Göteborgsbranden 1998 - Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och ...

• Knowledge of people – the advantages of a small organisation, where the chances are good
of quickly getting the right person to the right place in the field.
• Flexibility – the demand to act flexibly, where it is possible to act in accordance with needs
arising during a specific event.
Informational work:
• Several information systems – the interviewees stressed the importance of not basing infor-
mation activities on a single channel of information.
• Information for all – the existing information should to the extent possible be made acces-
sible to everyone; otherwise there is a twofold risk: that decisions will not be carried out
and that people will feel excluded from the work.
Personnel:
• A feeling of participation – in connection with the above, we would stress the importance
of all personnel having access to extant information; moreover, each participant’s significance
for the work as a whole should be made clear.
• Need for support – those personnel working closely with people in difficult situations will
after some time also require support; such needs can also exist among personnel groups
not as obviously involved in the centre of activities.
• Stress the importance of support – some people involved in the work suppress their own
need for support; in certain cases the decision to take advantage of support measures
should not be left to the individual.
• Debriefing of personnel was partially unplanned and should, in the future, be initiated
for all personnel involved in accidents similar in type to the fire.
Sensitivity towards those affected:
• Cultural competence – the importance of being acquainted with the manners and customs
of different cultures became clear in connection with the fire disaster and its victims.
Contacts at the hospitals
Although one of the most important findings of this study is that the authorities handled
crisis management and communication in connection with the fire relatively well, certain
problems did arise at Gothenburg’s main hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital. The
stydy is concentrated to just this hospital when it concerns hospital matters of the fire.
For the hospital personnel, work with contacts and communication was at once both
complicated and extensive. During the first 24 hours, this work was largely conducted on an
ad hoc basis and adapted to the situation. Contributing to the complexity was the affected
young people’s multi-cultural backgrounds. Another factor was the fact that many of the
young people had large contact networks, fastly bringing many friends to the hospital in
addition to relatives. Moreover, there was a large crowd of media representatives. Altogether,
an almost tumultuous situation ensued in which four to five thousand people visited the
hospital in the course of a few days.
Managing this situation required flexibility on the part of the actors involved. Several had
experience from previous disasters, which helped them to understand what was required of
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