For the children at Nybyholmsskolan, which is an F-5 school, it was the first time they heard “Hesa Fredrik” shouting across the schoolyard on Monday. The old VMA typhoon was removed many years ago and it is only now during the summer holidays that a new one has been installed.
– Many of our children come from other countries and have experienced war, so we have talked to them about it before in the classes, says Ros-Marie Sjöström, who is the principal at the school.
She says that it can be unpleasant for some children when “Hesa Fredrik” sounds the alarm, but that the school has worked with educational material from the Armed Forces to prepare the children properly.
– Since then, we have tried to tone it down and not make such a big deal out of it. You have to take it in a child’s way, so that they understand, she says.
Got a typhoon over
During the spring and summer, Arboga municipality together with MSB, the Agency for Community Protection and Preparedness, renewed and repositioned their “Hesa Fredrik” so that the signal can be heard more clearly and support where there is a lack of coverage.
– We replaced several old ones and got one left and then it was set up at Nybyholmsskolan again, says Johan Sohlberg, preparedness coordinator at Arboga municipality.
He says that there was a “Hesa Fredrik” at the school several years ago, but that it was removed in connection with many typhoons being dismantled around ten years ago.
What is vma?
VMA is a warning system that is used in the event of accidents and serious events, in the event of severe disturbances in important social functions and in crisis management in connection with extraordinary events.
The typhoon system is tested four times a year at 15:00 on the first non-holiday Monday in March, June, September and December.
The VMA typhoons are primarily intended to warn people who are outdoors.
VMA includes information on radio and TV, as well as in some cases the outdoor warning system “Hesa Fredrik”.
Source: Arboga municipality
Why is the outdoor alarm sometimes called Hesa Fredrik?
The alarm was first tested in 1931 and although its official name is Important Notice to the Public (VMA) it soon got its better known name, Hes Fredrik. Oscar Fredrik Rydqvist, columnist at Dagens Nyheter, thought that the new alarm signal sounded as hoarse as he himself, and the expression then spread quickly.
Source: Arboga municipality