Police and firefighters visit kids in hospital: “My son's little face lit up,” says patient's mum

They climb through windows and burst into wards where bored children are forced to sit around in bed with nothing to do for days or weeks – always unpleasant for little patients, and even more so for those who will need to spend Christmas in hospital.

Some of the kids at the San Rafael Hospital in Spain's capital are on the ward for relatively routine reasons – Gabriel Eduardo (pictured, with his mum) was admitted with stomach pains, and Bosco has just had surgery for appendicitis – although others are much more seriously ill and a small number may never be able to go home, meaning any efforts available to make their stay as fun as possible are a vital investment.

To this end, the National Police, city fire brigade and paramedics from the SAMUR emergency ambulance chain spend hours playing with children, talking about what they do, making up games with toys scattered on their beds, and generally entertaining them.

Gabriel Eduardo's mum Iliana said 'his little face lit up' when a fireman scaled into his room, and that her son 'cannot wait' to show his school friends photos of him in a fire helmet and to tell them they came to visit him in hospital.

Bosco was thrilled to receive a book designed specially for children with pictures and advice on how to prevent fires, and the firefighter who visited him asked, “what do you think we do?”

The little boy answered, “put out fires,” and the officer asked, “what else do we do?”

“Fetch cats down from trees,” said Bosco.

Police and firefighter visits also have an educational function, explains San Rafael's child clinical psychology unit.

Group leader David Cubillo explains: “We play with them and also take preventive action – we try to teach them about what we're for. We want them to learn that we're someone they can turn to for help, so we tell them stories, they tell us stories, and we play with them in workshops using virtual reality and drones.”

Readings, robotics, programming, photographs, and creative activities are adapted to the young patients' ages, and the entire scheme has been found to be suitable for children aged between two and 16.

A pilot scheme launched by Madrid's Complutense University's faculty of psychology, the policeman and fireman visits are not a new idea, but as yet their real effectiveness has not been scientifically studied.

Students and researchers at the university are documenting their findings so they can create a definitive guide to the usefulness of such entertainment schemes for children in hospital, and plan similar ones in centres across the country.

Another brilliant initiative to make life less traumatic for kids in hospital was launched a year ago in the Basque Country, where children drive a toy car to the operating theatre to reduce their fear in anticipation of going into surgery.

Photograph: San Rafael Hospital, Madrid