Regions

The regions and municipalities are jointly responsible for public transport in the county. In most counties they have chosen to set up a joint county transport company to operate the services. Some regions have full responsibility for public transport.

Rapid decisions on redistribution

All regions have a crisis management plan. The aim is to minimise the risk of serious incidents occuring and, if they do occur, to minimise the consequences.

The region has permanent disaster preparedness. A duty officer can be reached at all times.

In it's smallest form, the region's crisis management team is made up of a duty officer. Until the Regional Director is contacted, the duty officer decides how the region's resourses will be utilised and possibly reallocated. In many cases, the duty officer is complemented by other standby functions such as the doctor on call.

Crisis management allocates resources

The most important function of crisis management is to allocate all the region's resources (mainly healthcare and public transport) in such a way as to minimise disruption to normal operations. In the event of a major incident, regular healthcare must be able to function even though thousands of injured people may have to be taken to the region's hospitals. A region may also request assistance from neighbouring regions.

The regional infectious disease physician is responsible for coordinating the region's epidemic prepardness. The infectious disease physician is assisted by the municipal environmental and health protection committiees. 

The information comes from Sweden's municipalities and regions.