Ministry sees management problems at Helsinki emergency response

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The Ministry of the Interior attributes some of the problems affecting the Helsinki Emergency Response Centre to poor management.
      "Decision-making power is apparently very concentrated", says Pentti Partanen, head of Rescue Services at the Ministry of the Interior.
      The Emergency Response Centre Administration, which is based in Pori, operates under the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
      In Partanen’s view, decision-making power should be devolved more toward Helsinki, so that not every small matter would need to be handled via Pori.
      An inquiry by the Ministry of the Interior on management problems at the Emergency Response Centre Administration is expected to be ready before the end of August.
     
Interior Minister Kari Rajamäki (SDP) criticised management at Finland’s emergency response centres. "There has not been a quick enough response to the problems, and an excessively positive image has been given of the situation", Rajamäki commented on Thursday.
      The ministry’s management team for security matters, which Rajamäki chairs himself, met on Thursday to discuss the problem. The focus was on the Helsinki Emergency Response Centre, whose problems were acknowledged more straightforwardly than before.
      Rajamäki said that more pressure has been brought to bear to correct the situation.
     
One of the problems facing the Helsinki Emergency Response Centre is a shortage of personnel; there is considerable turnover among those manning the telephones, which means that few have accrued much experience.
      Response time to emergency calls has grown longer especially in Helsinki. There has also been a considerable increase in absenteeism due to illness.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Crisis caused by understaffing deepens at Helsinki emergency services (17.8.2006)
  Waiting times for rescue services in Helsinki still too long (2.8.2006)
  Lack of personnel risks quality of rescue services in Helsinki (14.2.2006)
  Report suggests Helsinki rescue services at critical level (17.6.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat