The head of the Territorial Operational Unit with the Barcelona Fire Service explained how the energy poverty detection protocol was established for when the corps is called out, and what form communication takes with Social Services in this respect. The explanation was given at the 5th Basic and Specialised Social Services Congress, during a round table at the firefighters’ museum facility, the Espai Bombers.
Barcelona’s firefighters go into many homes during the course of callouts, indirectly enabling them to identify cases of vulnerability which for various reasons may not be on the municipal Social Services radar.
This is why the energy poverty detection protocol exists, thanks to a coordination agreement with municipal Social Services, so that the fire service can report vulnerable situations they detect during the course of their work (energy poverty, unhealthy conditions, slum housing etc.).
The information is passed on in a report, which includes a series of pre-established indicators which senior officers in the corps mark according to the issues detected and which are relayed to Barcelona City Council’s Social Services.
The 5th Basic and Specialised Social Services Congress was held on 27 and 28 May, under the slogan “Navigating (advancing) in the margins of social intervention”.