Growth of rescues in natural areas during the first summer of COVID-19 pandemic in Catalonia

Identifier:  imarina:9216061

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9216061

Authors:  Saladie, Oscar; Bustamante, Edgar; Gutierrez, Aaron

Abstract:
This article analyzes the impact of the end of the COVID-19 lockdown on the number of rescues in natural areas in Catalonia (Spain) during July and August 2020. We compared the figures for 2020 with those corresponding to the same period in 2016–2019, including their temporal and spatial distributions. Our findings show that the number of rescues undertaken by the Catalan Fire Department in July and August 2020 increased significantly compared to the same summer period in the four previous years (+39.7%). The daily averages increased for both weekends and weekdays in 2020, with 7.5 and 3.9 rescues per day, respectively. The greatest increase corresponded to rescue operations conducted at low altitudes (up to 500 m ASL) and areas with no specific protection status near to populated places. Natural areas were perceived safer than, for example, coastal destinations in terms of the risk of COVID-19 contagion, and they experienced a growth in visitors during the first summer of the pandemic. One consequence of this was an increase in emergency service activity to rescue people in natural areas. This research adds new evidence of the multiple indirect effects of the reconfiguration of mobilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings could be of interest to emergency service managers, managers of protected natural areas, and public authorities.