Minister reprimands officials responsible for rescue services

Minister of the Interior Kari Rajamäki (SDP) considered on Thursday that the Department for Rescue Services of the Ministry of the Interior and the management of the Emergency Response Centre Administration have both been painfully slow to react to the problems facing the emergency response centres (ERCs).
      The internal conflicts within the ERC Administration surfaced on Monday when a joint letter sent to Minister Rajamäki by the directors of 14 of the country's 15 ERC centres was made public. The letter stated that the Emergency Response Centre Administration is in a serious crisis, and that the current problems cannot be resolved without the resignation of Director General Jyrki Landstedt.
      At a press conference on Thursday, Jyrki Landstedt rejected the idea of resignations at the top as the only panacea.
     
Rajamäki said further that the shortage of ERC operators could be seen already last spring. He added that at that point it was also known that the deliveries of new IT management systems would be delayed.
      However, the problems were not acknowledged but were "allowed to drift", Rajamäki lashed out.
      According to Rajamäki, the Helsinki Emergency Centre was also guilty last winter of not recognising a need to make serious efforts to deal with the well-documented lack of personnel. The issue has been much in the news over the past months, with concerns over response times for emergency call-outs.
     
Neglecting to deal with the delays in the deliveries of new equipment was downright irresponsible, Rajamäki noted.
      The introduction of the newest version of the data system has been held up by twelve months. Rajamäki added pointedly that the management of the Emergency Response Centre Agency in Pori is not the only unit exhibiting problems.
     
Rajamäki said that he would expect both the Emergency Response Centre Administration and the management of the Ministry's Department for Rescue Services to exercise better follow-up and a more explicit division of responsibilities.
      Rajamäki reported that steps were taken to tackle the problems only after he had summoned the Ministry's Internal Security Management Group to convene in August.
     
The Internal Security Management Group is expected to give its account on the state of the Emergency Response Centre Administration as well as on the related conclusions next week. On that occasion, the status of Director General Jyrki Landstedt is also likely to be defined.
      While denying all allegations of a crisis within the Emergency Response Centre Administration, Landstedt reported on Thursday that the views of the ERC directors are different from his, as regards the future development of the ERC Administration.
     
Landstedt implied that the ERC directors would be satisfied with the current organisation while he himself would be willing to pursue a system of three cooperative regions with five emergency response centres in each.
      In his press release on Thursday Landstedt stated that he intended to be involved in the implementation of the ERC reforms (which began in 2001) also in the future.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Lack of personnel risks quality of rescue services in Helsinki (14.2.2006)
  Director General Jyrki Landstedt rejects criticism from ERC directors (28.9.2006)

Links:
  Ministry of the Interior
  Emergency Response Centre Administration
  City of Helsinki Rescue Department