Lack of personnel risks quality of rescue services in Helsinki

City's emergency centre has eight unfilled vacancies

print this

Lack of personnel is putting the quality of Helsinki's rescue services at risk. Eight of the new emergency centre's 67 vacancies remain unfilled. Four of these positions are permanent and the other four are fixed.
      When the nationwide emergency centre reform reached Helsinki in October, only half of the municipal emergency centre's 40 employees were transferred under the government payroll.
     
"A large number of the new duty officers lack the appropriate training or competence", says Helsinki's ambulance physician in charge Teuvo Määttä.
      According to the emergency centre director Markus Grönholm, 30 to 40 of the new centre's duty officers have obtained the relevant emergency centre duty officer's qualification.
      The 20 or so police officers who were on loan to the emergency centre for two months have now returned to their normal duties. Another fifteen duty officers from the Police College remain in the centre.
     
"We are sort of feeling our way through the operation at the moment. Great challenges lie ahead of us", Teuvo Määttä says in describing the activities at the emergency response centre. "A clear change in the quality of services has taken place".
      "Currently Finland suffers from a lack of qualified emergency duty officers. The hiring of newly-graduated police officers after giving them a two-week crash course in emergency centre functions was never more than a temporary solution. They will gradually disappear as they land police vacancies", Määttä believes.
      Määttä emphasises that the system is to blame, not the individuals. The increase in staff requirements was not anticipated in training, and the problem hit Helsinki the hardest.
     
From the beginning of February, the Helsinki Emergency Centre has only served residents of the capital itself. The operation under the current legislation includes rescue and police services, plus social and health care services.
      "The situation is good, probably thanks to the relatively peaceful beginning of the year", Grönholm comments.
      "Some time ago we received more customer feedback concerning the length of our response times. This has always been the problem with the police and rescue effort in emergencies. I am sure people sometimes have to wait for a little while, especially during peak periods."
     
Grönholm admits that the present situation is tough for the personnel. "More people are needed on shifts, especially during the peak hours."
      Määttä, in turn, complains that the entire nationwide renewal process was strongly led by the Ministry of the Interior, while the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, which was jointly responsible, came in far too late.
      "From the health care point of view, the emergency centre legislation is far too confusing and open to various interpretations", Määttä points out. Caption: Mika Jyrkämö is a man on a mission as he accelerates his ambulance out of the vehicle bays at the Central Rescue Station in Kallio, Helsinki. Report suggests Helsinki's rescue services at critical level (17.6.2005) http://www.hs.fi/english/article/1101979941833 City of Helsinki Rescue Department http://asiakas.poutapilvi.fi/pelastuslaitos/main.phtml?topmenu_id=9&lang=1


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Report suggests Helsinkis rescue services at critical level (17.6.2005)

Links:
  City of Helsinki Rescue Department

Helsingin Sanomat