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More than 2,000 volunteers from almost 300 Civil Protection groups in Andalucia have been working with the emergency services to help alleviate the effects of the coronavirus crisis in the community. The groups have especially helped in tasks of social support and providing information for the public.
The volunteers have provided assistance to some of the most vulnerable in the population to cover their basic needs, such as the acquisition of food or medicine. They have also helped with the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE), telephone assistance to elderly people who are alone at home and surveillance of parks and public spaces to avoid gatherings of people.
Currently, 297 volunteer groups are activated out of the 321 that exist in Andalucia. Since the state of alarm was decreed on March 14 and the Andalucian Territorial Emergency Plan (PETAnd) was activated, a total of 243 municipalities have activated their municipal emergency plans.
Preventive guide
In recent weeks the Andalucian Government has intensified in the training of volunteers through a ‘Guide on basic preventive actions’ aimed at groups based on the health indications of the Ministry of Health and which aims to prevent infections.
The document includes preventive measures of a general nature, such as those that have been repeated since the beginning of this health crisis – hygiene of hands with soap or covering the nose and mouth with a handkerchief when coughing and sneezing, and discarding it; avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth and maintaining a social distance of two metres. A further series of instructions followed on the assessment of risk exposure, and the establishment of criteria for the selection and use of PPE, related to masks, gloves, goggles and protective clothing including the choice of the most appropriate equipment based on the risk of exposure, how to properly place the equipment and how to safely remove and dispose of it.
The Junta has also produced a manual aimed at volunteers that is geared towards operational and preventive support tasks including the collaboration with the security forces, the transfer of elderly or dependent people to health centres; the medical transport of affected people; the cleaning and disinfection of public roads and common areas, as well as the capacity control of commercial establishments where food is dispensed.
Another function is to collaborate in logistical tasks such as the collection, storage and distribution of food, medicines, sanitary and cleaning materials. In addition, they are in charge of accompanying tasks for the elderly, of holding telephone conversations with confined citizens and of making purchases for groups with displacement difficulties.
