The majority of rescue and firefighting activities in Paraguay are carried out by independent volunteer companies. A large number of these companies are affiliated with an umbrella organization, the Cuerpo de Bomberos Voluntarios del Paraguay (CBVP), and its members are known as “Amarillos,” or “Yellows” (so called because of the color of their uniforms).

Coordination within the CBVP has proven to be a challenge, as each of the decentralized companies has its own administrative and operational organization. In an effort to improve coordination and the ability of the Amarillos to more effectively respond to emergency incidents, the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has awarded ICMA $85,000 for the Paraguay Firefighter Incident Command Assessment and Training project. Over a three-month period, ICMA will 

• Assess the existing incident command structure and the ability of the Amarillos to respond to incidents of various types and sizes
• Assess existing equipment in terms of age, technology, and estimated useful life
• Identify training and equipment needs and recommend improvements
• Conduct incident command training for 25 Amarillos. 

ICMA’s assessment and training consultant is Ricardo Garcia, a retired captain from the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, where he worked for 27 years. As program manager for the Emergency Responder Program of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, he has developed and implemented emergency responder training courses in Latin America, including Paraguay.  

SOUTHCOM, located in Miami, is one of ten unified Combatant Commands (COCOMs) in the Department of Defense, responsible for providing contingency planning, operations, and security cooperation for much of Central and South America and the Caribbean. This project seeks to help the government of Paraguay increase its response capabilities. 

In implementing the project, ICMA draws on the expertise and experience of the Center for Public Safety Management, which provides consulting services to local governments in the areas of fire and police services. It also draws on ICMA's rich store of case studies, best practices, and other resources. 

ICMA implemented two earlier programs in Paraguay. In a CityLinks partnership (known at the time as Resource Cities), ICMA partnered the cities of Asunción, Luque, and Itauguá with Austin, Texas, to focus on solid waste management and performance measurement. In another program, ICMA helped the city of Asunción take steps toward an Institutional Municipal Diagnostic System to assess financial and operational performance.