Portal web del Ayuntamiento de Madrid

History and organisation

The Villa de Madrid Civil Protection Volunteer Corps Service was created in 1982 with the objective of integrating the citizens of the City of Madrid who wished to serve his/her city by carrying out voluntary and selfless activities and serve their city as volunteers in the field of civil protection.

In 1991, the Municipal Emergency Assistance and Rescue Service (SAMUR) was created, focusing its activity on providing emergency medical assistance in the public areas and streets of Madrid and in mass crowds or risk situations which may arise.

As this activity was closely related to the Civil Protection Volunteer Corps Service, in July 1994 the Mayor's Office drafted a Decree transferring this Volunteer Corps Service to SAMUR. This Decree was endorsed by the Madrid City Council in June 1997, thereby creating the SAMUR-Civil Protection Department.

Volunteer Corps

The Civil Protection Volunteer Corps serves as a bridge between Madrid’s society and professional emergency services and resources. With the necessary support and training, they assist in covering public events and high-risk situations, provide help during emergencies and disasters, and take part in educating the public on emergency preparedness.

Any resident of the Community of Madrid who meets the requirements and passes the admission tests can join the Volunteer Corps. After completing the initial training course, the volunteer will be qualified to carry out civil protection tasks and duties.

In 2007, the SAMUR-Civil Protection Volunteer Corps Service celebrated 25 years of service to the community. During these years, the volunteers have rendered their services and served the citizens of the City of Madrid and beyond our borders, through its international medical team.

The activity of the Civil Protection Volunteer Corps Service is based on human and technical training and preparation with the objective of managing the civil response for action in matters of Civil Protection in situations of serious risk, catastrophe or public calamity (Law 2/1985) and is undertaken according to the following functions:

• Planning and assessment of foreseeable risks.
• Emergency Interventions, mass casualty accidents, and disasters.
• Administrative management.
• Training and education of the Volunteer Corps Service.
• Citizen’s training.

Activity

SAMUR-Civil Protection channels the public response in foreseeable risk and emergency situations through the management of the City of Madrid’s Volunteer Corps Service. The Volunteer Corps Service provides medical, civil protection, and training-related functions.

1. MEDICAL COVERAGE AND CIVIL PROTECTION

The medical assistance activities provided by the Volunteer Corps mainly consists of two types of services: scheduled services and regular operations.

Scheduled Services

One of the main objectives of the Volunteer Corps is to provide medical coverage and carry out inherent Civil Protection functions in foreseeable risk situations deployed during risk events.

• Prevention, intended at preventing or reducing potential risks which may occur at a given time to persons or property.
• Planning: identifying these risks and designing Civil Protection plans which facilitate the mobilisation of the human and material resources necessary to protect people and property in the event of an emergency.

Before high-risk events take place, it is essential to plan for the need of extraordinary resources—both medical and otherwise—ready to respond in case of an emergency.

Foreseeable risk facilities allow for this response without diminishing to be established without reducing the regular resources allocated to routine medical care in our city.

Regular operations

On a daily basis, SAMUR-Civil Protection volunteers participate in the medical activities carried out by the regular operations in two different ways:

• As trainees in the civil service units.
• Providing support teams to operations.

The operations support teams are made up of volunteer units, both basic life support units as well as prevention and response units, on any daily shift. This activity is essential for maintaining the skills of Civil Protection volunteers.

Like the rest of the Service's personnel, the volunteers are familiar with and use its material resources, vehicles, and procedures, which enables the activity to be carried out in a consistent manner.

The integration of the Volunteer Corps Service into SAMUR-Civil Protection provides the service with an excellent human resource response capacity.

2. TRAINING

The Civil Protection Volunteer Corps has among its missions the task of educating the general population so that they know how to act in the event of an emergency.

The citizen is a key link in the chain of survival, recognizing the need for help and calling for assistance. In addition, they initiate cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with defibrillation, a factor that has a positive impact on the recovery and prognosis of patients who suffer a cardiac arrest.

For all these reasons, SAMUR-Civil Protection volunteers are specifically trained to pass on this knowledge to the general population through the “Bystander and First Responder” programmes.

Volunteer Corps Service Structure

The Volunteer Corps Service is organised into eight (8) management teams, made up of both volunteer managers and rank-and-file volunteers. Each team has approximately 150 volunteers divided into two squads. Within these management teams, the key role of the mentor for newly recruited volunteers stands out, who provides close guidance during their first months of their training, once these volunteers have completed the basic entry training.

The management team leaders are responsible for establishing the connection between the Corps leadership and the volunteers, undertaking organisational and leadership functions, running the volunteer office and managing service coverage during his/her week on duty, as well as collaborating in other preventive and operational functions.

Specialised Management Units (SME)

These units provide services which require specialists, and volunteers who wish to join those units receive specific training. Currently, there are:

Bicycle Management Unit

The main mission of the Bicycle Unit is to provide coverage in Madrid's large parks and green areas, as well as to the coverage of scheduled services where there are large areas to be covered which are unsuitable for motor vehicles or where the mass public presence of many people would make their transit dangerous.

Canine Tracking Management Unit

Its function is to locate victims buried in collapsed structures (collapses, explosions with trapped victims etc.) in the shortest possible time. The unit participates in international missions, location of trapped victims, providing Search and Rescue (SAR) equipment and medical assistance.

Communications Management Unit

This units manages call and resource management functions in Scheduled Services. This work is carried out from the designated locations for each service, such as the Mobile CISEM, the Dispatch Centre integrated into Madrid 112 or the Comprehensive Security and Emergency Centre (CISEM).

Operator coverage in the Organisational Control Units (UCO) of football stadiums and with other institutions, individuals or areas which require communication links.

DEPA (Special Preventive Unit for Antisocial Behaviour) Management Unit

Coverage of services where there is a risk to people or property due to public disturbances. These units are responsible for responding to demonstrations, high-risk football matches, evictions, riots and all other events which, due to their complexity, require special measures.

These units receive specific training from the Police Intervention Units (UIP) of the National Police Force.

External Teaching Management Unit

Coverage of the Bystander programme courses with specialised training volunteers.

Coverage of First Responder courses, intended specifically for law enforcement agencies and security bodies (institutions which often encounter medical situations in their day-to-day work and for which they must be trained to perform initial assessment and, if necessary, resuscitation of patients).

Coverage of Automated External Defibrillation (AED) courses, especially for facilities, spaces, institutions and companies which have Cardiac Rescue Columns connected to our Dispatch Centre.

Internal Teaching Management Unit

This unit is responsible for updating the knowledge and skills required to belong to the Volunteer Corps Service. This unit is responsible for training teaching personnel and training new recruits with new entry courses.

Medical Logistics Management Unit

Coverage of assigned internal services and all those requiring logistical support. Management and control of all logistics planned for scheduled services entailing foreseeable risks.

Maintenance of the Civil Protection Department’s specific logistics equipment and management of the materials and clothing warehouse, ensuring volunteers are provided with specific clothing and equipment to volunteers, keeping stocks up to date and forecasting needs.

First Intervention Motorcycle Management Unit

The Motorcycle Unit, like the Bicycle Unit, has the main mission of providing first medical assistance in hard-to-reach or remote areas for ambulances to access. The motorcycles are equipped with Basic Life Support (BLS) equipment and Automated External Defibrillators (AED) and can be equipped with Advanced Life Support (ALS) equipment for certain services.

C.B.R.N. (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) Management Unit

Coverage of services where a C.B.R.N. risk may exist. Volunteers gain access to this speciality after completing a strict specific training course in the use of measuring equipment, the use of protective equipment at all levels, the setting up of patient decontamination lines and the handling of contaminated patients.

In addition to participating in regular drills, these units must also provide support functions for the C.B.R.N. unit on call to certify that these are up to date and remain operational within the unit.

Active Prevention Management Unit

This unit provides prevention services coverage and performs inherent civil protection functions. It collaborates with the Municipal Police in road safety matters: setting up checkpoints, crowd control, human chains etc. In the event of cases of inclement weather, these units perform road safety, rescue and support functions for other service or external units.

Psychosocial Intervention Management Unit

This unit take part in psychological support interventions for the families of deceased individuals and in emergency situations where SAMUR–Civil Protection is involved, and relatives are present. They may even accompany the victims’ families to their places of origin if the situation requires it.

It composed of volunteers with training in psychological first aid to provide support to the emergency psychologist on duty and participate in on-call shifts with them as part of their training.

Social Media Management Unit

This unit is responsible for disseminating the service’s best practices and providing and fostering its visibility through social media @SAMUR_PC

Advanced Life Support Management Unit

Service coverage with personnel specialised in Advanced Life Support. This unit primarily performs medical functions in major scheduled services in Advanced Life Support Units

(ALSU), Rapid Intervention Vehicles (RIV), Advanced Medical Posts (AMP), as well as the provision of support to other Civil Protection functions.

Operational Logistics Unit

This unit carries out its activities in the operational logistics support units. Volunteers gain access to this speciality after successfully completing a strict specifically designed logistics support equipment management training course. The activities carried out by Civil Protection volunteers in these units can be classified as follows:

• Logistical support for regular SAMUR-Civil Protection operations.
• First response to mass casualty incidents.
• Special preventive response in the context of special deployments during antisocial events.
• Second response to C.B.R.N. incidents.

Emergency Vehicle Unit

Volunteers who, due to their accreditation as drivers, are authorized to operate large vehicles such as buses, trucks, as well as other vehicles related to the transport of equipment, collective transport, and similar purposes.

Volunteers Training

After the admission process, candidates for the Civil Protection Volunteer Corps must undergo mandatory training and a practical placement period. This training, known as the Basic Training for New Civil Protection Volunteer Applicants, aims to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to collaborate in prevention and protection tasks involving people and property, as well as operational intervention in emergency situations when required.

There are three intakes per year, with four groups of approximately 25 students each. These intakes are scheduled to begin in January, March, and September. Each intake completes a total of 190 hours, comprising 140 theoretical-practical hours (both in-person and online) and 50 service-based practical hours.

The in-person theoretical sessions take place on weekends, while the supervised practical shifts are scheduled from Monday to Sunday within civil protection services. The overall duration of the training is approximately three months.

Once this training period is completed and assessed as "satisfactory", the applicant must then undergo a further six-month supervised internship in order to attain full status as a Civil Protection Volunteer.

The training of volunteers does not end with this initial course. All members must be equipped with up-to-date training and knowledge to provide a high-quality response in daily operations, foreseeable risk events, and disaster situations. For this reason, Civil Protection Volunteers follow a robust training plan for continuous development, refresher courses, and specialization, aimed at maintaining and enhancing their emergency response capabilities.

This training is included in the CIFSE (Madrid City Council) annual training plan and is approved by the Directorate-General for Safety of the Regional Ministry for the Environment, Agriculture and the Interior of the Community of Madrid.