Socio-health intervention
SAMUR - Civil Protection is aware that there are population groups which are especially vulnerable to socio-health risk situations, such as abuse in all its forms. For quite some time, the service has had specific procedures for addressing cases of child and elder abuse.
In addition to the existence of professional and legal reasons for acting with these population groups, a strong sense of social responsibility as a public institution has led the service to be particularly involved in addressing these complex and often conflictive situations, which are not always easy to respond to.
The multiplicity of services operating in this field (healthcare, social, security, educational, etc.) makes it essential to coordinate a care process that involves a multidisciplinary group of professionals, as addressing this issue cannot be considered the sole responsibility of any single party.
Since 1999, we have been gradually implementing joint intervention protocols with the institutions involved in the social care of vulnerable groups, resulting in a progressive increase in the number of cases detected and reported.
Our main role is to act as early detectors and notifiers through interdisciplinary and interinstitutional coordination, to ensure better short-, medium-, and long-term care for these individuals, covering their periods of vulnerability.
Joint procedures, a pioneering initiative in the emergency field, with social and police services include case resolution feedback to professionals who assisted and reported those cases, furthering the professionals’ awareness towards the identification of new cases.