The Svalbard group’s member states and their authorities have collaborated in different projects that develop Nordic preparedness in social and health care.
Nordic Mass Burn Casualty Incident Response Plan
Nordic Mass Burn Casualty Incident Response Plan describes the outline and practical details of a joint Nordic mass burn casualty incident (MBCI) and its response mechanism. This plan is the result of a conjoined effort by the national burn centers in Bergen, Norway; Linköping and Uppsala, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; Copenhagen, Denmark, and the health authorities
in the Nordic countries.
The Nordic Mass Burn Casualty Agreement was finalized in 2018 as a result of a cooperative work of all the Nordic countries under the leadership of Norway. It was introduced to the Nordic Council of Ministers in Reykjavik in March 2019.
The response mechanism is based on existing national response mechanisms and ones being developed in the participating countries, and the on-going work to establish a European MBCI response mechanism. The main outline is based on the suggested medical standards from the European Burns Association (EBA) in this regard.
The plan is focused on an MBCI situation where the affected country is overwhelmed, but where the situation is still manageable within our Nordic regional capacity. Our countries have a long history of mutual help and development in burn care, and a regional MBCI plan is a natural extension of this. Our countries have experiences with the same challenges of scattered settlements and long
distances and seem well prepared for joint responses in these circumstances. The outline of this plan is made to be in line with national response mechanisms in our countries and with the European mechanism under way, thus being a natural step in this response ladder.
Nordic Mass Burn Casualty Incident Response Plan
Nordic Mechanism for Sharing Situation Awareness in Health and Social care
The project “Nordic mechanism for sharing situation awareness in health and social care” is building on the experiences and practices formed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Nordic countries’ national responses have highlighted some needs that we need to strengthen with Nordic co-operation in order to be better prepared for future disturbances. The aim of the project is to develop a common framework and a minimum dataset for gathering situation awareness data for health and social services in the Nordics.
The identified data and its dissemination are tested out in an exercise and on a platform that serves as a proof-of-concept for a more integrated and common service for sharing information among the Nordic countries’ and autonomous areas’ social and health officials. The project is running 2021-2022 and in following years it is expected to evolve the situation awareness platform to address various threat scenarios, align with EU-HERA and other international stakeholders and develop Nordic information sharing during everyday co-operation as well as extraordinary events.