RSS Feeds

Email a Friend Printer Friendly

Disastrous fire left indelible mark on police in Göteborg

October 31, 2002

It has now been four years since a disastrous fire shocked the city of Göteborg and Sweden. How did the police cope with the extreme stress and the workload in connection with the fire? A recently published research report from Karlstad University elucidates this and also levels criticism against the way the media covered the role of the police.

The 1998 disco fire in Hisingen in Göteborg was the worst fire in Sweden in modern times. Fully 63 young people died and more than 200 were injured. Barbro Renck, assistant professor of public health at Karlstad University, has studied the perceptions and experience of stress and mental duress among police officers involved a year and a half after the tragic fire. The research report levels severe criticism against the behavior of the media in connection with the disaster.

"It's tragic to see the way the media covered the police efforts. An entire police corps was wronged by the media's ignorance, and this shook their trust for a long period afterward. The media have a lot to learn in these contexts," says Barbro Renck.

She is referring to the negative picture of the police that was projected in the media, largely owing to the lack of experience among many journalists when it comes to covering crises. Among other things, people who were in a state of shock were asked to express criticism of police efforts to prevent young people from re-entering the burning building, efforts that probably saved a number of lives.

The research report clearly shows that no police officers were left untouched by the disaster. Some of them, foremost those who arrived at the site early and those who were in positions of leadership, still evinced heightened levels of stress a year and a half after the disaster.

The negative media reports represented only one of several stress factors, according to the report. There was considerable uncertainty about what to expect at the site as the police were answering the call, and no one could possibly have been mentally prepared. The powerful impact of what they went through and the scope of the disaster were two further stress factors, as were the threats and in some cases the violence perpetrated against the police during and after their rescue efforts. What the police perceived as the most demanding and stressful part of their work was their contact with relatives and friends of the injured and dead youths, both at the site of the fire and at the hospitals.

The study also shows that few police officers wanted to give up or lost their courage during their rescue efforts. "To be able to insulate yourself from your own feelings in such a dire situation was evidence of true professionalism among the police officers. The difficulty of their mission prevented them from thinking of human consequences," says Barbro Renck.

Her report also studies the support the police were afforded after the disaster. Not least peer support was experienced as being of great value. Most officers also found the planned crisis support to be extremely worthwhile.

"The police have learned a great deal for the future here. Among other things, they have realized the importance and value of well-planned crisis support," avers Barbro Renck.

Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council)