A pioneering Red Cross service in San Fulgencio is helping elderly, disabled and vulnerable residents remain safe and supported in their own homes — while providing vital companionship to those facing life alone.
The Integrated Municipal Emergency Response System, known as SIREM, has completed more than 2,500 health and social-care interventions since it began operating in August 2024.
Although its ambulance is the service’s most visible feature, SIREM’s work extends far beyond responding to medical emergencies. Its ten emergency medical technicians make scheduled home visits, monitor vulnerable residents, identify unmet needs and provide practical and emotional support.
The service is particularly important in San Fulgencio, where around 42% of the population is aged over 65. The municipality’s high proportion of elderly residents, together with people living with disabilities, chronic illnesses or reduced mobility, means the team is kept exceptionally busy.
“SIREM is not just an ambulance,” said service coordinator José Manuel Ávila, who has 20 years’ experience in emergency healthcare.
“Behind each visit there may also be a need for social monitoring, companionship or coordination with other services.”
Social support grows rapidly
During its first two years, SIREM carried out 2,502 interventions, comprising 1,334 healthcare responses and 1,168 social-care visits. This represents an average of more than 100 interventions every month.
The changing nature of that work demonstrates the growing demand for social support. During its first month, the service recorded 58 healthcare interventions and 15 social interventions. In the latest month, there were 62 healthcare callouts and 79 social interventions.
While demand for emergency healthcare has remained relatively stable, social-care activity has increased sharply as the team has become more closely connected with the community.
SIREM responds to accidents and illnesses in homes and public places, supports searches for missing people and provides preventive healthcare cover at local events. It also helps issue public warnings during severe weather.
However, a medical callout can often expose a much wider problem.
“We may attend someone who has suffered a fall and discover that they live alone, have mobility problems, lack family support or need help at home,” Ávila explained.
“That is when another essential part of our work begins.”
Regular visits and practical assistance
The team conducts planned home visits to elderly and dependent residents, assesses basic needs and provides emotional support. It can also help people understand and access the assistance available through municipal, healthcare and charitable services.
Depending on individual circumstances, SIREM may arrange or deliver food, hygiene products, clothing, medicines and mobility equipment such as crutches, walking frames, adjustable beds and patient lifts.
Staff also accompany residents to healthcare appointments, assist with movement and mobility, and monitor people considered to be isolated or particularly vulnerable.
The service works closely with San Fulgencio’s Social Services department, the Local Police, primary healthcare professionals and other Red Cross programmes.
Ávila stressed that SIREM does not replace the public healthcare system or Social Services.
“Our role is complementary,” he said. “We identify needs, provide support and connect each person with the service or protection they require.”
Its regular presence inside people’s homes enables staff to notice problems that could easily be missed during a single emergency visit. After identifying a concern, the team can return several days later to check whether help has arrived and assess how the resident is coping.
This continuity can prevent a difficult situation from developing into a full emergency.
Helping residents regain independence
Behind the statistics are people such as María del Mar, 46, who has been unable to walk for three years.
When the team first visited her, staff recognised that she faced serious limitations in her daily life. Regular visits allowed them to monitor her condition, support her rehabilitation and identify the equipment she needed. Assistance included the provision of an adjustable bed and continence products.
For another resident, Úrsula, the greatest need was not medical equipment but companionship.
Following the death of her husband, she experienced a prolonged period of grief and loneliness. SIREM began visiting her regularly, offering emotional support and, just as importantly, someone with whom she could sit and talk.
Úrsula told the team that their visits made her feel less alone. As staff became familiar with her circumstances, they also helped her rebuild her independence, personal safety and social connections.
Over time, they witnessed a marked improvement. Although she continues to miss her husband, Úrsula has grown stronger, resumed activities, maintained friendships and begun travelling again.
In gratitude for the support she received, she donated her late husband’s mobility scooter to the service. It is now helping another resident.
The value of simply being there
Not every intervention requires medical treatment, specialist equipment or an immediate solution. Sometimes the most valuable help SIREM can offer is a listening ear and the reassurance that someone will return.
The team assists elderly residents who struggle to attend medical appointments, couples finding everyday tasks increasingly difficult and people who have experienced a decline in mobility or independence.
“Sometimes we do not need to bring anything,” Ávila said. “What that person needs is for us to visit, sit with them for a while, listen and make sure they are all right.”
That human contact is at the heart of a service addressing not only emergencies, but also the loneliness, isolation and vulnerability that may lie behind them.
“Our aim is not only to arrive when something happens,” Ávila added. “It is to be there for the person when they need us.”
