Helsinki City Rescue Department’s Rescue School now accepts applications to the first responder programme.

The Helsinki City Rescue Department has launched an extensive complementary building programme in order to build one new dwelling on the plot of every fire station. The new facilities are opened today on all of the eight Rescue Department fire stations in Kallio, Erottaja, Haaga, Käpylä, Malmi, Melllunkylä, Herttoniemi, and Suomenlinna. This action confirms the joining of the Helsinki City Rescue Department to the One Million Bird Houses initiative.

New brochures have been made for the Helsinki City Rescue Department’s Fire Museum and Civil Defence Museum. The brochures have been designed by the manager of the Fire Museum Jari Auvinen, coordinator Johanna Hakola from the Rescue Department, and Greta Nikkilä and Pekka Kyrenius from the Civil Defence Association of Helsinki. Graphic design agency Guassi Oy has provided the graphic look. The brochures are printed in Finnish, Swedish, English, German, and Russian

During the past few years, the Helsinki City Rescue Department has moved from traditional fire inspections to an operating method which gives the customers an increasingly active role in recognising their own safety risks and preventing and preparing for accidents. At the same time, methods for the prevention of accidents have been expanded and the amount of actions increased by redirecting personnel resources from other areas of the operations. Last year, the objectives for the prevention of accidents were exceeded.

The number of emergency medical care operations for the Helsinki City Rescue Department in 2015 was record-breaking. The total number of assignments added up to 54,596, which exceeds the number from the past year by 1,381. The increase is caused by several factors, such as the increased population in the Helsinki region and their increased average age, and the increase in home care.