Covid-19: Geneva puts Civil Protection under guardianship – News Geneva: Geneva news

The start date was set for 6.30 am Tuesday. But when he got to the Civil Protection station where he was meeting, Hector * found himself alone. He then called his commander, who said, “I don’t understand why there was nobody.” He suggested that she wait a little longer. Finally, Hector will be sent home, with the mission of considering as “lapsed” the dozen convocations scheduled for the following days.

Several of them experienced this mishap on Tuesday. Another on-call officer said that he had to report to a care unit, but that he found the door closed. Thirty minutes “to wait in the cold and the wind” to finally be told that we did not need him. Again, return home and please do not take into account the scheduled invitations.

A disaster”

Since the end of February, Civil Protection has carried out various support missions in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic. But this “general mobilization”, the first since the Second World War, experienced failures. Testimonies collected by the “Tribune de Genève” In early April, there were reports of poor planning and a workforce management problem.

“My experience with planning is a disaster,” says Hector. His convocations of Tuesday and the following days, this thirty-something learned about them by a phone call from the commander of the ORPC Geneva-City only two days before, on Easter Sunday at the end of the day, and when he was already mobilized since the middle of the week. “Since I was unemployed, I was available. Other on-callers did not have this flexibility. They found themselves working from Monday to Thursday, then were mobilized from Friday to Sunday by the PC and had to resume work on Monday, ”says Hector.

These “short notice” summons also pose a problem for companies, which must hastily find alternatives. Some were forced to change their organization over the Easter weekend before learning that their employee was finally released.

Takeover

Hector is training. His institute “kindly” agreed to adapt his course program according to his summons. He also had to arrange for custody of his child. “I had already done my mea culpa everywhere and now I will have to tell them now that in fact I am no longer mobilized, but that I can still be I do not know when.”

Until now, the Canton had been content to “coordinate the missions” and left it to the various regional civil protection organizations (ORPCs) to “command their troops”. But these dysfunctions led the cantonal department of security, employment and health (DSES) to take over in its own hands since this weekend the planning of the ORPC Geneva-City, the largest in the canton . “This does not change the commitment of Civil Protection, both in terms of the tasks already entrusted to it and its future needs,” said Emmanuelle Lo Verso, assistant general secretary in charge of communication at DSES. She points to “a computer failure” which is believed to be the cause of summons “sent in an uncontrolled manner”.

For the department, a short notice is “normal”. “The situation does not allow for further planning,” argues Emmanuelle Lo Verso, who adds: “People whose professional activity is considered essential for the population are systematically released from their engagement.”

Dreaded “disaster”

However, the cantonal takeover of planning could cause other problems. According to a source well informed of the operation of the Geneva-City ORPC, the DSES decided to “start all over again”. “At the start, the on-call workers were effectively summoned from day to day. It took a little time to put together a plan that worked. A tournus is now operational. It works for the long term. It takes into account the professional and private constraints of the on-callers. However, the Canton has decided not to take it into account, ”indicates this source. “All those who have made commitments to their employers will have the unpleasant surprise to learn that they have been redistributed like a card game,” she added, fearing “organizational disaster” in times of crisis.

The hiccup experienced by Hector and others on Tuesday morning could be one of the first manifestations. Why did the commanding officer of the Geneva-City ORPC take it upon himself to convene on Easter Sunday evening many on-call workers to take up office two days later, when some had already been mobilized elsewhere? Mystery. According to our information, the latter has just been “laid off”.

* Identity known to the editorial staff.

Created: 04.14.2020, 11:04 p.m.

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