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European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
Emergency Preparedness
Beating medical emergencies

like the COVID-19 pandemic, through solidarity

Transporting critical patients from one country to another. Providing lung ventilators, surgical masks and medical staff to hospitals in need. Bringing hundreds of people stranded abroad due to sudden border closures back home.

These are just some of the major challenges many countries were confronted with following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

European countries responded to this unprecedented crisis through an extraordinary solidarity effort towards one another, supported by the Brussels-based Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).

These are the stories of the incredibly committed civil protection officers who worked to help people in other European countries, and of their counterparts at the ERCC, who coordinated these solidarity efforts from Brussels.

Discover how we protect Europe together!

Hungarian hospitals welcome COVID-19 patients from Romania

Doctor Gergely Nagy and EU Civil Protection officer Cristian Iacob knew they were handling an extremely sensitive operation. They coordinated the transfer of 44 serious COVID-19 patients from Romania to Hungary to receive treatment.

Slovenia helps Balkan countries face COVID-19 emergency

Kosovo needed urgent help: personal protective equipment was lacking in the country while COVID-19 kept spreading. Slovenian civil protection worker Borut Horvat and EU Civil Protection officer Eleonore Colin helped ensure a very prompt response.

EU helps Spain bring EU citizens home

Hundreds of EU citizens could not return home after the sudden border closures which followed the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Spain’s civil protection coordinator Bibiana Andujar and EU Civil Protection officer Alfonso Lozano worked around the clock to bring them back.

Providing North Macedonia with protective equipment against COVID-19

North Macedonia was in dire need of personal protective equipment to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections. Along with EU Civil Protection officer Roman Francl, civil protection coordinator Iva Brezjova made sure that help from Czechia could reach the country as fast as possible.

When medical emergencies strike, the EU comes to the rescue

Toolkit

This campaign highlights the work of both local civil protection workers in different European countries and their counterparts working with the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).

By sharing the stories of these incredibly committed civil protection officers and crisis workers within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the campaign aims to promote the crucial role of the ERCC in addressing health crises and other disasters by coordinating the solidarity efforts of EU countries.

Learn more