Rescue services in Finland

Rescue services in Finland

2 Rescue services in Finland Accident prevention. Rescue operations. Preparedness and civil defence. Ready to deal with all types of incidents from the very minor to major disasters. The rescue authorities working with a variety of other actors have put effective measures in place to prevent accidents before they happen, reducing the number of accidents and injuries substantially. A framework is being created to allow individual people, communities and authorities to prevent accidents and mitigate the consequences of those that do happen, no matter where they occur. In the event of an accident or the threat of one, effective measures are taken to bring people to safety, secure vital functions and limit the impact of the accident. Picture: Vesa Moilanen, Lehtikuva

Rescue service organisation The Ministry s Department for Rescue Services directs, steers and supervises rescue services and maintains oversight of their coverage and quality. The Department is also in charge of the preparedness and organisation of rescue services at national level. Municipalities are jointly responsible for rescue services in rescue service regions. There are 22 rescue departments in Finland, which carry out rescue service duties in their regions. In operations, rescue departments may be assisted by contract fire brigades, whether volunteer, institutional, industrial or military. 3 Regional state administrative agencies oversee rescue services and see to their coverage and quality within their own areas. This means Vision of the rescue services Finland will have a good safety culture and the most effective rescue services in Europe. a society in which everyone takes responsibility for safety and effective accident prevention dedicated and capable personnel cost-effective services that satisfy user needs and are proportionate to the threats a strong network of partnerships

4 Rescue departments 1. Helsinki 2. Western Uusimaa 3. Central Uusimaa 4. Eastern Uusimaa 5. Southwest Finland 6. Kanta-Häme 7. Päijät-Häme 8. Kymenlaakso 9. South Karelia 10. South Savo 11. Central Finland 12. Pirkanmaa 13. Satakunta 14. South Ostrobothnia 15. Ostrobothnia 16. Central Ostrobothnia 17. North Savo 18. North Karelia 19. Jokilaaksot 20. Kainuu 21. Oulu-Koillismaa 22. Lapland 16 19 22 21 20 Total area: 338,000 sq km Population: 5,435,497 (23.5.2013) Population density (31.12.2012): 15 14 11 17 18 Finland 17.9 people per sq km land Uusimaa 172.2 people per sq km land Lapland 2.0 people per sq km land 13 12 7 10 9 5 6 3 4 8 On the Åland Islands, the rescue services are regulated by regional legislation. 2 1 MML, 2012

Rescue operations Rescue departments are responsible for carrying out rescue operations when fires or other incidents require urgent measures to save human life or protect health, property or the environment. Safety is working together To prevent fires and other incidents, rescue departments work together with other authorities and with local residents and communities, and take part in local and regional safety planning. Supervision Rescue departments carry out supervisory duties, such as fire inspections, in order to minimise risks to human life, property or the environment. They supervise individuals and communities in their efforts to maintain personal safety and fire safety in buildings. Individuals and communities must check, for example, that smoke alarms are functioning properly and escape routes are not obstructed. In their supervision plans, rescue departments set out what fire inspections they intend to conduct and what supervisory measures they plan to implement on the basis of local conditions and regional risk assessment. 5 Picture: Jussi Helttunen, Lehtikuva

6 Chimneys to be swept once a year Building owners must see to it that fireplaces and flues are swept. Rescue departments decide how chimney sweeping services are organised in their regions. Chimney sweeping entrepreneurs, those carrying out independent chimney sweeping work in their employ and chimney sweeps employed by rescue departments must have undergone vocational training for chimney sweeps. The Central Association of Chimney Sweeps provides vocational and specialist vocational training for chimney sweeps. Advice, education and guidance Rescue departments see to the guidance that falls within the responsibility of the rescue services. They provide this guidance by taking measures to promote, support and monitor the implementation of obligations laid down in the Rescue Act. Guidance is offered to people, businesses and other Picture: Helsinki City Rescue Department

7 communities so that they know how to prevent fires and other incidents and are prepared to stop accidents. Rescue departments advise and educate people on how to identify accident risks. They also seek to improve people s skills to prevent accidents and educate people about what to do in the event of an accident or other dangerous situation. Rescue departments also give advice when fire inspections are carried out and emergency plans drawn up. The Rescue Act lays down specific evacuation safety requirements for care institutions and service and supported housing. These requirements are also included in the emergency plans. In addition to various advice and education events, rescue departments organise fire safety campaigns and take part, together with other actors, in campaigns promoting safety. These include the 112 day, the week for fire safety, the No panic! -campaign for 14- year old youngsters, the home accident prevention campaign, the day at the fire station event. All Nordic countries celebrate the annual smoke alarm test day on 1 December. Picture: istock photos / esp_imaging

8 Good professional skills through training Finnish rescue workers are multi-skilled professionals. In addition to fire-fighting and rescue tasks, they take part in the prevention of fires and other incidents and provide emergency medical care and first response. The Emergency Services College, which operates under the Ministry of the Interior, is a training institute providing vocational training for rescue service and emergency response centre personnel, training leading to a Fire Officer s Diploma (Bachelor of Engineering), and training in preparing for emergency conditions and incidents under normal conditions. The Ministry of the Interior has also authorised the City of Helsinki Rescue School to provide basic vocational training in rescue services. The Finnish Association of Fire Chiefs offers advanced and continuing training in the field and works actively to develop rescue services. Rescue departments ensure that the personnel of contract fire brigades have sufficient training to perform rescue operations. Training for the members of contract fire brigades is organised, as a rule, by the Finnish National Rescue Association and regional rescue associations. Picture: E. Jämsä The College also provides training in international civil protection and civilian crisis management.

In an emergency call 112 In a genuine emergency, you should always call the emergency number 112. Emergency response centres receive emergency calls and other calls requiring immediate response from the authorities. Depending on the situation, they alert the ambulance service, fire brigade, police, social welfare services and other partners. They also advise and guide the callers. The emergency number 112 works across the European Union. Preparedness Preparedness involves measures that the authorities take to ensure that they can perform their duties with minimal disruption in situations posing a threat to society or suddenly endangering security in society or people s living conditions. These measures include preparedness planning, technical and structural preparations, training, preparedness exercises, and necessary provision for premises and critical resources. Civil defence Civil defence means the protection of people and property in the event of the threat of an armed conflict or during such conflict. Preparedness for civil defence is maintained and further developed as part of Finland s comprehensive security. The rescue authorities are prepared to operate in all conditions, including emergency conditions. Their key duties are to detect threats and warn people about them, maintain the capacity to protect people and see to rescue services and any additional resources they require so that actions taken in the event of an accident or disaster are effective even in a state of emergency. 9

10 International cooperation Natural and man-made disasters occur around the world, and they both require rapid emergency aid from the international community. Finland is actively involved in the development of EU civil protection cooperation and other international cooperation in the field. In addition to the EU, Finland cooperates with the other Nordic countries and neighbouring countries, the UN and its suborganisations, NATO s Partnership for Peace Programme, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and the Arctic Council. Finland may, at the request of another state or an international organisation and by the Ministry of the Interior s decision, send rescue and other assistance units and civil protection experts abroad in the event of disasters. Should the situation arise, Finland may also request civil protection assistance from the international community. Fire Protection Fund provides assistance The Fire Protection Fund, managed and supervised by the Ministry of the Interior, is a fund outside the State Budget. Every year, the Fund grants nearly EUR 10 million for projects that are designed to improve fire prevention and rescue operations. This assistance has focused on training and education provided by rescue service organisations, research and development projects supporting the work in the field, procurement of equipment and building of fire stations. Picture: Crisis Management Centre Finland

11 Rescue services in figures Rescue service organisation - 22 rescue service regions - 570 volunteer fire brigades - 105 institutional and industrial fire brigades Personnel - 4,800 full-time employees - 14,600 part-time and voluntary fire brigade members Total annual costs - EUR 340 million/all regions - EUR 64/reside Emergency missions per year The total number of call-outs for rescue departments is about 110,000 a year Fires Every year, rescue departments are called out to about 15,000 fires. Of these, - 6,300 are structural fires - 2,500 are vehicle fires - 3,000 are wildfires (The number varies considerably from year to year, depending on the dryness of the summer.) - 3,300 are other fires. Fires are often caused by people. In fact, every year about half of all fires are caused by human action. About 32% of these fires are believed to have been started deliberately and about 28% are due to carelessness. Defective machinery and equipment account for some 22% of all fires. Other call-outs The average number of other callouts is 29,640 per year. Of these, - 13,500 are traffic accidents - 9,000 are loss prevention tasks - 2,500 are tasks to combat oil spills - 2,200 are tasks to rescue people - 2,000 are tasks to rescue animals - 320 are tasks relating to hazardous substances - 120 are explosions and collapsed buildings, roads and other structures. Source: Statistics system of the Finnish rescue services (PRONTO)

Ministry of the Interior Department for Rescue Services PO Box 26, FI-00023 Government, Finland Tel. 071 87 80171 pelastusosasto@intermin.fi www.pelastustoimi.fi www.pelastusopisto.fi (Emergency Services College) www.112.fi (Emergency Response Centre Administration) www.spek.fi (Finnish National Rescue Association) www.sppl.fi (Finnish Association of Fire Chiefs) www.psr.fi (Fire Protection Fund) www.stuk.fi (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority) www.tukes.fi (Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency) www.nuohoojat.fi (Central Association of Chimney Sweeps) www.kuluttajavirasto.fi (Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority) Cover pictures: Markku Ulander(Lehtikuva), Aki Paavola (Lehtikuva), Nina Dahl