A female ambulance nurse was killed with a sharp object during an emergency call in Nordanstig municipality on Saturday. The woman was not alone during the emergency call and the police were alerted by the ambulance staff.
The colleague is being taken care of and receiving support, says the region's deputy health and medical care director Susanna Björklund.
Introduced crisis support
Region Gävleborg has gone into emergency mode and will have meetings with the emergency team and employees during Sunday. A report will also be made to the Work Environment Authority.
We are meeting with staff today and have introduced crisis support at the ambulance stations where it is needed most.
A man in his 25s has been detained on probable cause suspected of murder. He will be interrogated during Sunday. The man has recently been sentenced to probation and community service for assaulting a person and threatening them with a knife, according to Sveriges Radio Ekot.
The region will conduct an investigation into the incident to see, among other things, if it is possible to "flag" addresses during emergency calls to places where threats and violence may occur.
This will be included in the investigation we are doing now and one has to look at what can be done and if it is possible to flag or not, says Susanna Björklund.
No solo work
The Ambulance Association is critical of the incident and states that it is a widespread problem that ambulance staff are sent to places where threats and violence may occur.
We train our staff to be able to handle threats and violence, but you never know what you will encounter when you enter somewhere, says Susanna Björklund.
The region will also review the routines for emergency calls. According to Susanna Björklund, ambulance staff are never alone during emergency calls.
The police do not want to answer whether they received a request to assist the ambulance staff before the assault, but refer to the prosecutor. During Sunday, police are present in Harmånger for reassurance purposes.
The government is also reviewing what measures may be needed to strengthen the safety of ambulance staff, and Minister of Health and Social Affairs Elisabet Lann (KD) plans to visit the region soon.
"Threats and violence against ambulance staff is a problem that the government takes very seriously, and which can never be accepted", she writes in a comment.
