Disaster preparedness in Scandinavia

Abstract

Disaster preparedness in Scandinavia is being improved on the national level, with increased cooperation between the different countries following 9/11. However, focus so far has been largely directed against CBRN threats. The reduction of hospital beds along with centralisation of advanced care as well as financial strains will enforce a closer cooperation between the health boards. The federal health care authorities must have a clear-cut responsibility and mandate to coordinate the nations health care systems in peacetime disasters, and not only during war. This reorganisation has just merely begun.