Some 7,300 volunteers, 7,500 military, 5,500 police and 1,200 firemen will be on duty during the Easter holidays accident prevention operation. Some 74 ambulances are also on standby alert at beaches and bathing holes, along highways and mountain trails this week, according to the Civil Defense Agency. "Operation Holy Week 2000" has recruited personnel from such organizations as the National Police, the Armed Forces, the Red Cross, the National Meteorology Office, the Office of National Transport, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Fire Department, the Air Brigade of the Dominican Airclub, and the Medical Emergency Directorate of the Public Health Department, to observe the most frequented locales and be prepared to respond to any emergency. The National Directorate of Assistance and Emergencies has established a Center for Emergency Operations (COE) to dispatch help to the any of the tens of thousands of Dominicans who will flock to the beaches, the mountains and other vacation spots around the country. Leaving town during Holy Week is an almost obligatory ritual for Dominicans, and tourist accommodations are normally packed over Easter weekend. The COE has set up 295 booths alongside highways, 142 in beach areas, 77 in prohibited beach areas. The Red Cross will make available emergency assistance "brigades," who were recently trained by emergency services specialists from Cuba and Puerto Rico, at the 295 posts around the country, staffed by 3,353 volunteers. Communications crews will also be strategically situated at highway toll booths. The COE will move its operations into high gear today, which is when throngs of people begin to leave home for the long weekend. Center for Emergency Operations, contact telephone numbers are 689,5898, 689-5905, 689-5910, 689-5931, 689-5967, 689-5965, 689-5968, 689-5983, 689-5809. (19 April 2000)
