Heatwaves: how to modernize your municipality's register of vulnerable people

Every summer, spells of intense heat remind municipalities of a responsibility as long-standing as it is sensitive: protecting their most vulnerable residents. Behind this mission lies a legal obligation born of the 2003 heatwave, and a tool that many town halls still keep by hand. With heatwaves now recurring, the register of vulnerable people deserves better than a spreadsheet forgotten in a shared folder.

The register of vulnerable people, an obligation since 2003

After the 2003 heatwave, keeping a register listing vulnerable people by name became an obligation for French municipalities. The reference framework is the law of June 30, 2004 on solidarity for the autonomy of elderly and disabled people. The mayor is responsible for setting it up and keeping it up to date, and must be able to pass it on to the prefect (the State’s representative in the département) if the alert and emergency plan is triggered.

Three categories of people are concerned:

• people aged 65 and over living at home;
• people over 60 recognized as unfit for work;
• disabled adults.

Registration is voluntary and based on self-declaration. It can be requested by the person themselves, by a legal representative or by a third party, such as a relative or a neighbor. The municipality is required to send an acknowledgment of receipt, and anyone can ask to be removed at any time. The same register is also used during cold spells, the other extreme of the seasons.

The real problem is not the register, it is how it is kept

On paper, the obligation is clear. In practice, tracking still relies heavily on Excel files, sometimes stored on non-sovereign clouds accessible from outside the European Union. For health data, that is a real weakness.

The registration process says a lot. To be added to the register, residents often have to send a letter, write an e-mail that risks being caught by the town hall’s spam filters, phone, or come in to fill out a paper form. These steps are hardly accessible, precisely at a time when efficiency is vital.

Staff pay the price too. While they answer the phone and enter registrations, they are not out in the field handing out water or visiting isolated people. Finally, few residents know this register even exists. The municipality therefore has a dual mission: to identify people and to make the register known.

Before, during, after: what a modern system changes

A good tool does not replace the commitment of the teams. It gives them the time and peace of mind they lack on the day of the alert. The entire season can be managed from a single place.

Before: building and keeping the register without friction

Registration is done through a simple online form, accessible from a mobile phone, by the person themselves or by a relative. Staff can also enter a registration received at the front desk, by phone or by mail; everything ends up in the same file. The acknowledgment of receipt is automatic, unsubscribing takes one click, and the file is shared only with authorized people, such as the municipal social services (CCAS) and other social services.

During: warning people, then responding to distress reports

As an episode approaches, the town hall has the list of people to contact, by SMS or by phone according to their stated preference. In parallel, a second online procedure lets anyone, registered or not, report an immediate need in a few taps: water, a fan, a cool place, groceries. The level of urgency sets the order of intervention, and each report is automatically routed to the right department. The result: fewer incoming calls to absorb, and staff free to go out to residents.

After: measuring and reporting

Once the episode is over, the municipality reviews the interventions carried out against the distress cases recorded. Figures, traceable and verifiable records to present to elected officials and to the prefect, and a register already ready for the next season.

Health data deserves better than a spreadsheet

The register contains health information. Processing it therefore requires a level of security that few improvised solutions offer. A system designed for local authorities provides several guarantees: sovereign hosting, 100% in France and GDPR-compliant, access strictly limited to authorized people, and fine-grained separation of permissions. A front desk staff member can thus register someone without having access to the whole register, which is impossible with a plain Excel file.

A word about a common concern: the fear of improper registrations by a third party. The system does not make abuse easier; on the contrary, it tends to limit it. Whereas a letter or an e-mail already allows someone to be registered without any verification, a modern tool adds an acknowledgment of receipt, one-click unsubscribing and a verification call from the town hall.

How to set up the system, free of charge

This is the point that reassures teams most: setting it up requires neither a heavy IT project nor a budget. With HelloSpot’s free “Heatwave Help and Prevention” offer, the process takes just a few steps:

1. You create your account, free and ready in a few minutes, with nothing to install.
2. The “Heatwave” procedure is already built into your account: you review it and adjust it if needed, in plain language if you like, thanks to AI.
3. You publish it on your website, through a widget or a QR code, at a simple address such as your-town-hall/heatwave.
4. You receive registrations and give partitioned access to your front desk and your CCAS.

As the episode approaches, you alert each person through their preferred contact method, then you handle the reports and review the results.

Both procedures, registration in the register and distress reporting, are free up to 1,000 requests. Only alert SMS messages are paid, as one-off credits starting at 80 euros, because they represent a real cost. If your municipality already has an SMS solution, simply export the file and import it there.

A simple step, a strong signal for your municipality

Modernizing the register of vulnerable people is not about adding yet another tool. It is about offering your most vulnerable residents an accessible, secure and sovereign public service, and giving your staff the means to act calmly when the temperature rises. At a sensitive time, it is also a clear message about how your municipality protects its own.

Would you like to equip your municipality before the next episode? Discover the free “Heatwave Help and Prevention” offer or create your free account in a few minutes.