter group aircraft use the callsign "DRAGON", followed by the number of the in which their base is located. * Eurocopter EC145 (35) currently operates 35 EC-145 helicopters that were delivered between 2002 and 2005. The fleet has accumulated over 100,000 flight hours. The EC-145 fleet is used for

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

, fire fighting,

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...

(EMS),

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

. EC-145s are deployed on 22 bases in France and the

French Overseas Territories Overseas France (, also ) consists of 13 French territories outside Europe, mostly the remnants of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonisation. Most are part of the European ...

. An order has been placed for a further five helicopters, to be delivered from January 2009. This will enable the phasing out of the six remaining ''Alouette'' III helicopters. The EC 145 carries out an average 10,000 rescue missions each year, representing over 13,300 flight hours.

Bases

Helicopter group bases of operation are located at:.

Aircraft

Helicopter group

Bases

Water bomber group

Bases

Bomb disposal

References

External links