This weekend, SOS Alarm received a record number of calls. Never before have so many called 112 in the same 24-hour period. At the same time, the emergency center’s own investigation has concluded that five people may have died as a result of the long waiting times last summer, reports Today’s news.
SOS Alarm usually receives around 10,500 calls per day, although the numbers can vary. Last Saturday, 17,503 people called 112, which is a new record.
The heat is probably behind it
Björn Skoglund, operations specialist at SOS Alarm, says that it is above all the heat that is behind it, but that there are several factors that make many people call.
– We had a lot of fires in above all forest and land. It coincided with warm weather and many big events. When the weather is warm and nice, there are a lot of people out, then more things happen, he says.
There was also one event that stood out, the ground fire near the Gröndal traffic area on Essingeleden in Stockholm.
– Many drove past on Essingeleden, I think we received hundreds of calls about it, even though the fire brigade was on site, many people saw the smoke.
Internal investigation: Response times too long
Last summer, the response time to SOS Alarm was an average of 35 seconds, even though the waiting time should be 8 seconds. It appears in the alarm center’s own investigation, reports Dagens Nyheter.
Furthermore, it cannot be ruled out that five people died as a result of the long waiting times. It is about one drowning and four cardiac arrests, where response times varied between three and four minutes, according to the newspaper.
– We cannot say with confidence that there is not a risk when a patient or someone in need of help ends up in such a long waiting time at 112. We are now working hard to improve our response times. We see a positive development during this year, says Camilla Nylén, director of operations at SOS Alarm, to Dagens Nyheter.
More calls this year
There is a risk of forest fire in large parts of Sweden, in some places the risk is extremely high according to SMHI. During the summer months, calls to 112 usually increase, but this year there have already been 45,000 more calls in June, compared to last year.
– The more people who call, the harder we have to work. Of course, this means that it may take longer to get help. But our priority is to respond as quickly as possible, says Björn Skoglund.
According to Björn Skoglund, much has improved since the extreme summer of 2018. Ahead of this summer, the emergency center has recruited over 60 new emergency operators.
– We now have the opportunity to receive automatic alarms from satellites that identify forest fires. It is a factor in early detection of fires and arriving on site.
Björn Skoglund also recommends downloading the 112 app, which can provide notifications about events nearby. In this way, you can find out if someone has already raised the alarm about an ongoing fire.