RCR participates in Strömsund municipality's practice of ongoing lethal violence
On Monday 8 January, the police, ambulance and rescue services will carry out an exercise in ongoing lethal violence for staff at Hjalmar Strömerskolan in Strömsund. The exercise takes place in collaboration with Mid Sweden University's Risk and Crisis Research Centre, RCR.
"Our mission is to collaborate with the surrounding community, and it is therefore a matter of course to participate in this type of exercise. In addition to the fact that the exercise will contribute to increasing the ability of employees and the municipality to handle extreme situations, it will also be an excellent opportunity for us to gather knowledge and experience that we can benefit from in our risk and crisis research. says Minna Lundgren, researcher at the Risk and Crisis Research Centre, RCR.
Ongoing lethal violence, PDV, is a collective name for various types of violent acts, including school shootings. In 2023, all employees at Hjalmar Strömerskolan have increased their knowledge of PDV and crisis preparedness, including preventive work, methods, crisis management and entry and evacuation. The next step is now an exercise for all school staff on January 8 with a fictitious school shooting. The police, rescue services and ambulance services will also participate in the exercise.
"Crisis preparedness is an important and prioritised area both for the municipality as a whole and for upper secondary schools. We must be able to deal with various incidents, including serious situations of violence. The purpose of the exercise is to strengthen our ability to act quickly under difficult conditions and minimize negative consequences," says Ralf Sjödin, principal of Hjalmar Strömerskolan.
"We have been involved as a sounding board in the planning phase and during the exercise itself, our task will be to monitor how to communicate internally during this type of event. The fact that the municipality chooses to exercise is very wise, because just knowing that the staff is practising this type of scenario can increase security among pupils and guardians," says Minna Lundgren.
RCR's participation in the exercise takes place within the framework of the research project "Human, Measure and Resilience – New Ways to Study Risk Communication, Responsibility and Preparedness." More information about the research project can be found here.
Contact person:
Minna Lundgren, researcher at the Risk and Crisis Research Centre, RCR, minna.lundgren@miun.se, phone number 010-142 88 19