Requirements for resignation: Heat protection for homeless people failed!

Requirements for resignation: Heat protection for homeless people failed!

in Hildesheim it is bubbling. The homeless self-help group "edge note Hildesheim" raises serious allegations against the city and the district, which have not taken any measures to protect homeless people during the recently experienced heat wave. The spokesman for the group, Swen Huchatz, has the resignation of District Administrator Bernd Lynack, Mayor Dr. Ingo Meyer and Social Authority Malte Spitzer. The reason for the outrage is the failure to set up heat protection rooms, while the German weather service urgently warned of extreme thermal load that reached almost 40 degrees. Despite these official warning messages, precautionary measures failed to materialize, which in the eyes of the "marginal note" disregarded the right to physical integrity for homeless people.

The city of Hildesheim is now faced with allegations that not only indicate failures during the current heat wave. Similar deficiencies were found in winter than there was a lack of cold protection measures. "Randnote" calls for a fundamental realignment of the help structures for homeless people and also criticizes private sponsors of homeless help for their failure. Another problem remains the lack of official statement on the part of the city or the district of these allegations, which makes the situation even more explosive.

The health consequences of heat waves

The Social Association VDK warns that particularly vulnerable groups are at risk from the extreme temperatures. These include older, sick and homeless people. President Verena Bentele emphasizes the need for a comprehensive heat protection plan for care facilities, hospitals and supervised shared apartments. Construction measures and training for the staff are essential. An innovative approach could be the use of facade shadows and cooling packs in clinics that currently have many institutions.

The urgency of these measures is clear. The number of heat -related deaths in Germany has increased alarming in recent years. Experts estimate that in the summer of 2022 around 4,500 people died of heat f areches, whereby many of these people were among the particularly endangered group, which also focused on in Hildesheim. There are also demands for more protective measures in other social institutions such as schools and daycare centers, such as green roofs and shadow dispensers. "We have to arm our educational institutions and social institutions against the heat," explains Anja Bensinger-Stolze from Gew.

climate change and social inequality

The increasing temperatures are not only a question of the weather, they are also a sign of climate change. According to the parity overall association, the number of heat waves in Germany will probably increase by triple by the end of the century. This also means that we have to develop strategies in the long term to effectively help endangered groups. In particular, living in urban areas with low nightly cooling makes the situation particularly precarious for homeless people in Hildesheim.

A systematic revision of the help structures is urgently needed. The parity association has already started initiatives to sensitize member organizations in the area of ​​heat protection and to develop risk reduction strategies. Webinars and information materials are intended to raise awareness of these topics. Since social differences can increase the effects of heat waves, it is indispensable to grant all affected access to protective measures.

The call to the converter is therefore clear: politics is required to create long -term solutions that not only work in acute crises, but also sustainable for all citizens: