The bombing of the Myyrmanni shopping centre in Vantaa five months ago revealed a number of shortcomings and room for improvement in how rescue officials operate. All in all, the rescue operations succeeded well. The report of a working group set up by the Ministry of the Interior found that things could have gone much worse.

   

The working group does not criticise anyone for mistakes, and there was praise for many of those involved in the rescue effort.

   

"The victims that could be saved were saved", said Olli-Pekka Ojanen, the chairman of the working group.

The task was made easier

by the fact that help arrived quickly, and there was plenty of it. Also, hospitals were nearby.

   

The National Bureau of Investigation published its findings early, focusing on the explosion itself and its perpetrator. Monday's report focused on the rescue operations in the aftermath.

   

The working group that issued its report on Monday had three recommendations, the first two of which Ojanen considers of utmost importance.

   

The first recommendation is that municipal rescue officials should draft plans for action in major accidents. The plans should make it possible to mobilise a large number of units - such as fire engines and ambulances - with a single call.

   

The second is that the Helsinki region should have a more precise system of emergency hospital treatment, which should not be dependent on municipal boundaries, or those of health care districts.

   

The working group also calls for legislation defining the position and obligations of emergency medical helicopters, as the helicopters are often the first to arrive on the scene.

   

A small problem at the Myyrmanni bombing was the fact that the highest-ranking medical personnel were not easily identifiable from any external insignia. The working group feels that the clothing used by the rescue personnel should better identify the level of their professional skill.

For a long time after the explosion

some rescue workers were under the impression that the blast had been caused by a gas leak, even though the first police officers to arrive at the scene had noticed the metal shot that had hit the walls.

   

However, information about this did not filter down to everyone taking part in the operation, and the misconception lived on for a long time.

Receiving the report,

Finnish Interior Minister Ville Itälä (Nat. Coalition) said that an important task is to get the Virve telecommunications network for rescue work to operate throughout Finland.

   

The Virve network would mean that the communications of rescue workers and officials would no longer be dependent on the GSM mobile telephone network, which is easily overwhelmed when a large number of people make mobile telephone calls at the same time.

   

This happened in connection with the Myyrmanni bombing, and as a result, hospitals did not always know how many emergency patients were coming, or the nature of their injuries.