Johan Hylander, Britt-Inger Saveman, Ulf Björnstig, Lina Gyllencreutz and Anton Westman
Major incidents in road tunnels remain a collaborative challenge for the emergency services (fire and rescue service, police and ambulance), emergency dispatch centres (EDCs) and…
Abstract
Purpose
Major incidents in road tunnels remain a collaborative challenge for the emergency services (fire and rescue service, police and ambulance), emergency dispatch centres (EDCs) and infrastructure owners. The aim of this paper is to investigate how collaborative partners to the ambulance services perceive the rescue effort and to identify factors that may influence its efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus group and individual interviews were conducted with 19 participants who were infrastructure owners or had operational or tactical responsibilities with the emergency services or EDCs in two regions in Sweden with multiple road tunnels. The collected data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
Findings
Three main categories described efficiency factors during and after an incident: (1) coordinating the initial information (using a shared terminology), (2) achieving situational awareness (identifying those persons in need) and (3) lessons (not) learnt (lack of joint tactical plans and exercises). The emerging theme was access, assess and evaluate.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that establishing national policies and collaborative forums might yield more efficiently managed rescue efforts in road tunnel incidents in Sweden and other countries with similar organisational structures.
Originality/value
This study offers new insights on interoperability during responses to complex underground incidents.
Details
Keywords
Annika Eklund, Sofia Karlsson and Lina Gyllencreutz
Major incidents in tunnel environment will pose several challenges for the emergency service organisations in terms of heat, visibility and lack of experiences from working in…
Abstract
Purpose
Major incidents in tunnel environment will pose several challenges for the emergency service organisations in terms of heat, visibility and lack of experiences from working in confined environments. These aspects, in turn, could pose challenges to establish collaboration. This study aims to contribute to the field of collaborative tunnel responses by exploring how “common knowledge” (Edwards, 2011) is built by the emergency services organisations, that is, what the organisations consider important while working on a potentially common problem, and their motives for the interpretations and actions if a major tunnel incident occurs.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants from the road traffic control centre, emergency dispatch centre, emergency medical service, rescue service and police were included in the study. Data from four focus group sessions was analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
The study revealed that the tunnel environment presents specific aspects of how common knowledge was produced related to lifesaving and safety. The themes structuring mechanisms to reduce uncertainty, managing information for initial priorities, aligning responsibilities without hampering each other's work and adjusting actions to manage distance, illustrated how common knowledge was produced as crucial aspects to a collaborative response. Organising management sites, grasping and communicating risks, accessing the injury victims, was challenged by the confined environment, physical distances and imbalance in access to information and preparedness activities in tunnel environments.
Originality/value
This study offers new insights of common knowledge, by illustrating a motive perspective on collaborative responses in tunnel incidents. Creating interoperability calls not just for readiness for action and tunnel safety, but also training activities acknowledging different interpretations and motives to further develop tunnel responses.
Details
Keywords
Sofia Karlsson, Britt-Inger Saveman and Lina Gyllencreutz
The purpose of this paper is to examine emergency medical service (EMS) personnel’s perceptions and experiences of managing underground mining injury incidents.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine emergency medical service (EMS) personnel’s perceptions and experiences of managing underground mining injury incidents.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 13 EMS personnel were interviewed according to a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Findings
An underground mining environment was described as unfamiliar and unsafe and, with no guidelines for operational actions in an extreme environment, such as underground mines, the EMS personnel were uncertain of their role. They therefore became passive and relied on the rescue service and mining company during a major incident. However, the medical care was not considered to be different from any other prehospital care, although a mining environment would make the situation more difficult and it would take longer for the mine workers to be placed under definitive care.
Originality/value
This study complements earlier studies by examining the EMS personnel’s perceptions and experiences of major incidents.