It is Sunday afternoon on April 10 this spring. A private entourage is on its way back to Longyearbyen after a nice weather trip on a snowmobile. In the moraine below Longyearbreen, the tragedy occurs. One of the scooters hits a rock, and both driver and passengers are thrown off. 50-year-old Kristin Sommervold from Trondheim suffers such serious head injuries that she dies. The incident was routinely investigated by the police, but later dropped in consultation with the state attorney. Nevertheless, the accident at Longyearbreen has had repercussions. In May, the bereaved chose to send a letter to the authorities with sharp criticism of the emergency services’ handling of what happened. “We received no help or assistance from the medical emergency number 113,” they write in the complaint. Couldn’t put the phone through At the same time as the woman is receiving first aid from the others in the tour group, the medical emergency number 113 is also called. But then this happens, according to the complaint from the family: I: Scooter accident below the longyear tree in Morena. Serious head injury, internal bleeding. IT IS ABOUT LIVES, send SAR helicopter. (The severity of the injury was apparent). 113: You are now in Svalbard. Then you have to call the Governor on 112. Me: Can’t you do that for us? 113: No, you are now in Svalbard. Then you must call 112 to the Governor. Me: Can you put me over? 113: No. The accident happened below Longyearbreen, 3-4 kilometers from Longyearbyen. You can see the start of the glacier in the middle of the picture. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Reach the police’s mobile answer The family hangs up the phone, then immediately call the police’s emergency number 112. However, they then get a mobile answer. Only on the third attempt do the police respond to the emergency call. While the emergency services go to the scene of the accident by helicopter, the family calls back to 113. But according to the complaint, they receive no medical assistance over the phone. The responding personnel are also not supposed to have understood that several people in the group were injured. The tour group also does not get help to take care of the children who are with them. In the letter of complaint, the survivors describe the 113 function in Svalbard as very deficient. They believe the level is low, compared with AMK on the mainland. They also ask if there isn’t a system for triple notification of emergency incidents on Svalbard. The complaint was sent to both the Norwegian Health Authority, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health and Care. UNN: – Vulnerability in the scheme Jon Mathisen is head of UNN’s emergency medicine clinic, which has the main responsibility for the medical emergency telephone on Svalbard. He does not want to go into detail about how the accident at Longyearbreen in April was handled by the hospital in Longyearbyen. But he confirms that the caller was told to call the police’s emergency number 112, since it is the police who handle incidents off the beaten track in Svalbard. In this way, the police could get direct information about exactly where the accident had occurred. Jon Mathisen, head of the emergency medicine clinic at UNN. Photo: Petter Strøm / news At the same time, Mathisen says that the accident has shown how vulnerable the 113 system on Svalbard has been. Until this summer, all 113 calls in Svalbard went to the nurse on duty at the hospital in Longyearbyen, which could potentially create contemporary conflicts. – There is only one nurse on duty who can handle a call in the hallway, says Mathisen. He says that even before the accident at Longyearbreen, UNN was in the process of changing the 113 system in Svalbard. – This incident has helped speed up the process, says the clinic manager. Not sized for several phones According to head of state Lars Fause, the police’s emergency telephone in Svalbard is not sized for many phones at the same time. That may be the explanation for the fact that the family who called 112 from Longyearbreen in April got an answering machine. – We have to play with the cards we have been dealt. Occasionally the phone will be busy. That’s just how it is. It is not realistic to think that we will have more people sitting and waiting on the phone. We are a small community with few inquiries, says Fause. Governor of Svalbard, Lars Fause. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen / news Notification of other emergency services in the event of incidents must also be done manually, the head of civil affairs states. It has been discussed whether it would be appropriate to enter into a collaboration with the Troms police district regarding the 112 telephone in Svalbard, but nothing has yet been decided, says Fause. At the same time, he emphasizes that it went quickly once the right button was pressed. – It took 18 minutes for the helicopter to be on the scene with a doctor and a rescuer, says Lars Fause. Have changed the routines The case is now on the table of the County Medical Examiner in Troms and Finnmark. But the accident has already had consequences for the routines at UNN Longyearbyen. Throughout the summer, technical solutions and new procedures were prepared, and since the end of August, all 113 telephones in Svalbard have automatically been transferred to the AMK central in Tromsø. – Routines have now been established to give advice to callers, at the same time as notification is in progress, i.e. triple notification. We didn’t have that system before in Svalbard, and it wasn’t good enough, Mathisen acknowledges. He goes on to say that central authorities have pressed for the changes to be implemented. State Secretary Karl Kristian Bekeng in the Ministry of Health and Care confirms that the ministry got involved in the case. – The ministry became aware of the case through a letter from relatives. Against this background, there has been a dialogue with Helse Nord. We now see that UNN has completed the change work they were already undertaking. It is important to ensure a good and robust service, says Bekeng. The hospital in Longyearbyen was established in 1917. Today it is part of the University Hospital of Northern Norway. Photo: Marcus Krogtoft / news The accident must be used as a lesson The fatal accident on Svalbard probably would not have had a different outcome, regardless of the emergency services’ handling of the desperate calls from Longyearbreen. In the letter to the authorities, the bereaved emphasize that the complaint is not written in bitterness, but that the accident and experiences must be used for learning, and that better routines must be established for training and requirements for personnel. The partner of the deceased woman tells news that he is therefore happy and relieved about the changes UNN has made to the medical emergency telephone in Svalbard. – Now we know that others who find themselves in the same situation get the help and assistance they need when they call the medical emergency telephone in Svalbard. If there are only a few people on the trip, you have to concentrate on providing first aid, while it is 113 that calls out the resources that are needed, says the roommate.
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Sharp criticism of the emergency services after a fatal accident on Svalbard – news Troms and Finnmark
