Madrid firefighter says 85 per cent of call-outs in Spain’s capital are to the homes of Covid-19 victims who have died alone

A FIREFIGHTER from Madrid says a shocking 85 per cent of call outs are to the homes of Covid-19 victims who have passed away alone.

José said his life as a specialist firefighter has changed completely since the coronavirus crisis began, adding “there are no more accidents, or mishaps, 85 per cent of call outs are ‘opening doors’ because people are dying alone in their homes.”

Since the State of Alarm was decreed, José has barely been on duty, but at any time he can receive a call to cover because of a colleague casualty or Covid-19 infection.

And according to Efe, practically every despatch from Parque Dos in Manuel Becerra, these days is to allow access for paramedics to take away dead bodies.

“There are people who are alone, they are not hospitalised, they call on the phone, are told to stay in their homes and they are not tested.

“They end up dying without attention,” adds José, who says that in a single day they made 20 outings related to deaths from coronavirus.

Before taking action, emergency services receive calls from relatives concerned about someone who has not answered any calls for many days, or from neighbours who warn of the bad smell coming from a house.

José went on to say “there has not been another crisis like this, this is the strongest thing we have experienced. I can’t imagine anything that could have been like this, only maybe the war.”

José said it isn’t just his job, it’s his whole life that has changed.
Before the coronavirus crisis, he felt a certain adrenaline carrying out his duties, but said the current situation has changed everything, from the way he works to the feeling of danger he has when he gets home because of the fear of infecting someone he loves.

He told Efe: “The fear is not about getting sick, but about spreading it.
“I think about my son and my wife, who is pregnant, and realise that you have to be very careful because you can catch it from anything, a typical pat on the shoulder of a colleague, or from not disinfecting some part of your uniform after a call out.”

José joined the fire service at the age of 22 and has been working for nine years. He said nothing has transformed his job like the current health crisis.

“There are now distances of two metres between firemen, they have closed all the common rooms like the gym or the dining room, we have to eat separately, they do not recommend cooking, we have to bring food from home and disinfect everything with bleach.”

What used to be a routine clean up after a job, now takes almost three hours to disinfect everything: doorways, their equipment, the vehicle, their boots.

And José said where there used to be jokes and camaraderie, “there is now a lot of seriousness, people are not living together and it is all very rare, but if it has to be like that, it is important that those of us who cannot stay at home do not infect anyone.”