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This article discusses the professional status of civil defense and protection agents and coordinators in Brazil, their working conditions and demands for professionalization in disaster risk management.

Two online surveys with operators and civil defense and protection managers and documentary analysis based this research. The first survey engaged 1,933 participants who provided information about the working conditions at municipal civil defense, while the second involved 1,344 civil respondents who assessed their roles and duties in disaster risk management.

Civil defense and protection agents pointed to the high turnover in these positions as the main factor for setbacks in disaster risk reduction, allied to precarious working conditions, lack of training, and unclear responsibilities in disaster risk management.

This paper contributes to the international debate on the professionalization of civil defense and protection and disaster risk management, bringing some insights from the sociology of professions. It has a policy impact of suggesting pathways to the inclusion of civil defense and protection in the Brazilian Occupational Classification to advance professional patterns and public recognition of disaster risk management careers.