Cultural heritage safeguarding sheets

The safeguard sheets are a work tool, promoted by the General Subdirectorate of Historical Heritage, designed to facilitate the work of emergency teams in cases of emergency in cultural heritage assets of the Community of Madrid.

They are prepared in collaboration with emergency services and security bodies, such as the Fire Department, the Military Emergency Unit (UME), the Civil Guard and the National Police, with the aim of providing them with an appropriate action protocol.

The sheets include very valuable information about the heritage to be protected: planimetric information about the buildings, their surroundings, accesses and construction materials and the list of movable property found inside.

They detail the location of these assets and their safeguarding priority, identifying those that must be protected , and those who must be evacuated. The protection systems, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers are also reflected, as well as all the data that can facilitate the rescue work and reduce its time.

So far, the General Subdirectorate of Historical Heritage has made 127 records on the church's heritage, through an agreement. In addition, files have been made for Cervantes' Birthplace, the University Auditorium, the San Ildefonso Chapel and the Laredo Palace in Alcalá de Henares, the Lope de Vega House Museum and the Las Ventas Bullfighting Museum, located in Madrid. and the castle of Manzanares El Real.

The safeguard sheets project has been put into practice in two fire drills carried out in the Cathedral of Getafe (2022) and Alcalá de Henares (2023), with the aim of examining coordination between the different agents involved in the rescue and safeguard of cultural heritage.

The services of the Madrid 112 Security and Emergency Agency, the Fire Stations of both municipalities, Civil Protection, Local Police and National Police, restorers and heritage technicians participated in the drills, under the training and coordination of Charo Fernández de las Heras , of the General Subdirectorate of Historical Heritage.

The Conference on Risk Analysis and Emergency Management in Cultural Heritage, held in the El Águila auditorium, brought together various experts in the field to analyze the preservation of heritage in the face of the risks to which it is exposed: earthquakes, floods, fires, vandalism or war conflicts, among others. The Emergency Observatory, the consequences of the Lorca earthquake or the blue shield in Spain, were some of the topics that were discussed.