Nordic-Baltic data co-operation in Emergency Medical Services
The Nordic and Baltic states have co-operated in the field of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for over ten years. The Nordic Council of Ministers has granted the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) funding to formalize the co-operation to a permanent co-operation between the countries.
The project will commence by gathering the latest EMS data to THL from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The aim Is also to explore possibilities to broaden the defined Nordic EMS Quality Indicators that were developed in the 2014 - 2018 Nordic EMS data project.
The Nordic Emergency Medical Services - Project on data collection and benchmarking 2014 - 2018 (pdf.1 301 kt)
As the Northern states are all facing similar challenges with ageing population, centralized health services and increasing need for emergency services, having international data for benchmarking and comparison is vital for national decision-making. The ability to do this co-operation relies on shared understanding of other countries’ EMS systems and shared terminology. From that common baseline it is possible to gather data with similar definitions that is comparable – with certain caveats. To foster the Nordic-Baltic co-operation and move towards data production and finally as concrete data products, THL is facilitating four workshops during 2024.
Workshops set the pace towards comparative Nordic-Baltic EMS data
The first workshop was held in Helsinki, Finland on January 10th, 2024. The workshop gathered a dozen of national-level EMS professionals that were able to position the international co-operation to their national context and had the capabilities to carry out the national data gathering for the upcoming publication at the end of the year.
After the customary introductions to one another and the the topic, the group enjoyed an outlook on the Finnish EMS system with presentations from senior ministerial adviser Lasse Ilkka of the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and CEO Jari Huhtinen of the state-owned Finnish helicopter EMS company FinnHEMS.
Then the proverbial binoculars were aimed to the past by director Steinar Olsen of the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Lasse Ilkka, who summed up the history of the Nordic-Baltic EMS co-operation from the previous 10+ years. This and the following discussion highlighted both the path forward and the importance of work ahead. Several of the participants felt that with comparable international data they would be in position to provide better insight for decision-makers regarding national EMS system development. Comparable data also serves as a possibility to rattle some cages to highlight shortcomings and development needs in the national EMS systems.
The work will continue with the next workshop in March, where the current and possible future Nordic EMS Quality Indicators are revisited and crafted. Data transfer protocols and data management in general will also be on the agenda. Plus some early glances at the end products of the project.
Viljami Lampilinna
Development manager
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
viljami.lampilinna(at)thl.fi
